Notes from Period Orderly Books:

Ammunition Handling in the British Army

[from The Brigade Dispatch Vol. 28 No. 1]

Gilbert V. Riddle
2nd New Jersey Regiment

Almost every one of our events features the noise and smoke of black
powder cartridges being fired. Ammunition plays a major role in our
activities, even if we don't think about it much. Ammunition was
equally important to the armies of the American Revolution, and a survey
of British orderly books and other documents shows that it was thought
about often. Below is a sampling of orders which illustrate how
ammunition was stored, handled and cared for in the British Army.
Regular inspections were made to insure that cartridges carried by
the soldiers was in good condition, as indicated by this order:

Head Quarters Boston Janry 29th 1776

The Soldiers Ammunition to be daily inspected by an Officer of the
Company, the damaged Cartridges replaced, and the proper number of
Rounds kept in good Order, the Adjutants are carefully to inspect the
Ammunition of the Men for Guard upon the Regimental Parades.1

13 June 1775
The Commanding Officers of Corps to order their mens flints to be
examined immediately, such as are to bad to be returned into store, and
good ones got in the room of them.2

Orders like this one appear frequently, and the same type of inspections
are a good idea today. The inspector should insure that cartridges are
not torn or leaking, that they fit properly in the holes of the
cartridge box so that they are unlikely to fall out accidentally, and
that each man has a sufficient quantity for the event.
At times, more specialized orders were given so that ammunition would
not be damaged:

General Orders Philadelphia 15th June 1778

Commanding officers of Corps to be answerable that their Ammunition
is properly secured from the weather before they take the field.3

A few months before, on the British campaign to take Philadelphia, wet

ammunition had been a problem at times; an anonymous officer wrote: The
Violence of the Rain was so lasting that it was afterwards known the
Rebels had not a single Cartridge in their Pouches but what was Wet, the
Light Infy. Accoutrements being mostly Rebel were in the same Situation.4

How many cartridges was "the proper number?"

Head Qrs Boston 4th March 1776

Such Corps as have not 60 rounds of Cartradges with what they have in
Stores and in the mens possision to applay Immediatly to Lt. Col.
Cleveland to complet to that number.5

17th October [1777]

The Mens Arms, and Ammunition to be inspected, to see that they are
in good order, and that they have 60 rounds, and 3 Flints per Man.6
Sixty rounds and three flints per man was the prevalent quantity ordered
by the British army, but other numbers appear on occasion. This is
interesting, because this many rounds will not fit into the cartridge
pouches made to patterns in use today; where were these rounds kept?

Head Quarters Philadelphia Monday 30th March 1778

The Regiments to have constantly 80 rounds of ball Cartridges (30 in
the mens pouches and 50 in the Store)7

This order clarifies that each regiment was to have a number of rounds
per man (usually sixty, but in this case eighty), but that the men were
not expected to have these rounds on their person; instead, some of them
were kept in storage. Some other entries give details about how the
cartridges were stored:

August 17, 1776

The Ammunition which can not be put in the Cartridge Boxes to be
carried tied in small parcels in Bladders Canvas or other small bags
with which the Companies must provide themselves forthwith. Sixty
rounds of Powder and Ball to be delivered to each Man8

The commanding officers of Corps will take care that their mens
ammunition is frequently inspected; and that the cartridges, which
cannot be put in their Pouches or Cartridge boxes, be carefully packed
in dozens, and wraped up in bladder, if it is to be had, or in leather,
in the best manner they can.9

This does not mean that these methods should be used today to store
extra rounds. Everyone should use the methods that are prescribed by
Brigade safety rules, or the rules of their organization or the event
that they are attending. On the other hand, packets of fake cartridges
would be very useful for demonstration purposes.
Cartridges were not always used to load the firelocks. For routine
duties like guards and sentries, when the weapon had to be loaded before
going on duty and speed was not required, cartridges might be sometimes
be saved, as indicated by this order:

Head Quarters Brunswick December 18th [1776]

The Men on Duty to load with a running Ball in order to preserve their
Cartridges, a return of which to be given in to morrow Morning that the
whole may be completed to sixty Rounds.10

It is also interesting to see how the weapons were to be unloaded at the

end of this type of duty:

10th June [1777]

The Officers commanding at the outposts, are to examine the Men's
Arms at Sunset, and see them properly flinted, loaded, and primed. The
Pieces are to be drawn and cleaned every Morning before they return to
Camp.11

"Drawing" refers to removing the load using a ball puller; this may have
been done to save the pow der, to avoid unnecessary firing which could
raise alarms, or to reduce the amount of cleaning required.
Cartridges for the army were usually made en masse by parties of men
from each regiment, sent to work under the direction of an artillery
officer at the artillery laboratory:
Two Men from each of the following Corps to be sent to the Royal
Artillery to-morrow morning at 8 o'Clock, to be Employed in making
Cartridges for the use of the Troops...12

There appear to be instances when regiments made cartridges for

themselves, perhaps only for training,13 and the following order
suggests that every man had a form to roll the paper tubes:

Head Quarters New York Island September 19 [1776]

A working Party of 300 Man... are to be employed in making Cartridges
and take their formers with them.14

Shortly before the beginning of the war, orders were given that
cartridges should be made using less powder than previously:

General after orders 21st Novr. [1774]

The Regiments will observe in firing at marks that the quantity of
powder necessary for each cartridge (as it has been found upon many
trials) that forty or forty- two Cartridges to a pound of powder will
carry a ball truer than thirty two Cartridges, which is the number
usualy made up with a pound of powder.15

The reasoning seems sound, but some officers were skeptical of the decision:

Yesterday was given out an Order to the Corps in Garrison, that when
they fire with Ball they are to use Cartridges 42 in the pound, as they
are found to throw a Ball with more justness and to do equal execution
with those of 32 to the pound. By whose experiment has this been proved?16

It would be interesting to perform an experiment to see if the smaller

cartridges actually do "carry a ball truer," but modern powder is of a
different quality than that used in the 18th-Century, so it would be
difficult to determine the equivalent amounts required to yield the same
power.
Even though this article presents detailed information on ways that
ammunition was handled in the British Army during the Revolution, these
methods may not meet the safety requirements of our present-day
activities. The safety rules of the Brigade of the American Revolution
should be followed at all times when handling black powder. It is just
as important today as it was in the 18th Century to think about safe
handling of ammunition and firearms at all times. This includes
performing regular detailed inspections of flints and cartridges, to
insure that every soldier can perform properly and safely.

Notes

1. Journal of Ensign Thomas Glyn. Princeton University Library

Manuscript Collection, mss p. 5.

2. General Orders, America. WO 36/1, Public Record Office, London.

This collection of orders given between June 10, 1773 and January 10,
1776, mostly from Boston.

3. Orderly Book of the Second Battalion of British Grenadiers, June 1

thru 27, 1778, kept by Lt. John Kennedy Strong, 64th Regiment of Foot.
Library of Congress, Series 6B Vol. 5, Presidential Papers of George
Washington.
4. British Journal, 1776-1778. Manuscript 409, Sol Feinstone
Collection, David Library of the American Revolution. This enigmatic
entry, for September 16, 1777, seems to say that the British Light
Infantry were using captured American accoutrements on this campaign.

5. Orderly Book of Capt. Hatfield, Grenadier Company, 43d Regiment of

Foot, Feb. 7 - Mar. 15 1776. Peter Force Papers, Library of Congress.

6. General Orders, Rhode Island. WO 36/2, Public Record Office, London.

7. General Grey's Orderly Book, 28th Regiment, Feb. 23 - May 20, 1778.
Rutgers University Library manuscripts.

8. Journal of Ensign Thomas Glyn, op. cit.

9. General Orders, America, op. cit.

10. Journal of Ensign Thomas Glyn, op. cit.

11. General Orders, Rhode Island, op. cit.

12. General Sir William Howe's Orders, 1776. Collections of the New
York Historical Society, 1883: The Kemble Papers, New York, 1884. Entry
dated Halifax, April 18, 1776.

13. Account Book of Commissary George Wray. Manuscript collections,

William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, MI.

14. Journal of Ensign Thomas Glyn, op. cit.

15. General Orders, America, op. cit.

16. The British in Boston: Being the Diary of Lieutenant John Barker of
the King's Own Regiment from November 15, 1774 to May 31, 1776.
Cambridge University Press, 1924.

*****

[sidebar] Cuthbertson on Ammunition

Further information on ammunition handling can be found in "A System

for the Compleat Interior Management and Economy of a Battalion of
Infantry" by Bennett Cuthbertson, published in 1768 and reprinted in
1776 and 1779:

Though a Regiment be not employed on service, it must nevertheless

have some rounds of powder and ball kept constantly compleat, for any
occasional duty it may be called upon in quarters; and that these car
tridges may not be exposed to damage, those for each Company should be
packed in strong casks, marked with the number of the Company, which
will be the most convenient method for carriage; as it will also be for
their being most readily got at, if the heads of the casks are made with
trunk covers, and fastened by an iron hasp and padlock.

The ball-cartridges should be made by the Pioniers, under the

direction of the Quarter-master-serjeant, at the rate of forty five to a
pint of powder; and as they must be firm, and formed with great
exactness, good * paper is absolutely requisite; as it also is, that
they are tied up, either by dozens, of half dozens (according to their
number) for the greater convenience of packing, and the more ready
delivery of them to the men, when ever occasion requires it.
* The charge of cartridge paper of all sorts must be made in the
Non-effective account."

Every Company ought to have a strong, tanned leather bag, to receive

its allowance of exercise powder from the quarter-master, that there may
be as little waste as possible; and that all the cartridges may be
exactly proportioned to the bore of the firelocks, a sufficient number
of wooden formers, of a proper size, must likewise be provided.

On a march, each Company is to carry its own particular casks of

cartridges, and also an equal distri bution of the powder and ball
designed for exercise; the whole of which, at the end of the march, must
be returned to the quarter-master's stores.
*****