Black Powder, White Smoke

A Civil War Fire Fight & Black Powder Memories

By Joe Bilby · Originally published March 2017 · p. 4

Everyone who has had the unfortunate experience of being in a fire fight knows that excited soldiers tend to fire high. Hunters faced with the need for a quick shot often display similar tendencies, and I would guess that most missed shots at game are high ones. As might be expected, one of the greatest Civil War musketry firefights, the May 12, 1864, “Bloody Angle” battle at Spotsylvania, provided graphic proof of overshooting. A number of Minie balls, however, were apparently fired higher than anyone, including myself, might ordinarily suspect. One of the more astute observers of the Bloody Angle’s aftermath was Lt. Col. John Schoonover of the 11th New Jersey Infantry. Schoonover was a cool soldier in action and a noted rifleman who often took a turn on the skirmish line with a Springfield. His observations, which I came across, while working on a book about New Jersey’s military role in the Civil War, are worth quoting in their entirety: “The evidence of the continued fire at this point during the day and part of the night was everywhere apparent. The trees near the works were stripped of their foliage, and looked as though an army of locusts had passed during the night. The brush between the lines was cut and torn into shreds, and the fallen bodies of men and horses lay there with the flesh shot and torn from the bones. The peculiar whirring sound of a flying ramrod was frequently heard during the day. I noticed two of these that had fastened themselves in the oak trees nearby. “While the great number of the enemy’s dead and the terrible effects of our fire upon the logs composing the breastworks attested the general accuracy of our fire, the absence of the foliage from the top of the tallest trees made it evident that during a battle there is much random firing. There is a large percentage of men in actual battle who load carefully, aim deliberately, and shoot to kill. On the other hand, it is not an uncommon thing for a soldier amidst the excitement of battle, to load his gun, shut his eyes and fire in the air straight over his head.” Schoonover’s account of Spotsylvania, along with details of his other adventures, including potting Rebels on picket duty, may be found in Thomas B. Marbaker’s 1898 History of the Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. The book was reprinted by Longstreet House in 1990.

Black Powder Reminiscences When I was a kid in Newark, N.J., I badgered my parents into taking me to historical sites on summer vacations. We went to Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown and, of course, Gettysburg. At one of these venues I bought a soft cover book titled Artillery Through the Ages, published by the Government Printing Office for the National Park Service. I literally wore that book out rereading it. For the first time, I learned that the composition of black powder was simple proportions of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) sulfur and charcoal. With this information, my 12-year-old self approached my friend Kevin with the idea of making our own black powder. He, needless to say, readily agreed. It was summer and most of our friends were gone on vacation, so blowing something up seemed like a good idea to relieve the boredom. Where to get the components? In a simpler age, the answer was obvious, Chase’s Drugstore on Orange Street. I walked in with Kevin and said “sir, I would like to purchase some potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur.” One of the brothers who owned the pharmacy said to his sibling: “hey you know what these kids are trying to make?” The other brother laughed and we walked out with the components. Using the proportions specified in the book, we mixed the ingredients. I had a little brass (well, it appeared to be brass but was probably pot metal) cannon. I tried to drill a touch hole in the breech but, never being particularly talented with tools, failed. Kevin was no better. So, we poured our mixture on the ground and ignited it. It went up with a bit of a whoosh, but not a terribly big one. Fortunately, we were not aware that the process of making gunpowder involved wetting the raw materials, mixing and then breaking down into granules. Had we tried that we might well have blown ourselves up. Oh well, time to go see the guy who went over to Chinatown in Manhattan and bought some cherry bombs. Today, if you are interested in learning about black powder, its origins and how it was made “back in the day,” I suggest consulting a very sophisticated and educational blog my friend Fred Ray referred me to. The site has detailed information on how the physical and chemical properties of black powder were assessed to determine its quality. Powder quality then, as now, varied, and the writer points out that it is “a mixture, not a compound” and that it “only forms various chemical compounds when it starts to burn.” As I was aware, the type of charcoal matters; it can be made from various kinds of wood, wood pulp, bark, straw and other sources. What I did not know was that “some powders did not have sulfur” and others “may have sodium nitrate instead of potassium nitrate.” There is much, much more. Kevin and I were probably very lucky that our experiment predated the digital age. Check out the blog at http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com Joseph G. Bilby received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division in 1966-1967. He is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum, a freelance writer and historical consultant and author or editor of 20 books and over 400 articles on NJ and military history and firearms, and as publications editor for the NJ Civil War 150 Committee edited the award winning New Jersey Goes to War. He has received an award for contributions to Monmouth County (NJ) history and an Award of Merit from the NJ Historical Commission for contributions to the state’s military history. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]