Hi Alan,

I have indeed read Laurie Schiller's piece and even know him by email pretty well.

The NA ordnance records are a snap-shot in time - those are the weapons at the time of the inspection basically. That changed with captures from whatever the next raid/battle might bring in.

Some of Wheeler's regiments did undergo the saber drill as he created a mixed use command with units having rifles and carbines for dismounted fighting and the saber equipped units for mixing it up with Federal cavalry. I forget which ones were so designated but could find out from a Wheeler expert frind of mine easily enough.

As we know, Forrest disdained the saber and went for firepower. I have seen ordnance reports of a decent level of use for shotguns (and other ordnance maker invoices for shotgun bayonets)which could help negate the saber of the Federals to a good degree.

Forrest's ordnance problem was treble whatever Wheeler's was in that he always had his commands taken away from him and he had to go out and raise more. I know that on his West TN Raid of December, 1862, some of his new recruits were unarmed and some still had flintlocks which were then exhanged for any captures he made on that raid.

But somewhere he got more than enough pistols for his troops at Brice's Crossroads in June, 1864 for that bayonet charge I alluded to (by the 9th Minnesota Infantry) was stopped cold by pistol fire alone! A few pistols would not suffice for that to have happened; it would have taken lots of pistols for the volume of fire to have enabled that attack to be broken.

Forrest was getting pistols from somewhere and in quantity.

Greg Biggs