Beschreibung:

Lot of 12. Fortress Monroe, VA. Jany 15, 1862. B.H. Engelke 1st Mounted Rifles to Wm. Ead (?), Pine Plains, Duluth Co., W.T. informing them that he was sending a sword and rig that was taken from a dead rebel soldier killed near New Market Bridge Dec. 22, 1861. Second letter dated Jany. 20, 1862 in reply to Engelke’s letter, repeating the information and how the sword was being sent, and that he will be pleased to exhibit it the following month at a fair. Some of the conversation between the two suggests that this might aid in recruiting in the northern territories, since it indicates that the Union is not totally losing the war - there had been Union victories. Three pages with notes re: patent papers for firearms cartridges. These appear to be someone's notes on the invention, since several have the volume and page numbers from the Patent Office volumes cited. Copy (?) of letter to Gen. W.B. Franklin, Hartford, Conn. , not signed (writer uncertain) on U.S. Ordnance Agency, New York, 26 Aug. 1867. RE: a solid breech plug and who holds a patent on it. Two copies, each worded slightly differently, of a document by the mechanics and machinists of the Springfield Armory, regarding the manufacture of the Springfield Rifle Musket. Summary of Proof of Firing 8 inch RBL gun (Armstrong) – 5pp – 1st page 8 x 17 in., other four are 8 x 12 in. Summary of Proof for 12 inch RBL gun of 43 Tons – 4pp (legal size) (Manufactured by Sir W. Armstrong) Record of Firing – Sharps Rifle at Sandy Hook, NJ, March 31, 1880. DS by Chas. S. Smith 5pp letter, 19 Sept. 1881, on Office of U.S. Ordnance Agency letterhead, addressed only “Dear Colonel.” Descriptions of rifle and howitzer carriages. Retained copy of letter to Sec. of War, March 27, 1877 on Ordnance Office letterhead, S.V. Benet: “Although differences of opinion exist as to the proper organization of the Military establishment, and the true relation that ought to exist between the Staff Departments and the General of the Army, there is no doubt, that our organization of line and staff is the creature of law under the Constitution; that whether good or bad the law makes it a fixed fact; that the Ordnance Department is by law under the Secretary of War, and that it is not responsible to any other authority short of the President… [A]s the Adjutant General’s Department is a co-ordinate Staff department, with its Chief the Adjutant General holding the same rank as the Chief of Ordnance, it is submitted that he cannot give the latter an order, except as emanating from the Secretary of War; and that fact should be stated, otherwise the order is from one not competent to give it.” Retained copy of letter to Secretary of War, on Ordnance Office, War Department, Washington April 6, 1877 letterhead, S.V. Benet, Chief of Ordnance - George W. McCrary had only held the office for about 3 weeks at this point (since 12 March) – seems to relate to some dispute between CO and AG over roles and responsibilities. AG seems to have issued some kind of circular that "ruffled the feathers" of Benet, but the circular, once enclosed with the letter, is no longer with it, so the details are uncertain. Stephen Vincent Benet was born in St. Augustine, FL, 1827. At 12 he entered a private school in Alexandria, VA. He was admitted as a junior to Univ. of Georgia on the strength of his earlier scholarship, but left to attend West Point in June 1845, where he graduated third in the class of 1849. In the 1850s, he served at Watervliet, Frankford, St. Louis Arsenals, and taught geography, history, ethics and law at USMA. In 1861, he was back at Academy, teaching ordnance and gunnery. 1864 he was appointed commandant of Frankford Arsenal. In 1874, promoted to Brig. Genl. and appointed Chief of Ordnance, a position he would hold for 17 years. Shortly after his appointment, he established the proving ground at Sandy Hook, NJ. The department experimented with numerous guns, explosives, armor plate, including early machine guns. Be