Types of Weapons used at Monterey Pass

Since so many relics have been donated to the Monterey Pass Battlefield, I wanted to elaborate a little on the types of weaponry that was used during the midnight battle. Each relic tells a story and in order to complete that story a little research needed to be conducted. The Ordinance Returns are easier to organize as the Union army had quarterly returns stating what each unit was armed with.

Army of the Potomac, Cavalry Corps

Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick Third Cavalry Division

Unit	Weapon	Sidearm
1st Ohio Cavalry Headquarter Guard	Sharps Carbine 52cal.	Colt Revolver 36cal. and 44cal. Remington 36cal. Whitney 36cal.

Colonel Nathaniel Richmond, 1st Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division

Unit	Weapon	Sidearm
5th New York Cavalry	Sharps Carbine 52cal.	Colt 44cal.
18th Pennsylvania Cavalry	Burnside Carbine	Colt 44cal.
1st Vermont Cavalry	Sharps Carbine 52cal.	Colt & Remington 44cal.
1st West Virginia Cavalry	Sharps, Burnside Carbine	Colt 44cal.

Brigadier General George A. Custer, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division

Unit	Weapon	Sidearm
1st Michigan Cavalry	Sharps, Burnside	Colt 44cal.
5th Michigan Cavalry	Spencer Rifle	Colt 44cal.
6th Michigan Cavalry	Spencer Rifle, Burnside	Colt 44cal.
7th Michigan Cavalry	Burnside	Colt 44cal.

Colonel Pennock Huey, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division (Gen. David Greg)

Unit	Weapon	Sidearm
2nd New York Cavalry	Sharps	Colt 44cal.
4th New York Cavalry	Sharps, Burnside	Colt, Remington 44cal.
6th Ohio Cavalry	Sharps, Burnside & Smith	Colt, Remington 44cal.
8th Pennsylvania Cavalry	Sharps	Colt 44cal., Remington 36cal. Allen’s 44cal.

The Confederate army is a little bit harder to research. But using regimental histories and various other resources, a less than detail historical account can come to life.

General William Grumble Jones, Commanding

General Grumble Jones' Brigade

Unit	Weapon
6th Virginia Cavalry	Unknown at this time, but a comparison is listed below
11th Virginia Cavalry Companies B, D and I	Colt 44cal. and 36cal. Sharps Carbine, Robinson Carbine, English Pistol, Merrill Carbine, Enfield Rifle, Mississippi Rifle, Gallagher Carbine, Burnside Carbine, Savage Pistol 44cal.

General Fitzhugh Lee's Brigade

Unit	Weapon
1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion	Sharps Carbine, Colt 44cal. & 36cal. Mississippi Rifles, and Richmond Rifle Carbines

General Beverly Robertson's Brigade

Unit	Weapon
4th North Carolina Cavalry	At least one shotgun,
5th North Carolina Cavalry	Unknown at this time

Colonel Isaac Avery Brigade, Early's Division, Ewell's Corps

Unit	Weapon
1st North Carolina Sharpshooters	Enfield Rifle,

Portions of the Union army Sixth Corps after the Battles of Gettysburg and Monterey Pass followed the rearguard of the Confederate army into South Mountain and skirmished with elements of General Jubal Early Division.

Colonel John McIntosh, 1st Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, (General Gregg)

Unit	Weapon	Sidearm
1st Maryland Cavalry	Burnside and Sharps Carbine	Colt 44cal.
1st Massachusetts Cavalry	Sharps Carbine	Colt & Remington 44cal.
1st New Jersey Cavalry	Burnside and Smith Carbines	Colt 44cal.
1st Pennsylvania Cavalry	Burnside and Sharps Carbine	Colt 44cal. & 36cal.
3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry	Sharps Carbine	Colt 44cal. & 36cal., Remington 44cal.

Brigadier General Thomas H. Neill, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Army Corps

Unit	Weapon
7th Maine Infantry	Springfield or Contract 58cal.
43rd New York Infantry	Enfield Rifle .577cal, Austrian Rifle 54cal.
49th New York Infantry	Springfield or Contract 58cal., Enfield Rifle .577cal
77th New York Infantry	Enfield .577cal
61st Pennsylvania Infantry	Springfield or Contract 58cal.

On a side note, thank you to Will McDonald, a member on the Authentic Campaigner for transcribing the Confederate Ordinance Returns and posting them to the forum. Without his research, the 11th Virginia Cavalry and the 1st Maryland Cavalry ordinances would not be possible.