I’ve picked up a (replica) 1853 Enfield rifled musket for deer hunting. While doing some research on the .58 caliber Minie ball, (I want to start casting my own)… I found this tidbit of information about the rifles that were picked up after the battle of Gettysburg. Remember that each rifle could hold only one charge, once it was loaded it must be fired before another charge should be added… It gives a glimpse of just how intense it must have been.
Of the approximately 35,000 muskets picked up from the Gettysburg battlefield, it was discovered:
11,000 were unloaded
24,000 were loaded
6,000 held one charge
12,000 held two charges
6,000 had from three to ten charges each
One had twenty-two charges.