Traveling Forge built by David Einhorn author of the book Civil War Blacksmithing

British 1840s Blacksmith Traveling Forge Wagon

A traveling forge, when combined with a limber, comprised wagons specifically designed and constructed as blacksmith shops on wheels to carry the essential equipment necessary for

blacksmiths A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gril ...

artisans An artisan (from , ) is a skilled worker, skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by handicraft, hand. These objects may be wikt:functional, functional or strictly beauty, decorative, for example furnit ...

(called artificers in many armies) and

farriers A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adjust ...

to both shoe horses and repair wagons and artillery equipment for both U.S. and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

armies during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, as well as by western European armies. The traveling forge was frequently also referred to in The Official Records simply as a forge,#The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies prepared under the direction of the Secretary of War, by Bvt. Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U.S. Artillery and Published Pursuant to Act of Congress, approved June 16, 1880. Washington: Government Printing Office 1880 and sometimes referred to by Civil War buffs as a battery forge.

Overview

An American Civil War-era traveling forge contained of tools, coal and supplies. These tools and supplies included a bellows attached to a fireplace, a vise, anvil, a box containing of coal, of horse shoes, bundled bars of iron, and on the limber was a box containing the smith's hand tools. A battery wagon accompanied each traveling forge carrying additional blacksmith,

wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright" (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker - as also in shipbuilding, shipwright ...

, and carriage repair supplies. American Civil War-era traveling forge wagons evolved from crude blacksmith carts used during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

as well as from equipment used in Europe during the 1840s. British traveling forges were documented in ''An Aide-Memoire to the Military Sciences volume 1'' by Royal Engineers, British Service, 1845, Col. G.G. Lewis, senior editor. British traveling forges likely had canvas covers as indicated by the number and spacing of wood arches above the bellows, and what appears to be cord anchor points on the sides of the bellows house. A canvas cover would have been logical as protection of the bellows from the weather, and in accordance with the standard practice of covering wagons at that time. This canvas cover evolved into the wooden cover of the U.S. version of the traveling forge. The U.S. mid-19th century traveling forge was standardized for U.S. manufacturers in the drawings created by Captain Albert Mordecai circa 1850 under commission by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. Copies of Captain Mordecai's drawings are currently published by Antique Ordnance Publishers. The book ''Field Artillery Traveling Forge book No. 61'' published by Antique Ordnance Publishers contains most of the measured drawings and other information necessary to reproduce the traveling forge. Additional crucial information covering measurements, construction and materials used with the traveling forge may be found in the ''Ordnance Manual of 1863''. The Ordnance Manual of 1863 says that in use, the traveling forge was hooked to the back of a limber that was identical in construction to the limbers used to pull field

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

, except for the internal arrangement of the limber chest. The Ordnance Manual of 1863 details information about the wheels, paint, wood and iron parts used on the traveling forge, as well as the tools stored in the traveling forge's limber chest and in the battery wagon for use by the

and

. During the Civil War, a traveling forge was provided for each cannon battery, and other traveling forges accompanied each army to provide service to equipment and horses. Portable

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil (metal), foil or Metal leaf, leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 ...

''Mountain Forges'' were provided to units with mountain howitzers which were primarily deployed in

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

areas inaccessible to the No. 1 cannon carriage and wagons. The Official Records only document official government built traveling forges constructed according to specifications in the Ordnance Manuals and the Mordecai drawings. No evidence exists that either army ever used traveling forges that were not built by government contractors.

References

Bibliography

* ''Civil War Blacksmithing'' (December 2010), David Einhorn, CreateSpace Publishing, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, , * ''Field Artillery Traveling Forge book No. 61'' by Antique Ordnance Publishers Inc. * ''The Ordnance Manual For The Use Of The Officers Of The Confederate States Army, 1863'' reprinted by Morningside Press 1995,
* ''The ordnance manual for the use of officers of the United States army. '' reprinted by Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, December 22, 2005, {{ISBN, 1-4255-5971-9 * ''A Treatise on the Progressive Improvement and Present State of the Manufactures in Metal, Volume 1, '' 1831 by John Holland (Author) London Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green

tc. TC, T.C., Tc, Tc, tc, tC, or .tc may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * Theodore "T.C." Calvin, a character on the TV series '' Magnum, P.I.'' and its reboot * Tom Caron, American television host for New England Sports Netw ...

External links

Contact information and catalog for Antique Ordnance Publishers
Military equipment of the American Civil War Ammunition Carts Artillery operation American Civil War artillery