Artifact of the Quarter

As a result of a partnership between MCWI and the Clarke County Historical Association, MCWI is fortunate to display a number of artifacts in the Lodge, related to the Battle of Cool Spring. Among the artifacts on display are two Merrill Carbine bullets. While to some these bullets are merely chunks of lead, they offer an important window into understanding the varied types of firearms used at the battle. 

The Merrill, among the least popular breech-loading carbines, was largely used by federal cavalrymen serving in the war’s western theater. Civil War firearms experts Early J. Coates and Dean S. Thomas note that “only a very few [were] still in use by the Army of the Potomac cavalryman” by mid-1863. That makes the discovery of the Merrill bullet at Cool Spring remarkable. More than likely the bullet was fired by one of the dismounted troopers who fought at the battle as part of Major Samuel K. Young’s command — the first to feel the weight of Confederate Gen. Robert Rodes’ division during the late afternoon of July 18, 1864.