Ammunition supply 1898

[John S.]

Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. That includes ammunition. The Spanish American War and its subsequent Philippine Insurrection were a real test of U.S. logistics abilities. Trapdoor ammunition was distributed in wooden crates, weighing over 100 pounds each, as it had been virtually unchanged since the .58 caliber rifle musket days.

The Library of Congress actually has two videos showing crated ammo being transferred to the front in the Santiago Cuba campaign in 1898. These early "movies" were always short and the quality marginal. The first shows two crates being loaded on a mule, and it is not worth recommending.

Here is a link to the other, better video, only about 1 minute long, showing a mule pack train headed to the front. Note that some volunteer troops were armed with trapdoors, while regular units mostly had .30-40 Krags. I did a screen shot of one of the frames and it shows that the crates (on that mule) were marked as .30 caliber, but they are basically the same as the trapdoor crates.
Pass the popcorn.
https://www.loc.gov/item/98501077/

[Dick Hosmer]

Mules didn't look too happy, especially the last one! What a rag-tag bunch - loved the top hat! Great to see (even in little snippets) what things were REALLY like - thanks for sharing. I have a WW1-era Remington Krag ammo crate, unfortunately missing the lid and the tin is cut rather crudely, but it does have a few of it's ORIGINAL full, unopened, 20-round pasteboard packets. It was purchased, sealed, by the Richmond (CA) Rod & Gun Club in the '40s. I'll have to take a couple of pictures, when it gets cooler, that is.

My problem is that I often respond too quickly, and (conditioned by 20+ years of not being able to post pictures) fail to realize that I should wait until I have all my ducks (or other items) in a row . . .