Cavalry rig (1850s) what would you have

[Doug.38PR]

Ball and cap open top revolvers of the 1851 design.  What would the average trooper in the 2nd Cavalry have on his belt and on his saddle in terms of arms, extra ammo, powder, knives, sabers (I don't think they used those in the 2nd), balls (bullets), caps, extra cylinders, etc.

[Coffinmaker]

A soldier in the field will tote as much as he/she can carry to make life easier, within reason.  For a Calvary troop, the issue handgun was a .44 1860, for which extra "loose" ammunition would have been stashed away.  No belt knife but a pocket folder for sure.  Standard load out of rifle ammunition.  The rest of the stash would have been (and still is) stuff for creature comfort.  Extra sox and small clothes being biggies.

Coffinmaker

[Coffinmaker]

Oops.  I neglected to look at the date limitation.  '51 belt pistol with extra ball and powder as well as extra "loose" ammunition for the carbine.  Horse pistols weren't really all that common post single shot handguns.  Remembering a Cason accompanied every troop except scouts, even though you don't see 'em in most movies.

Coffinmaker

[Books OToole]

Actually;  the issued side arm (pistol) would have been a Colt Dragoon.
(1st model 1848-50, 2nd model 1850-52 & 3rd model 1852-1860)

Books

[Doug.38PR]

Really?  I understand that when Jefferson Davis became Secretary of War in the 1850s one of the changes he made was to issue the lighter 1851 Navy .36 to the U.S. 2nd Cavalry serving in Texas under Col. Albert Sydney Johnston and later Col. Robert Edward Lee.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

In the time period you are interested in they were titled Second Dragoons;

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/dragoons/History.htm

This is a reenactment unit.  This is what is recommended for kit & arms;

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/dragoons/Equipment.htm

The Dragoon pistol is not mentioned as this list is for early civil war times.  It is my understanding that the regular dragoons of prewar times used the Colt Dragoon pistol.  In the Seminole war Patterson Colts, both rifle and revolver might have been used.

[Doug.38PR]

Historian James Arnold points out that the 2nd was issued 1851 Navy's which were lighter than the .44 Colt Dragoon

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Historian James Arnold points out that the 2nd was issued 1851 Navy's which were lighter than the .44 Colt Dragoon

Thanks.  I knew the US Army did have  `51s but not who used them. 

[Doug.38PR]

The book is called "Jeff Davis' Own" by James Arnold.  It came out about 8 or 9 years ago I guess.   Early in the book he goes over the changes Davis made to the Cavalry, in particular the 2nd as a unit charged with fighting Comanches in West Texas and later bandits in the Rio Grande Valley.    They wore Hardee hats, used 1851 .36 Navy revolvers in place of the heavier .44 Colt Dragoon (which seemed odd to Arnold as it was giving up a bit of stopping power for a lighter pistol), did not issue sabers and, if I recall right, used Kentucky and Virginia Thoroughbreds which had a hard time adjusting to the harsh environment of West Texas as opposed to the Mustangs the Comanches used. 
Arnold doesn't go into a whole lot of detail about how many pistolscarried, what kind of carbine, if any,etc.  He does, if I recall, mention a shipment of brass cartridges for carbine rifles towards the the end of the book in the late 1850s.

One interesting account he makes of the durability of the Colt 1851 revolver is where either a Cavalry trooper or Texas ranger drop their gun in a fight or chase, the gun is lost, 6 months later the trooper or ranger comes back to that spot, finds the gun, puts some fresh percussion caps on the already loaded chambers and fires away.  The gun still worked fine.    That either says a lot for the Navy or a lot for dryness of South and West Texas....or both