Dick Hosmer

[Dave]

Has anyone contacted him about the change? Perhaps he would join up?

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[rongee]

Has anyone contacted him about the change? Perhaps he would join up?

He is aware of the new site.

[charles isaac]

The Krag is my favorite bolt gun, but was issued to men from an era that is largely misunderstood and suffers from a lack of intrest among todays military firearms enthusiasts.

Dick is the sharpest Krag man I have ever had the good fortune to learn from. Here is his outstanding Krag and Trapdoor site.

PictureTrail - Gallery

[Dan Shapiro]

He ain't half bad with Trapdoors either!

[charles isaac]

He ain't half bad with Trapdoors either!

Agreed, Dick posesses a wealth of knowledge in the field of late nineteenth century shoulder arms. My next book will be a signed copy of the superb Trapdoor book that he authored.

[jon_norstog]

[QUOTE=Infantry Marine;35609]The Krag is my favorite bolt gun, but was issued to men from an era that is largely misunderstood and suffers from a lack of intrest among todays military firearms enthusiasts...........

Marine, I agree on that. Somewhere between 1877 and 1898 the Army improved a whole lot. They instituted regular drills, exercises and even target practice. The regular units that went to Cuba were vastly superior in effectiveness to the ones that served in the Indian Wars.

The SpanAm War has a lot of lessons, including some that should have been applied in VietNam. All due respect for the halls of Montezuma and the shores of Tripoli, it was Cuba and the Guantanamo landing where the modern USMC made its bones. It was a "little" war but the action was big and unit losses were heavy. It was a political war too, kind of a North-South bonding experience that put the CW into the past. McKinley dragged CSA general Joe Wheeler out of retirement for a command role in Cuba and sent Nelson Miles to Puerto Rico. The latter not such a bad move, actually, even if it was made to keep the politically-minded Miles from getting too much glory.

One lesson of the SpanAm conflict was that the Black units - the 9th and 10th Cav. and the 24th & 25th Inf. were **good**. Those units got a lot of favorable press and became race heroes. When the veterans went home they had the confidence and skill at arms to protect their families and communities. Their example seriously undermined the whole Jim Crow system and presented the US with a choice between military effectiveness and maintaining white supremacy. So what did we do? We disbanded the Black fighting units and relegated negro soldiers to labor and support battalions. And kept them there until 1948.

It's funny, it was using and shooting Krags that got me reading and thinking about the men that carried them and the conflicts in which they served.

jn

[charles isaac]

All due respect for the halls of Montezuma and the shores of Tripoli, it was Cuba and the Guantanamo landing where the modern USMC made its bones....

That is an outstanding statement. Your understanding of the Marines and historical insight is noteworthy.

Now Dick Hosmer needs to get over here to answer Krag questions. I am answering questions for people, but am not THE Krag expert.