Talk:Hiram Berdan

This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Biography: Military This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance). Firearms Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Firearms, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of firearms on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.FirearmsWikipedia:WikiProject FirearmsTemplate:WikiProject FirearmsFirearms articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. Military history: Biography / North America / United States / American Civil War This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status: Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met Associated task forces: /  Military biography task force North American military history task force United States military history task force American Civil War task force

That just doesn't sound right, you sure he wasn't a Major General? --V. Joe 03:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hiram Berdan was never any manner of general. He was appointed a colonel and a colonel he remained.

He did NOT, in any manner, invent the "Berdan Sharps Rifle". The Sharps New Model 1859 rifle was created by Mr. Christian Sharps and was adopted by a group known, quite coincidentally, as the U.S. Sharp Shooters.

Berdan did design several firearms, at least one of which was adopted by Imperial Russia. He also invented the Berdan priming system for cartridges, which is still in widespread use today.

Berdan was one of the country's finest marskmen, as well as an accomplished inventor. He, like many "instant officers" of his day, was a poor leader. And worse, when the battle joined, tended to find business in the rear area urgently requiring his personal attention. He left the military shortly after the battle of Gettysburg to continue his career as an inventor.

The Hiram Berdan article is in bad need of major edits.

Sorry to disagree, but Berdan was indeed a general, reaching the brevet rank of major general according to numerous Civil War references works. In the Regular Army, he did not advance past the rank of colonel, but the brevets in the volunteer army still conveyed the title "general." The reference to the Berdan Sharps Rifle does need changed, but I fail to see what else qualifies for "in bad need of major edits." Scott Mingus 19:14, 30 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to the Berdan priming system, didn't he also invent the self-contained metallic cartridge as we know it today?

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Hiram Berdan. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051128114052/http://www.snipersparadise.com/history/berdan.htm to http://www.snipersparadise.com/history/berdan.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 07:56, 4 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]