Use of the Spencer Carbines and Herny Rifles

[georgian]

Hi everyone, I was just wanting to ask about the use of Spencer carbines and Henry rifles in the Civil War. Whether they were used by Union or Confederate troops (I do know they were used probably 99.9% by the Union troops). Also could you tell me some personal accounts with}} these weapons you may have had or anything you know about these weapons. Thank you very much guys and God Bless Yall!!

[johan_steele]

The Henry was actually quite rare with only a couple Regiments being issued with them... though quite a few were purchased by individuals, officers in particular.

The Spencer carbine was widely used... but nowhere near 99.9%... probably no more than a third of the Union Cav ever had an opportunity to carry the Spencer and many of those were late in the War. The Spencer had a reputation for reliabilitty and accuracy but the cartridge was quite poor in knockdown and range. For accurate shooting the Sharps was much preferred though the volume of fire a Spencer could produce made up for quite a lot.

I doubt more than a few if any Henry Rifles ever made it into the hands of the CSA... though quite a few Spencer carbines were captured but they were only rarely used because the Spencer cartridge was not produced by the CSA.

[jac]

Shane's given you a good answer.
The Spenser was the most desired repeating carbine, but supply never met demand. Steven Starr's book on cavalry covers this ...
There were many breechloading carbines used by Union cavalry during the CW. Joslyn, Burnside, Sharps, Peabody,Smith, and a whole bunch of others. I have seen writings on the CW where any breechloading carbine was referred to as a 'Spenser', when something different was actually used.
The technology of making cartridges was in its infancy in the 1860's, and the South could not make the cartridges the Spenser and Henry required. Many of the other breechloading carbines were single shot, and could use paper cartridges. The Sharps is a good example. The South could make paper cartridges for the Sharps, and I think even manufactured a few Sharps copies.

[jeffdavislegion]

The 7th Illinois was famous for their use of the Henry - particularly at Allatoona Pass. Check Dyers' Compendium and the Adjutant General's report at the following URL. (My g.g.grandfather was in the 7th Ills.)

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/reg_html/007_reg.htm

[johan_steele]

Probably the single best volume covering Civil War firearms is "Civil War Guns" by William Edwards. It was first published in the early sixties but is up to at least it's third printing. One of the more comprehensive books on the subject. Check your local library or Barnes & noble... runs about $40.

[johan_steele]

Henry Rifles whole or in part armed the following regiments during the Civil War 1st DC, 12 KY & 1 Me Cav Regiments. 7, 16, 23, 51, 66 & 80 IL 58, 93 & 97 IN & the 7 VA Inf Regiments. Less than 10,000 were purchased by the Union Army during the coarse of the War. They sold for $40. Length: 43.5" Weight: 9.25 lbs Caliber: .44 rimfire carried in a 15 rd under barrel magazine.


Spencer Carbines were issued from October 1863 to Union Cav Regiments. Spencer Rifles were issued starting in January of 1863. 51 Union Cav Regiments were whole or in part issued the Spencer Carbine. The 11th VA Cav carried the entire production of the CSA attempt to copy the Spencer... 6 other CSA Cav Regiments had numbers of Spencer Carbines on their ordanance returns at the end of the war.

95,000 Spencer Carbines were purchased & issued to the Union Armmy. Spencer Carbine specs: Length 39" Weight: 8.25 lbs Caliber: .52 and some in .56 7 rds in tubular magazine w/in the stock.

The Spencer was preffered to the Henry because it was more robust and reliable as well as considerably less expensive. The round was capable of perhaps 100 yards longer range and at shorter ranges the knockdown power was considerably greater than the .44 fired by the Henry. Though the Henry boasted far superior accuracy... in fact it was judged by some as the most accurate rifle in existance... though that is certainly questionable as I have fired original Sharps and Henry's and the Henry leaves much to be desired.

[gary]

From Claire Swedberg's "Three Years with the 92nd Illinois: The Civil War Diary of John M. King," we read: "'Now by God,' said Kilpatrick, 'let us see what the 92d can do here with that peculiar gun of theirs that they cling to so tightly.' We were ordered to take the hill. We had a hard job on our hands, and it would take some effective work, so we dismounted, as we could do double the execution dismounted. We left our horses and wheeled into line without losing a minute's time. Before we had our line scarcely formed the rebels opened on us from the hill. We gave one long continued yell and started on a run up the hill, pumping one continuous roll of musketry on to the barricade, raining the leaden balls on to those rails like hail stones on a roof. No rebel dared raised his head to shoot again and we were in perfect safety. The rebels saw at a glance that they only had a minute to decide between surrender or leg bail, and they choose the latter and ran down the south slope of the hill faster than we could up the north slope... Kilpatrick was ever after as warm a friend to the Spencer as any man that carried one." Page 205.