Lincoln's Spencer Target Board - Lots of great information & photos

[12 th Illinois]

   On Memorial Day, the 12th Illinois Cavalry was part of a living history display at the Military Museum in Springfield, Illinois. Our display was set up next to the case with the plank that President Lincoln shot at while testing Spencer's new repeating rifle. The first photo is of the plank itself. The next is of myself posing with my Spencer next to the display case with the plank, and a Spencer rifle. In the background is a painting of the test firing by artist Andrew Sibirsky.  Lincoln and Spencer are in the painting, but have not identified the others. (Smaller copies of this painting are available at the museum. If anyone is interested in purchasing one, let me know.  The next time I go to the museum, I'll get a better shot of the painting. 12th Illinois




                                       (photos posted by Two Flints)

In August of 1863 Christopher Spencer had a private meeting with President Abraham Lincoln where he presented his revolutionary 7-shot repeating rifle to the President. The next day Lincoln fired a full magazine at an improvised target fashioned from a pine board. Lincoln was so impressed with the Spencer that he personally endorsing it and set aside General James Ripley's opposition to the purchase of repeating cartridge guns for the Union Army. The Spencer rifles and carbines became the most dreaded and hated gun by the Confederates who fought the entire war with single shot muzzle-loading rifles and muskets. Spencer retained the target board for many years then sent it to the State of Illinois where it purportedly was lost in the mist of time.
The Lincoln Target Board has been found and the author was allowed to personally examine and photograph it at the Illinois State Military Museum in his home town of Springfield, Illinois. The Lincoln Target Board allows us to see what sort of marksman our 16th president was but the bullet holes in the board raise some question as to just what version of the Spencer rifle President Lincoln fired on that historic and fateful day in August 1863. The knowledge gained from the previous presentation on bullet holes in wood will be used to show what can be reasonably concluded from the dimensions of the bullet holes in this most famous of all targets.
                                 


Hello SSS,

As a part of my reseach, I was allowed to handle, photograph and measure the bullet holes in the actual Target Board (located in the State Military Museum in my home town of Springfield, Illinois).
Part of my effort was to establish the actual caliber of the Spencer rifle fired by President Lincoln. (It was indeed the .56-.56 version of the rifle and not some developmental caliber.)
 
Lucien C. (Luke) Haag
Forensic Science Services
Carefree, AZ





                                              (Mr. Haag)

[Will Ketchum]

Thanks for posting that.  I am curious, it looks as if the bullets didn't penetrate the board.  That seems strange since the range was only 40 yards.   I wonder what type of board it was?

Will Ketchum

[Bead Swinger]

Hmmm...
I thought 56-56 ball was around .535, maybe slightly larger.  That would put it in the 5% range; also, in all likelyhood the board has shrunk a bit over time.  Any guesses as to how much?

Given that you have .52 holes, I'd say it's almost certainly 56-56.

Also, the caliber available at the time was almost certainly 56-56, which in 1863 would have been an 1860 'Army' or 'Navy' rifle.

Question: How do they know the board is legit?

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[Two Flints]

Hello SSS,

I received the following photos from Mr. Lucien C. Haag, Forensic Science Services
Carefree, AZ, who presented a paper at the June 29, 2006 AFTE Training Seminar.  His paper was entitled, The Lincoln Target Board.  Mr. Haag was kind enought to send me the photos for addition to this thread, but his article cannot be sent to me until after it is published in the Journal of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE Journal).  Two Flints

[Sureshot]

Looks like Ol' Abe was a pretty fair shot, assuming he shot that board offhand as in the picture. The other guy did better, but was shooting prone with a rest.
I'll have to give that a try, as soon as I get my trigger pull down to a weight that will work better for offhand.
It would be fun to have a Lincoln reenactment postal shoot by the SSS once a year. 7 shots offhand at 40yds on a pine board, and post a picture of the results. 

Steve

[Two Flints]

Hello SSS,

I happened to be reading the June 1982 issue of Civil War Times and an article entitled, Making "The Blue and The Gray", written by William C. Davis, and thought you'd be interested in seeing this photograph of Stacy Keach (l), as Union intelligence operative Jonas Steele (a fictional character), test firing a Spencer on the White House lawn, while President Lincoln, portrayed by Gregory Peck looks on.  This fictional personal encounter does point out an historic fact - Lincoln was fond of personally testing new technological efforts.