Civil War Art

[Henry4440]

Here are two Civil War paints.
Custer at Hanover


Armed with 7-shot Spencer Repeating Rifles, troopers of Company E, 6th Michigan Cavalry, deploy as skirmishers under the watchful eye of their new brigade commander, General George Armstrong Custer, the Union Army's youngest general officer. Hanover, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1863




and for   
Distinguished Gallantry


Trevilian Station, VA, the evening of June 12, 1864 – 1st Lieut. Edward B. Williston, Norwich University Class of 1856, and Commander of Battery D, 2nd U.S. Artillery, moves a 12lb. napoleon cannon forward onto the skirmish line of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry to repel a Confederate ground assault. Lieut. Williston was awarded the Medal of Honor for his display of distinguished gallantry.

[Leo Tanner]

Those are great, who's the artist?

[Henry4440]

Those are great, who's the artist?

The Artist is Dale Gallon
Here the link for his website
http://www.gallon.com/

[Leo Tanner]

LH
     That's a great site, thanks!
     It's amazing how much history can be gleaned from this kind of art.  I found this one perticurly striking...




Leo

[Two Flints]

Lonesome Henry,

Thanks for the link and posting the photos...great site, much appreciated

Two Flints

[major]

Nice pictures but I think that it is interesting that none of the troopers that have the Spencers have a Saber.

[Jobe Holiday]

Hey Terry - You know you don't need no stinkin' sabers when you've got Spencers!

See you soon.

Your buddy,
JH

[Sgt Scott]

Terry,

Some of the books I've read (journals and letters home) indicate the western troops started strapping their sabers to the saddle. This especially happened with the volunteers as there was no specific training for the use of the saber other than drills they may have engaged in. The saber was used more as a club than a cutting weapon. The confederates had slowed their use of it as well. Don't get me wrong, I still find plenty of letters, after action reports and books that indicate the saber was well used, but it was fast becoming the secondary weapon. As the soldiers started learning how to dismount and fight, many of the volunteers simply didn't want the extra weight. Maybe this is why you don't see many of them in the artwork. Maybe, the artist simply forgot them.

[major]

Scott
There was a long thread on this very subject on one of the reenacting boards not to long ago.  As I remember it no real consensus was arrived at.  But most felt that later in the war many troopers attached the saber to the saddles when they dismounted to fight.
I do dismounted cavalry and rarely drag the saber from my tent.  I prefer not to get my legs tangled up in the thing.  The only time I bring it onto the field is when I am doing Officer and even then I rarely attach it to my belt but prefer to carry it in my left hand.
Terry

[Leo Tanner]

I was always under the impression that the bayos overshadowed the sabers for the reasons stated above.
     Except for the officers who used them as a beacon (and a weapon) in leading a charge.  So many stories, it's almost impossible to tell without going back in time and seeing it for yerself.  I imagine those journals an letters home make for some facinating reading.  Got any titles Sarge? 


Leo

[panhead pete]

Gentlemen,

It appears that the first print shows rifles and not carbines.  Would mounted soldiers carry the rifle??  I am thinking the rifle would have been too cumbersome for calvary..................any thoughts??

Panhead Pete

[Two Flints]

Panhead Pete,

In the first photo (of the first post) I just added the text that goes with the painting.  Maybe this will help with your question.

Armed with 7-shot Spencer Repeating Rifles, troopers of Company E, 6th Michigan Cavalry, deploy as skirmishers under the watchful eye of their new brigade commander, General George Armstrong Custer, the Union Army's youngest general officer.

Two Flints

[panhead pete]

Two Flints,
Deploy sounds like they were on foot at that point??!!  The guys here in MI who reenact the 6th MI Cavalry carry carbines.  Would a cavalry unit carry rifles or carbines?

I saw them at the Greenfield Village CW Muster.  That was my first view of the Spencer.  Less than a year later I bought an  Armi-Sport 56-50.  What an awesome weapon!

Best,

Panhead

[Two Flints]

Panhead Pete,

Some Civil War units were referred to as "Dismounted Infantry," which may answer your question as to why some "cavalry" units had Spencer rifles.  The horses provided quicker transportation to fighting areas; the Union soldiers dismounted, and fought on foot as regular infantry.

Two Flints   

[major]

Panhead
Early in the war only rifles were available and that is what they issued to the troopers.  Later in the war they started making carbines because they were cheaper and worked better for cavalry and then they issued them.  That is probably why the picture has rifles instead of carbines.
Terry

[panhead pete]

Thank you Gentlemen,

I am new to Civil War history and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.  I would not have wanted to face a Spencer on the battlefield, that's for sure!!

Kind Regards,

Panhead Pete

[Sgt Scott]

Leo,

I role play a sergeant in 1st Tennessee Company C (Union) and have a copy of their history written by W.R. Carter 1896. Looking at hand-drawn illustrations in the book, between pages 176 and 177 is an illustration showing the destruction of a railroad track, there are no sabers, but these may be infantry as the rifles are stacked behind the men, between page 178 and 179 illustrates one trooper mounted and one dismounted. The dismounted trooper clearly is wearing his sabre. This is supposed to be '64.

Sgt Scott

[bluesuit01]

On the question of carbine or rifle for cavalry, I found this in Wild Riders of the First Kentucky Cavalry by Eastham Tarrant (pp. 49-50). "Soon after entering camp we were introduced to active service. A detachment of picked men, armed with flintlock "horse" pistols, a relic of by-gone days, was sent under Lieut.-Colonel John W. Letcher to Nicholasville, on the north side of the Kentucky river, some fifteen miles distant, to guard arms through to camp. After returning from this expedition, companies A, B and C were armed with the Army Sharpe rifles with saber bayonets, one of the most effective arms in the service, and especially adapted to the dragoon or heavy Cavalry service. The other companies were afterward armed with the musket, a very inefficient arm, and particularly inconvenient for Cavalry. The men were compelled to retain these for a long time, much to their displeasure."  This was in August or September of 1861. Maj. John A. Brents, in his Patriots and Guerrillas of East TN and KY (KY Jayhawker Press edition, p. 42) states that after the regiment's service at Wildcat Mountain (October, 1861), "The enemy ever after was heard to say that they feared the `Old Wolf` with his Sharp's-rifle boys." The 'Old Wolf' was Col. Frank Wolford. It has been some time since I read Wild Riders, but I do not recall a   description of how the regiment was later armed. Tarrant does refer to their sidearms as Navies or Navy, as I recall. On a side note, my great, great grandpa was one of those Sharp's-rifle boys, having served in B Company from the very beginning until the muster out of the regiment three years later (after they had to leave their horses, which most men had provided themselves, in Georgia during the Atlanta campaign.)