Spencer vs. Henry in Civil War

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I just read Wiley Sword's Henry Rifle Book from cover to cover for the first time on my flight from back East.  I have read excerpts, but never the whole thing. 

Random observations:

Between 200 and 300 iron frame Henry rifles were manufactured, frames and buttplates contracted from Colt (propbably).  It is assumed that these were among the first to see action in the Civil war.  Henries (iron andbrass) were appearing starting mid-1862. 

Though less in numbers than the Spencer, the Henry was spread much wider throughout the Army than the Spencer as 90% of the Henries were private purchase arms.  Virtually all Spencers were issue arms, so you had to be in a unit that was issued them to have one. Henries, on the other hand, were spread throughout the entire army, especially the Army of ythe West.  Too many units to count had at least few Henry rifles.  Some infantry units had their Henry armed men mounted to use as scouts.

For the most part, Henries began gaining a reputation in mid 1862, at least a year or more before the Spencer was widely known.

Winchester enhanced the popularity of the Henry by using the press (newspapers), causing private sales to exceed his production capacity.  Spencer never did go after private sales but did land lucrative government contracts that eluded Winchester.  The government contracts allowed Spencer to expand to increase productivity. Lack of these contracts denied Winchester the capital necessaryto expand his facilities.  Winchester was stuck at about 200 (give or take) Henries a month most of the time.

The Sword book paints a little better picture of the widespread use of Henries than the Bilby book does, at least in the sense of identifying lesser units partially armed with Henries.

The shear number of Spencers in service at the end of the War (at least ten times as many as Henries) caused many Spencers to be surplused out to the civilians cheap.  Henries, on the other hand, had been private purchases, and were never surplused out, but went home with their original owners.

[Deadeye Don]

I have the book but havent read it yet.  Thanks for the readers digest version.  Deadeye.

[matt45]

  Hello the camp
I am confused... I was under the impression that Sherman was no where near the battle Chickamauga- so I assume you are talking post Chattanooga?
I was also under the impression that Wilder's Brigade was re-equipped and then operated as a standard cavalry unit after Chickamauga, but I'm no expert (advice on a good book pertaining to the unit would be highly appreciated).

[Two Flints]

Matt45,

A really great book (and one of my favorites ) with lots of Spencer photos is, Blue Lightning, by Richard A. Baumgartner; also, Lightning at Hoover's Gap by Glenn W. Sunderland. But, the former has some really great photos of soldiers with Spencers in hand!

Two Flints

[Mick Archer]

  Howdy Pards!

  Rick B. is a nice guy, and we have spent mucho hours sitting in the shade discussing CW stuff, but also WWI German  (he used to be a large uniform collector).
  He has a nice "line" of Civil War books.

  Mick Archer

[Fox Creek Kid]

...caused many Spencers to be surplused out to the civilians cheap.

That's the myth about the Spencers covered in Marcot's book as well as in others. Spencer sales (by the military) were verboten until the mid-1870's with few exceptions, e.g., Argentina & some to state militias. Ironically, few soldiers that were mustered out after the Civil War elected to buy their Spencers. Probably sick of fighting I'm sure. This is covered as well in the following highly recommended book:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-3496050-0462209?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=CARBINES+OF+THE+U.S.+CAVALRY+1861+-+1905%2C+by+John+D.+McAulay&Go.x=3&Go.y=12

[Tuolumne Lawman]

True, I didn't mean surplused out right after the war. They were issue cavalry arms (and some infantry) and or in storage until the 1873 Springfield was issued. It was then that they were surplused out.