37th Massachusetts Infantry

[djossi@yahoo.com]

Two Flints,

In the "It Never Hurts to Ask" category, I was wondering if you were aware of the following quote:

"Probably the greatest tribute to Christopher Spencer's repeaters was given by the men that had carried them. At the end of the war, many used their muster out pay to purchase the very guns they had carried. General Edwards of the 37th Massachusetts Infantry wrote to the Ordnance Department in June 1865;

'Our regiment was armed with the Spencer rifle on the 14th day of July, 1864, and we first had the opportunity of testing them in an engagement at Summit Point (West) Virginia......'At whatever position we have ever been placed, we have always found them to be our best and truest friend. At Sailors Creek, Virginia, April 6th 1865, we came off victorious over Custis Lee's brigade, that had enveloped us so closely on three sides that the bayonet was freely used.

The rifles now mostly are property of the men, and show the marks of hard service and exposure to all kinds of weather, but are still in as good serviceable condition as ever."

[Two Flints]

Dave,

Thank you for the quote . . . I have read the Regimental history of the 37th MA Infantry, but further research . . . going to Boston and searching the archives there is next to impossible now.  Too much going on here in Maine for any interuption in my activities.

The Union soldier often credited with firing a Spencer FIRST during the Civil War was Francis O. Lombard of the 1st MA Regiment Volunteer Cavalry.  His family lived in Springfield, MA and supposedly he knew Christopher M. Spencer before the Civil War started. Some authors indicate Spencer gave Lombard a Spencer when both were in the Washington, D.C. area.  Lombard was killed trying to rescue a wounded Union soldier and his Spencer Rifle or Carbine disappeared . . .  I looked for two years and really by accident, while searching on the Internet, I found his grave site.  Initially he had been buried in an unmarked grave and later was interred at the Fredricksburg National Cemetery.  



I did complete his family tree and I think it's pretty complete.  Trying to find out more about his immediate family, especially after he was killed has been unsuccessful.  A trip to Springfield, MA has always been in the back of my mind . . . but, other committments come first, right now.

Two Flints

[Two Flints]

Found the quote you gave above Dave  . . . thanks again!

Two Flints

[djossi@yahoo.com]

Sorry, Two Flints, I gave you a truncated version of the quote the first time around.  The complete quote (pg. 87 of the Marcot book) is as follows:

Head-Quarters 37th Mass. Vols.,
June 30th, 1865

Brig. Gen. R.A. Pierce
Acting Chief of Ordnance
State of Mass. 

Sir,

     Your communication of 27th inst., asking for a report concerning the efficiency of the Spencer Repeating Rifle.
     In reply, I have the honor to state that the regiment was armed with the Spencer Rifle on the 14th day of July 1864, and we first had an opportunity of testing them in an engagement at Summit Point, Virginia, August 21st, 1864, the result of which was most satisfactory. The regiment has repeatedly done the work of a brigade, and I consider a skirmish line armed with them fully equal to a line of battle armed with the Springfield. They are particularly useful in silencing batteries or driving them from position. Our skirmish line has repeatedly compelled batteries to abandon positions most annoying to us, in which they were perfectly safe from the Springfield Rifle. In whatever position we have ever been placed, we have always found them our best and truest friend. At Sailors' Creek, Virginia, April 6th, 1865, we came off victorious over Custis Lee's brigade, that enveloped us so closely on three sides that the bayonet was freely used.
     The Rifles now mostly are property of the men, and show marks of hard service and exposure to all kinds of weather, but are still in as good serviceable condition as ever.

   O. Edwards
   Brigadier-General

[treebeard]

Another compliment to Spencer's is that it was used by Nathan Bedford Forrests Escort Company. I read this not long ago
but can't put my hands on the reference at this moment. Apparently At critical points in a battle he would send in the
Escort Company to turn the tide in his favor. At his last battle at Selma the Spencer armed escort cut their way thru
the also Spencer armed Troopers of Wilson to escape (not to fight another day).

[ndnchf]

The Union soldier often credited with firing a Spencer FIRST during the Civil War was Francis O. Lombard of the 1st MA Regiment Volunteer Cavalry.  His family lived in Springfield, MA and supposedly he knew Christopher M. Spencer before the Civil War started. Some authors indicate Spencer gabe Lombard a Spencer when both were in the Washington, D.C. area.  Lombard was killed trying to rescue a wounded Union soldier and his Spencer Rifle or Carbine disappeared . . .  I looked for two years and really by accident, while searching on the Internet, I found his grave site.  Initially he had been buried in an unmarked grave and later was interred at the Fredricksburg National Cemetery.  

Two Flints

Two Flints - I live in Fredericksburg, less than a mile from the National Cemetery.  It is a very large cemetery.  If he has a marker and you can get a grave number and section,  I could go take a photo of it.  But it may or may not have a name on it.  Many of the stones have just initials on them or none at all if they have more than one occupant.

[djossi@yahoo.com]

In regards to the use of Spencers by Nathan Bedford Forest's men, I went on line and found the following three references to how Forest's men were armed.  As you'll see in the final one, his Escort was definitely armed with Spencers:

"Forrest armed his new commands largely with captured weapons. Thus, many of his men carried infantry rifles. As soon as possible, these were swapped for the short version of the Enfield rifle carried by infantrymen. Forrest also captured, and used, breech-loading carbines and Spencer repeaters, though the Confederacy could not furnish ammunition for the latter. It soon became well known to fellow Confederates, and Yankees who happened to face them, that Forrest's men used pistols, not sabers. The .36-caliber Navy Colt was the weapon of choice, but men used what they could get. If possible, the troopers acquired a pair of pistols, giving themselves more available rounds to fire in a fight." (Bradley, Michael R., They Road with Forrest, 2012, p. 12)

"The preferred weapon of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate horse soldiers was a pair of the .36 caliber Navy revolvers manufactured by Colt which Forrest believed was far superior to the Yankee infantry's bayonet." Small Arms of the Civil War, Civil War Trust website.

"By 1864, his escort company was armed with captured Spencer repeaters.  Ammunition was forwarded to them from the rest of the cavalry corps' captures on the battlefield.  The escort paid a heavy price for their conspicuous position, however.  Once, when Forrest was visiting General Dabney Maury's headquarters at Meridian, Miss., Maury told him that his escort was 'a fine body of men and horses'.  'Yes it is', replied Forrest, 'and that captain is the eighth captain who has commanded it. The other seven have all been killed in battle.'" (7th Tennessee Volunteers website)

[Two Flints]

Hi Ndnchf,

Thanks for the offer, and I'd like to take a "rain check" on it . . . I do have multiple photos of Lombard's grave site taken for me by another SSS member.

I appreciate the offer.  Many thanks.

Two Flints

[ndnchf]

Very nice Two Flints, glad you already have it.