This is another draft article - as always, comments welcome.
John
The Civil War Model 1860 Spencer Carbine
On August 18, 1863, 30-year-old Christopher M. Spencer grabbed a unique repeating firearm and a supply of cartridges and walked into the White House. Although the U.S. Civil War was raging and the country was still burying its dead from the epic battle of Gettysburg, Spencer strode past sentries and walked right into Abraham Lincoln’s oval office to keep his scheduled appointment. I’m guessing that even with an ongoing war, presidential security was not quite as stringent as it has become in modern times!
Spencer had invented the gun he was carrying, which was already in limited initial production (it had first been used in battle at Gettysburg). However, the Union Army’s Bureau of Ordnance had repeatedly rejected its official adoption. Spencer was not to be deterred, and was determined to go right to the top in order to provide the Army with an effective multi-shot weapon in that age of muzzle-loading single shot rifles. He had heard that Lincoln had some doubts about his gun, garnered from a previous test firing of an apparently defective example in July, and he wanted to dispel any unwarranted concerns the President might have had.
Intrigued by the brashness and enthusiasm of the young inventor, Lincoln invited Spencer to sit down and talk. This they did, and Lincoln was shown the new lever-action gun hands-on. Spencer even field-stripped it to show the President its parts and how it operated. Following the discussion, the President agreed to a firing demonstration. He immediately arranged to have one convened the next day on the weed-filled area behind the White House, not far from the Washington Monument, which was then still under construction.
The next afternoon, Spencer returned with his new repeating weapon. Lincoln greeted him, along with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and a small number of other officials. The group walked over to the “test site” where a wooden board had been set up as a target, painted with a crude bullseye. From forty yards away, Lincoln addressed the target, Spencer’s loaded gun in his hands. He fired seven consecutive shots in quick succession, hitting the bullseye on the second shot. To say that the President was impressed would be putting it mildly. He enthusiastically commented on the gun’s accuracy and efficiency. To commemorate the occasion, Lincoln presented Spencer with a portion of the board when they walked back to the White House. He then arranged another test firing the next day with John Hay, one of his two personal secretaries. Hay found the gun quite satisfactory, calling it “…a wonderful gun, loading with absolutely contemptible simplicity and ease with seven balls and firing the whole readily and deliberately in less than half a minute.”
While both rifles and carbines were made, the stubby carbines met with almost universal praise in their role as cavalry weapons. They were robust, rugged and not easily damaged. The feeding mechanism was a spring-loaded tube in the stock, where it was protected against vigorous usage in combat. The receiver was relatively flat, making it ideal for close carry while on a horse. The arm could be quickly replenished with seven rounds when used with any of the (usually) ten handy pre-loaded tin tubes carried in a slung leather carrying case – the Blakeslee cartridge box. This was the invention of Erastus Blakeslee, a member of the 1st Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, who obtained a patent on the concept.
Officially called the Spencer Repeating Rifle, the rifles and carbines most used during the Civil War were designated as the Models of 1860, the year the design was finalized by Spencer. All were chambered for the 56-56 Spencer rimfire cartridge that had a case made of copper. This designation was unusual, in that the two numerals referred to the diameter of the case ahead of the rim and the diameter at the mouth of the case. The actual diameter of the 350-grain bullet varied from .54 to .555 caliber, depending on the manufacturer. Each cartridge was loaded with 45 grains of black powder, providing a muzzle velocity of about 1200 feet per second. The gun was loaded by removing an inner tube containing a coiled spring and a follower from the tubular magazine in the stock, then filling the magazine with seven rounds either individually or more quickly from a Blakeslee tube. The spring tube was next re-inserted in the magazine behind the cartridges, pushed in to accept them, and locked in place by turning a flat projection at the end of the spring tube into a recess in the buttplate.
Pulling the underlever of the gun down rotated the breechblock back and down, clearing the way for a cartridge to be pressed forward by the magazine spring. Pulling the lever back up rotated the breechblock behind the cartridge, pushing it into the chamber. As the breechblock came into its forward position, a section of it was pushed up to lock everything in place solidly. It was a simple and effective design. Like most firearms of that era, the hammer had to be manually cocked. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer fell, hitting the firing pin which ignited the primer compound in the rim of the cartridge, firing the gun. Operating the lever downward ejected the spent cartridge case, and the process was repeated to continue firing.
The carbine used by the Union cavalry had a 22-inch barrel compared to 30 inches for the rifle. It measured 39 inches long overall, ideal for horseback carry and quick deployment when dismounting. It weighed in at 8 ¼ pounds. A brass blade front sight was utilized, and the barrel-mounted folding rear sight was graduated for firing out to 800 yards. Sling swivels were attached to the buttstock and barrel band, and a sling ring and bar were located on the grip area of the left side. First issued in late 1863, the firepower of this new gun had a decidedly negative effect on the morale of opposing Confederate soldiers.
One of the great advantages of the Spencer rifles and carbines was that they utilized metallic self-contained cartridges which were virtually waterproof. Sharps single-shot rifles of that time, although they were breech-loaders, used paper and linen cartridge components that could be soaked with water or destroyed by the shock of transportation in bouncing supply wagons. This made them useless in short order. Another advantage with the Spencers was that the Confederates could not use captured Spencers for very long, as ammunition for them was simply not available in the South.
When all was said and done and the government contracts were completed at the end of 1865, 64,685 carbines had been delivered by the Spencer factory. Each carbine was also provided with a cleaning brush and thong, and a screwdriver for disassembly of the arm. Individual purchases swelled these impressive numbers even more. Arms factories in the South could never hope to match or even approach such feats.
Reports from the field on the use of Spencer carbines by Union cavalry units were quite impressive. During the Wilderness campaign, an action was fought at Parker’s Store in a heavily wooded area. The 500 members of the Fifth New York Cavalry dismounted from their horses and formed a skirmish line when they were set upon by a full division of Confederate infantry. A raging battle ensued, and for three solid hours, the cavalrymen held off repeated Southern attacks until they began to run out of ammunition for their Spencer carbines. They were then forced to pull back, but inflicted such mayhem on their foes that the Confederates in that battle believed that they had been fighting a full brigade!
On April 2, 1865, over 1,500 Union cavalrymen, armed mostly with Spencers, attacked the entrenched Confederate defensive positions at Selma, Alabama. They first had to cover 600 yards of open fields, and then faced a barrier of sharpened cedar posts, more open space, a 5-foot-deep ditch, and a 15-foot embankment. The Confederates poured artillery and rifle fire on the Yankees. The Union soldiers bore on, firing their Spencers rapidly. Up they went over all the obstacles, capturing the Southern positions while suffering about 300 casualties in the process. After Selma, they bore on to Macon, Georgia to discover that the war was over. It’s believed that without their Spencers, that herculean task at Selma would never had been possible.
Late in the Civil War, a few changes were made to Spencer carbines being delivered to the Army, resulting in a name change from Model 1860 to Model 1865. New carbines were chambered for an updated standard rimfire cartridge, the 56-50. This ammo could chamber in the older carbines, but the older rounds would not work in the newer guns. These slightly-modified arms were stamped “Model 1865” on the receiver, and the barrel length became shorter at 20 inches. In March, 1865, new carbines were equipped with the Stabler magazine cut-off device, invented by Edward Stabler of Sandy Springs, Maryland. With it, the carbine could be fired as a single-shot, holding the cartridges in the magazine in reserve. After the war, Springfield Armory retrofitted about 12,000 Model 1860s to Model 1865 specifications.
In June of 1864, the Burnside Rifle Company was authorized to manufacture Spencer firearms to augment those made at Spencer’s factory. Although Model 1860s were ordered, deliveries did not begin until April, 1865, and 30,496 Burnside-manufactured Model 1865s were produced.
The M1865 Spencers remained in use into the mid-1870s. Unfortunately, Custer’s 7th Cavalry did not get any, and were armed instead with single-shot Model 1873 trapdoor Springfield carbines. Well, you know what happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Christopher Spencer himself died January 14, 1922 at age 88. His contribution to firearms technology during the Civil War was incredibly important and often pivotal.
Today, Spencer rifles (and especially carbines), are highly sought-after collector items and priced accordingly. They are some of the really classic firearms of the Civil War period. I used to own a Spencer carbine many years ago, but since I was then a neophyte in collecting, I regrettably let it go to an older gentleman who was salivating for it. Hindsight is always perfect, as they say!
(c) 2020 JLM
John
The Civil War Model 1860 Spencer Carbine
On August 18, 1863, 30-year-old Christopher M. Spencer grabbed a unique repeating firearm and a supply of cartridges and walked into the White House. Although the U.S. Civil War was raging and the country was still burying its dead from the epic battle of Gettysburg, Spencer strode past sentries and walked right into Abraham Lincoln’s oval office to keep his scheduled appointment. I’m guessing that even with an ongoing war, presidential security was not quite as stringent as it has become in modern times!
Spencer had invented the gun he was carrying, which was already in limited initial production (it had first been used in battle at Gettysburg). However, the Union Army’s Bureau of Ordnance had repeatedly rejected its official adoption. Spencer was not to be deterred, and was determined to go right to the top in order to provide the Army with an effective multi-shot weapon in that age of muzzle-loading single shot rifles. He had heard that Lincoln had some doubts about his gun, garnered from a previous test firing of an apparently defective example in July, and he wanted to dispel any unwarranted concerns the President might have had.
Intrigued by the brashness and enthusiasm of the young inventor, Lincoln invited Spencer to sit down and talk. This they did, and Lincoln was shown the new lever-action gun hands-on. Spencer even field-stripped it to show the President its parts and how it operated. Following the discussion, the President agreed to a firing demonstration. He immediately arranged to have one convened the next day on the weed-filled area behind the White House, not far from the Washington Monument, which was then still under construction.
The next afternoon, Spencer returned with his new repeating weapon. Lincoln greeted him, along with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and a small number of other officials. The group walked over to the “test site” where a wooden board had been set up as a target, painted with a crude bullseye. From forty yards away, Lincoln addressed the target, Spencer’s loaded gun in his hands. He fired seven consecutive shots in quick succession, hitting the bullseye on the second shot. To say that the President was impressed would be putting it mildly. He enthusiastically commented on the gun’s accuracy and efficiency. To commemorate the occasion, Lincoln presented Spencer with a portion of the board when they walked back to the White House. He then arranged another test firing the next day with John Hay, one of his two personal secretaries. Hay found the gun quite satisfactory, calling it “…a wonderful gun, loading with absolutely contemptible simplicity and ease with seven balls and firing the whole readily and deliberately in less than half a minute.”
While both rifles and carbines were made, the stubby carbines met with almost universal praise in their role as cavalry weapons. They were robust, rugged and not easily damaged. The feeding mechanism was a spring-loaded tube in the stock, where it was protected against vigorous usage in combat. The receiver was relatively flat, making it ideal for close carry while on a horse. The arm could be quickly replenished with seven rounds when used with any of the (usually) ten handy pre-loaded tin tubes carried in a slung leather carrying case – the Blakeslee cartridge box. This was the invention of Erastus Blakeslee, a member of the 1st Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, who obtained a patent on the concept.
Officially called the Spencer Repeating Rifle, the rifles and carbines most used during the Civil War were designated as the Models of 1860, the year the design was finalized by Spencer. All were chambered for the 56-56 Spencer rimfire cartridge that had a case made of copper. This designation was unusual, in that the two numerals referred to the diameter of the case ahead of the rim and the diameter at the mouth of the case. The actual diameter of the 350-grain bullet varied from .54 to .555 caliber, depending on the manufacturer. Each cartridge was loaded with 45 grains of black powder, providing a muzzle velocity of about 1200 feet per second. The gun was loaded by removing an inner tube containing a coiled spring and a follower from the tubular magazine in the stock, then filling the magazine with seven rounds either individually or more quickly from a Blakeslee tube. The spring tube was next re-inserted in the magazine behind the cartridges, pushed in to accept them, and locked in place by turning a flat projection at the end of the spring tube into a recess in the buttplate.
Pulling the underlever of the gun down rotated the breechblock back and down, clearing the way for a cartridge to be pressed forward by the magazine spring. Pulling the lever back up rotated the breechblock behind the cartridge, pushing it into the chamber. As the breechblock came into its forward position, a section of it was pushed up to lock everything in place solidly. It was a simple and effective design. Like most firearms of that era, the hammer had to be manually cocked. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer fell, hitting the firing pin which ignited the primer compound in the rim of the cartridge, firing the gun. Operating the lever downward ejected the spent cartridge case, and the process was repeated to continue firing.
The carbine used by the Union cavalry had a 22-inch barrel compared to 30 inches for the rifle. It measured 39 inches long overall, ideal for horseback carry and quick deployment when dismounting. It weighed in at 8 ¼ pounds. A brass blade front sight was utilized, and the barrel-mounted folding rear sight was graduated for firing out to 800 yards. Sling swivels were attached to the buttstock and barrel band, and a sling ring and bar were located on the grip area of the left side. First issued in late 1863, the firepower of this new gun had a decidedly negative effect on the morale of opposing Confederate soldiers.
One of the great advantages of the Spencer rifles and carbines was that they utilized metallic self-contained cartridges which were virtually waterproof. Sharps single-shot rifles of that time, although they were breech-loaders, used paper and linen cartridge components that could be soaked with water or destroyed by the shock of transportation in bouncing supply wagons. This made them useless in short order. Another advantage with the Spencers was that the Confederates could not use captured Spencers for very long, as ammunition for them was simply not available in the South.
When all was said and done and the government contracts were completed at the end of 1865, 64,685 carbines had been delivered by the Spencer factory. Each carbine was also provided with a cleaning brush and thong, and a screwdriver for disassembly of the arm. Individual purchases swelled these impressive numbers even more. Arms factories in the South could never hope to match or even approach such feats.
Reports from the field on the use of Spencer carbines by Union cavalry units were quite impressive. During the Wilderness campaign, an action was fought at Parker’s Store in a heavily wooded area. The 500 members of the Fifth New York Cavalry dismounted from their horses and formed a skirmish line when they were set upon by a full division of Confederate infantry. A raging battle ensued, and for three solid hours, the cavalrymen held off repeated Southern attacks until they began to run out of ammunition for their Spencer carbines. They were then forced to pull back, but inflicted such mayhem on their foes that the Confederates in that battle believed that they had been fighting a full brigade!
On April 2, 1865, over 1,500 Union cavalrymen, armed mostly with Spencers, attacked the entrenched Confederate defensive positions at Selma, Alabama. They first had to cover 600 yards of open fields, and then faced a barrier of sharpened cedar posts, more open space, a 5-foot-deep ditch, and a 15-foot embankment. The Confederates poured artillery and rifle fire on the Yankees. The Union soldiers bore on, firing their Spencers rapidly. Up they went over all the obstacles, capturing the Southern positions while suffering about 300 casualties in the process. After Selma, they bore on to Macon, Georgia to discover that the war was over. It’s believed that without their Spencers, that herculean task at Selma would never had been possible.
Late in the Civil War, a few changes were made to Spencer carbines being delivered to the Army, resulting in a name change from Model 1860 to Model 1865. New carbines were chambered for an updated standard rimfire cartridge, the 56-50. This ammo could chamber in the older carbines, but the older rounds would not work in the newer guns. These slightly-modified arms were stamped “Model 1865” on the receiver, and the barrel length became shorter at 20 inches. In March, 1865, new carbines were equipped with the Stabler magazine cut-off device, invented by Edward Stabler of Sandy Springs, Maryland. With it, the carbine could be fired as a single-shot, holding the cartridges in the magazine in reserve. After the war, Springfield Armory retrofitted about 12,000 Model 1860s to Model 1865 specifications.
In June of 1864, the Burnside Rifle Company was authorized to manufacture Spencer firearms to augment those made at Spencer’s factory. Although Model 1860s were ordered, deliveries did not begin until April, 1865, and 30,496 Burnside-manufactured Model 1865s were produced.
The M1865 Spencers remained in use into the mid-1870s. Unfortunately, Custer’s 7th Cavalry did not get any, and were armed instead with single-shot Model 1873 trapdoor Springfield carbines. Well, you know what happened at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Christopher Spencer himself died January 14, 1922 at age 88. His contribution to firearms technology during the Civil War was incredibly important and often pivotal.
Today, Spencer rifles (and especially carbines), are highly sought-after collector items and priced accordingly. They are some of the really classic firearms of the Civil War period. I used to own a Spencer carbine many years ago, but since I was then a neophyte in collecting, I regrettably let it go to an older gentleman who was salivating for it. Hindsight is always perfect, as they say!
(c) 2020 JLM
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