While reading A Yankee Private's Civil War, the memoirs of Robert Hale Strong and edited by Ashley Halsey (1961, Henry Regency Company, Chicago) I ran across the following passage concerning Spencer rifles.
"The 102nd Illinois, armed with Spencer rifles, the famous seven-shooters, were deployed in front of us as skirmishers. They were in a thin, spread-out line as skirmishers usually are. As the Rebs would advance, the 102nd boys would open on them with their seven-shooters and pretty soon, back they would go, only to rally and try again. We could hear their officers cursing them for cowards to run from nothing more than a thin line of skirmishers."
Bob Strong was enlisted within the 105th Illinois, which was assigned in 1864 to the First Brigade (Ward's), Third Division, Hooker's 20th Corps. The brigade took part in all of the actions of the Atlanta Campaign. The passage related above occurred just before the actions at Kennesaw Mountain.
Halsey left a note about this particular recollection stating the following.
"Editor's note: Here is a rare, firsthand account of the effect of modern repeaters, firing rim-fire cartridges, on troops accustomed to facing nothing more rapid-fire than muzzleloaders. The Spencers had a rate of fire seven times that of the muzzleloaders. Hence a few skirmishers armed with them were as effective as a much larger force with regular muskets - a fact that the cursing Confederate officers either did not grasp or refused to recognize."
This brings up some questions in regards to how the Spencers should be treated within the JTS/HPS world.
First, for ammunition purposes, we have an automatic ammunition shortage algorithm that apparently applies to all longarms. And that seems to work to everyone's satisfaction, given the standard 20-minute turn cycle. But if we look at the number of rounds that could be fired by Spencers as opposed to the standard muskets, we have to think about something in the neighborhood of seven casual shots per minute for the Spencer, including changing out to a full replacement ammunition tube, as opposed to one and a half shots per minute with the musket. If we assume that the full twenty-minute turn is taken with fire combat, then the Spencer theoretically could blast out about 140 shots to the musket's 30, irrespective of fouling and barrel overheating. But as a matter for ammunition that would mean that each Spencer rifleman would have to carry 19 reload tubes in addition to the one already in the rifle, and then he would have to be completely resupplied if the rifle was still usable. (Did Ripley have a point?)
Second, it is interesting to note in the Hale account that he states the effective size of his brigade's regiments was roughly 200-men. This would very sensibly lead to the assignment of one of the brigade's regiments, the 102nd, as skirmishers! The 102nd Illinois appears within the JTS/HPS Kennesaw Battle with 267-men, but not armed with the Spencer.
I would very much like to review an authoritative treatment in all regards of the Spencer rifle in Civil War combat. Is there such a work?
_________________ General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC Union Army Chief of Staff Commander, Army of the Shenandoah Commander, Army of the Tennessee (2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)
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