War Economics

There were four major types of repeating rifles used in the American Civil War , but gun experts agree that identifying all the different types of weapons used in the war is nearly impossible (Niepert 2007 In his article Carbines , Revolving Rifles and Repeating Rifles Robert Niepert of the Florida Historical Society identifies the Colt-Root Rifle , Sharps Carbine , Henry Repeating Rifle and Spencer Carbine as the pre-eminent repeating weapons of the war (2007 ) And according to the Smithsonian Institute 's history of the war , the Spencer carbine was so popular that many Union

soldiers who were not issues the carbine went out and bought their own . The site claims 95 ,000 of the Spencer rifles were purchased for Union soliders during the war another site claims that more than 200 ,000 were purchased but that some did not see action because they could not be delivered before the end of the war

The Spencer 's popularity was largely due to its firing mechanism . The carbine had a breach-loading seven-shot magazine that was encased in metal , not a firing mechanism . That meant that the gun would fire even after it got wet (Barnett ) And , the gun was completely useless when captured by the South because they did not have ammunition for it . Gun enthusiasts have argued since the war whether it was a better weapon than the carbine the South had manufactured in response , the Sharps Carbine (Smithsonian 2007 . The importance of the carbine was its usefulness for mounted troops . The shorter , rifled gun was lighter and designed to be carried by mounted troops . It could be fired easily from horseback and even foot soldiers it to other weapons because it was light and easy to fire (Smithsonian 2007

Other repeating rifles that gained widespread use in the Civil War were the Colt-Root Rifle and the Henry Repeating Rifle (Niepert 2007 ) The Colt-Root rifle was virtually identical to the Colt revolver and many soldiers liked carrying the pair of weapons because the ammunition was interchangeable (Smithsonian 2007

Rifle manufacturing had a great impact on the Civil War economy . In the South , much of the munitions manufacturing was concentrated in Texas with Winchester , Enfields and Colt dragoons manufactured there . Texas was also home to a gunpowder manufacturer and a munitions manufacturing plant ( Steuart 2007 . Manufacturing plants from Arkansas were also moved to Texas after Arkansas fell to the Union in 1863 (Steuart 2007

While the Spencer carbine had the inroads with the Union procurement officers , after the war , it was the Henry rifle that gun enthusiasts wanted (ref . Henry Repeating Arms was and is based in Brooklyn , New York . In an attempt to attract more Union business to the New York manufacturer , the company present President Lincoln with a gold-plated Henry repeater . The effort failed (Henry Repeating Arms 2007 ) Reports of the successful use of Henry rifles in the Civil War were numerous The incredible firepower unleashed by the Henry is evident in Major William Ludlow 's account of the Battle...