Cavalry

[BOSTON]

I so wonder about how much ammunition a Union calvaryman would take with him into a fight. It would seem that he would rapidly expend his supply given the rate of firepower he could sustain.

Spencer rifle had a firing rate of 20 rounds per minute, average of 40 rounds/4lbs. per man, may have been more for cavalery, havn't found reference to that yet or range.

[JC Edwards]

hoistingman4 wrote:

Love using the cavalry, looking forward to the improvements.:cheer: JC does the spencer rifle have a bayonet and how far is it's effective range? From what I've read I don't think all the cavalry had the same weapons at this time 1863. I would imagine the the cavalry would be at a disadvantage with infantry while engaged in a melee on foot, however raise hell at a distance.

Hoistingman4

Sorry it took me a bit too get back too you on this my friend......as far as the bayonet goes, no would most probably be the answer. The Spencer was roughly the same size as a Burnside or Sharps Carbine (not to be confused with the Sharps Rifle).

As far as the overall effective range of the Spencer, I'm not sure. Phantom Captain would be our man with that answer.
Perhaps we can round him up with this information.

Also, I do not believe the first Spencer's were used by the Union Cavalry until Chickamauga in Sept. 1863.......some 3 month's after Gettysburg.

[Jim]

The Union cavalry units were armed with the usual mixture of carbines: Sharps, Burnside, Gallager, Merrill, and Smith. These were all .44 cal and all had about the same effective range as the infantry weapons. The guns were sufficiently accurate that the limiting factor was the training level of the troops, not the variations of the brand of carbine.

-Jim

[BOSTON]

MANUEVERING FOR POSITION

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day 1



At 8 A.M., John Buford’s scouts reported Heth’s advance on Cashtown road. Although the Buford’s Union forces were outnumbered, they were equipped with Spencer repeating Carbines which gave them a five-to-one firepower superiority. The dismounted Union cavalry fought the large number of advancing Confederate forces, stubbornly holding on to McPherson’s Ridge.



After two long hours, the Union First Corps arrived with General Reynolds. Reynolds sent messengers to Meade telling him of the large enemy force. As part of the First Corps reinforcements were the proud First Brigade of the First Division of the First Corps, Meridith’s Iron Brigade; along with Cutler’s Second Brigade of well disciplined Pennsylvania and New York regiments. Reynolds replaced Buford’s weary cavalry with Cutler’s brigade on the right and Meridith’s brigade on the left. While General Reynolds was directing an attack, he was shot behind the ear by a Confederate sharp-shooter. He gasped once, smiled-and died. Second-in-command to Reynolds, General Doubleday assumed command of the Union forces.



Heth believed the Union forces were at a breaking point and sent two brigades under Davis and Archer toward McPherson’s Ridge. Doubleday counter attacked with the Iron Brigade and drove the Archer’s forces back. A private named Patrick Maloney captured General Archer as the Confederate forces were retreating. General Doubleday exclaimed “Archer! I’m glad to see you!” General Archer replied “Well, I’m not glad to see you by a damn sight.” Davis’s forces charged at Cutler’s brigade and swept into a valley and a deep trench thinking it would lead to the Union rear. The trench was an unfinished railroad cut and the Confederates were caught in a trap. About 250 Confederates surrendered.

Meanwhile, back at Taneytown, Meade had no idea a battle was taking place. Often, observers close to the battle could not hear the fighting, while others farther away could hear it clearly. These were called “acoustic shadows.” Meade only found out when a newspaper reporter asked to use an army telegraph to send his story of the battle. Meade was shocked to hear that his friend Reynolds had died and one fourth of his army was fighting. At noon, Meade ordered Hancock to turn over command of his Second Corps to Gibbon and Hancock rode to Gettysburg, studying maps of the terrain along the way.

Around noon, General Howard arrived at Gettysburg with his Eleventh Corps. Outranking General Doubleday, Howard took command of the Union forces. Howard placed his German Eleventh Corps north of Gettysburg.

At 1:30, Confederate Major General Rodes arrived with his division. He placed his artillery on Oak Hill, and sent Iverson’s brigade against Union troops hiding behind a stone wall. After taking in 500 casualties, 3 of Iverson’s 4 regiments surrendered. The Union captured 1000 prisoners and three colors. Demoralized, Iverson turned over command of what was left of his brigade to his adjutant. With his reserve divisions, Rodes dislodged the Union troops from the stone wall.

At the same time, Ewell’s Confederate Second Army Corps attacked the Eleventh Corps from the north. At 2 P.M., General Lee arrived on the field and ordered Heth and Pender to attack the Union left defended by the Iron Brigade. Heth was knocked unconscious by a shell fragment. After fighting since early morning, the 1,800 men Iron Brigade suffered 1,200 casualties and fell back.



Confederate reinforcements continued arriving, and around 4 P.M., the outgunned Union Eleventh Corps and the First Corps abandoned their positions. The Union forces retreated through Gettysburg and south out to Cemetery Hill. The hill was named after a cemetery atop of its plateau. A sign on the cemetery gate read: “All persons found using firearms in these grounds will be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law.” General Hancock arrived and found “Wreck, disaster, disorder, almost the panic that precedes disorganization, defeat and retreat everywhere.” The higher ranking Howard didn’t want to give up command to Hancock. Rather than further demoralizing the army by fighting, Hancock pretended to recognize Howard as the commander. Hancock sent the remaining Iron Brigade to defend Culp’s Hill, and the Union forces began erecting fortifications.

At 4:30, General Lee ordered Ewell “to carry the hill occupied by the enemy, if he found it practicable.” By 5:30, the Union position was secure. At 7 P.M., Lee went out to find Ewell and an explanation of why he didn’t attack yet. Ewell told him that the Union positions were too strong. Lee was disappointed that Ewell had missed the opportunity to destroy the Union line. He ordered Ewell to attack Culp’s Hill the next day to prove his claims. Later that night, Ewell claimed he could take Culp’s Hill. Lee decided to attack at dawn, Culp’s Hill with Ewell’s corps, and Cemetery Ridge with Longstreet’s corps.

On the Union side, Slocum arrived at 7 P.M. with the Twelfth Corps. Hancock turned over command to Slocum and rode back to Taneytown to resumed command of his own corps. Meade sent orders out to Sykes and Sedgwick to convene at Gettysburg. On the first day of battle, the successful Confederate attacks were due to a more concentrated army, allowing the Confederates to fight in superior numbers. During the night, General Longstreet arrived with his two divisions, which brought the Confederate force at Gettysburg up to 50,000 men. At the same time Union reinforcements from three corps continued to arrive and brought the Union army up to 60,000 men.

At midnight, General Meade arrived on the battlefield and inspected the Union lines.

Found this article on the web, I'll have to go back and find it's address. The first sentence refers to the Spencer Repeating Carbine used by Buford's troopers at Mcpherson's Ridge. Could this article be incorrect as far as arms go?

Hoistingman4

[BOSTON]

This is where the above article originates from.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17525/day1.htm

[BOSTON]

History
At first, conservatism from the Department of War delayed its introduction to service. However, Christopher Spencer was eventually able to gain an audience with President Abraham Lincoln, who subsequently invited him to a shooting match and demonstration of the weapon. Lincoln was impressed with the weapon, and ordered that it be adopted for production.

The Spencer repeating rifle was first adopted by the United States Navy, and subsequently adopted by the United States Army and used during the American Civil War. The South occasionally captured some of these weapons and ammunition, but, as they were unable to manufacture the cartridges because of shortages of copper, their ability to take advantage of the weapons was limited. Notable early instances of use included the Battle of Hoover's Gap (where Col. John T. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade" effectively demonstrated the firepower of repeaters), and the Gettysburg Campaign, where two regiments of the Michigan Brigade (under Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer) carried them at the Battle of Hanover and at East Cavalry Field.[2] As the war progressed, Spencers were carried by a number of Union cavalry and mounted infantry regiments and provided the Union army with additional firepower versus their Confederate counterparts.

The Spencer showed itself to be very reliable under combat conditions, with a sustainable rate-of-fire in excess of 20 rounds per minute. Compared to standard muzzle-loaders, with a rate of fire of 2-3 rounds per minute, this represented a significant tactical advantage[3]. However, effective tactics had yet to be developed to take advantage of the higher rate of fire. Similarly, the supply chain was not equipped to carry the extra ammunition. Detractors would also complain that the smoke and haze produced was such that it was hard to see the enemy.[4]

In the late 1860s, the Spencer company was sold to the Fogerty Rifle Company and ultimately to Winchester. With almost 200,000 rifles and carbines made, it marked the first adoption of a removable magazine-fed infantry rifle by any country. Many Spencer carbines were later sold as surplus to France where they were used in the war against Germany in 1870.

Despite the fact that the Spencer company went out of business in 1869, ammunition was sold in the United States up to about the 1920s. Later, many rifles and carbines were converted to centerfire, which could fire cartridges made from the centerfire .50–70 brass. Production ammunition can still be obtained on the specialty market.

At the very least Custer's troops had Spencer Repeating Carbines at Gettysburg. Maybe some of those troops were at Mcpherson's Ridge.

Hoistingman4

[BOSTON]

The above article about Spencer Repeating Carbines at; Spencer repeating rifle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Overview|History|See also|Notes
The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. It was adopted by the Union Army, especially by the cavalry, during the American Civil War, but did not replace the standard issue muzzle-loading...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_carbine

[Chamberlain]

I found these on YouTube!!!

Cavalry action, day one Gettysburg :

"Gettysburg, 1st Day: Heth engages Buford's cavalry"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQvj2HfEokE

and


"Riding a Raid - Confederate Cavalry"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rci-dF1b ... re=related

Enjoy !!!

Chamberlain

[dale]

I found the comment about smoke from the repeating rifles being a limiting factor very interesting. Based on this, (for modeling purposes) it would seem that the initial volley (up to the first 5 shots?) would be at 100% efficiency and that subsequent volleys would have to have a percentage reducer due to the smoke.

I know that in later actions in 1864 the Spencer was assigned to some infantry units in Grant's army.

[roscrans]

I found this article on the National Park site:http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/misc ... burg/j.htm

It says that Buford was using Burnside and/or Sharps single shot carbines and that Custer was probably using some Spencer rifles.

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg

A variety of weapons was carried at Gettysburg. Revolvers, swords, and bayonets were abundant, but the basic infantry weapon of both armies was a muzzle-loading rifle musket about 4.7 feet long, weighing approximately 9 pounds. They came in many models, but the most common and popular were the Springfield and the English-made Enfield. They were hard hitting, deadly weapons, very accurate at a range of 200 yards and effective at 1,000 yards. With black powder, ignited by percussion caps, they fired "Minie Balls"—hollow-based lead slugs half an inch in diameter and an inch long. A good soldier could load and fire his rifle three times a minute, but in the confusion of battle the rate of fire was probably slower.

There were also some breech-loading small arms at Gettysburg. Union cavalrymen carried Sharps and Burnside single-shot carbines and a few infantry units carried Sharps rifles. Spencer repeating rifles were used in limited quantity by Union cavalry on July 3 and by a few Union infantry. In the total picture of the battle, the use of these efficient weapons was actually quite small.

Those who fought at Gettysburg with rifles and carbines were supported by nearly 630 cannon—360 Union and 270 Confederate. About half of these were rifled iron pieces, all but four of the others were smoothbore bronze guns. The same types of cannon were used by both armies.

Almost all of the bronze pieces were 12 pounders, either howitzers or "Napoleons." They could hurl a 12-pound iron ball nearly a mile and were deadly at short ranges, particularly when firing canister. Other bronze cannon included 24 pounder howitzers and 6 pounder guns. All types are represented in the park today, coated with patina instead of being polished as they were when in use.

Most of the iron rifled pieces at Gettysburg had a 3-inch bore and fired a projectile which weighed about 10 pounds. There were two types of these—3-inch ordnance rifles and 10 pounder Parrotts. It is easy to tell them apart for the Parrott has a reinforcing jacket around its breech, The effective range of these guns was somewhat in excess of a mile, limited in part because direct fire was used and the visibility of gunners was restricted.

Two other types of rifled guns were used at Gettysburg—four bronze James guns and two Whitworth rifles. The Whitworths were unique because they were breech loading and were reported to have had exceptional range and accuracy. However, their effect at Gettysburg must have been small for one was out of action much of the time.

These artillery pieces used three types of ammunition. All cannon could fire solid projectiles or shot. They also hurled fused, hollow shells which contained black powder and sometimes held lead balls or shrapnel. Canister consisted of cans filled with iron or lead balls. These cans burst apart on firing, converting the cannon into an oversized shotgun.

Weapons influenced tactics. At Gettysburg a regiment formed for battle, fought, and moved in a two rank line, its men shoulder to shoulder, the file closets in the rear. Since the average strength of regiments here was only 350 officers and men, the length of a regiment's line was a little over 100 yards. Such a formation brought the regiment's slow-firing rifles together under the control of the regimental commander, enabling him to deliver a maximum of fire power at a given target. The formation's shallowness had a two-fold purpose, it permitted all ranks to fire, and it presented a target of minimum depth to the enemy's fire.

Four or five regiments were grouped into a brigade, two to five brigades formed a division. When formed for the attack, a brigade moved forward in a single or double line of regiments until it came within effective range of the enemy line. Then both parties blazed away, attempting to gain the enemy's flank if feasible, until one side or the other was forced to retire. Confederate attacking forces were generally formed with an attacking line in front and a supporting line behind. Federal brigades in the defense also were formed with supporting troops in a rear line when possible. Breastworks were erected if time permitted, but troops were handicapped in this work because entrenching tools were in short supply.

Like their infantry comrades, cavalrymen also fought on foot, using their horses as means of transportation. However, mounted charges were also made in the classic fashion, particularly in the great cavalry battle on July 3.

Cavalry and infantry were closely supported by artillery. Batteries of from four to six guns occupied the crests of ridges and hills from which a field of fire could be obtained. They were usually placed in the forward lines, protected by supporting infantry regiments posted on their flanks or in their rear. Limbers containing their ammunition were nearby. Because gunners had to see their targets, artillery positions sheltered from the enemy's view were still in the future.