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GETTYSBURG MICHIGAN CAVALRY BRIGADE SPENCER RIFLE: SECOND DELIVERY “COPELAND” SPENCER, SERIAL #1811 WITH CONFEDERATE “Q” CLEANED AND REPAIRED STAMP

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M1860 Spencer Army Rifles are highly sought after and one falling in the serial number range for issue in Custer’s Michigan Cavalry Brigade before Gettysburg is a holy grail for many. This one has the even rarer attribute of not only falling in the range for the second issue of those rifles, issued to the 5^th and 6^th Michigan Cavalry, but bearing the “Q” stamp of a Confederate ordnance officer working in the cleaning and repair system dealing with captured, salvaged and turned-in arms for reissue to Confederate troops, indicating not only that this one saw very active service, as evident from its condition, but that it was also captured at some point. The go-to reference for Michigan Spencers is Sword’s 1997 article in Man at Arms and for the CS cleaning and repair system see Knot’s 2019, “’Captured and Collected’ Confederate Reissued Firearms.”

This Spencer is #1811 and was among 1,200 Spencer M1860 Army Rifles initially ordered by Col. Joseph Copeland of the 5^th Michigan Cavalry and delivered and issued in December 1862 and January 1863.  Their production followed a Navy contract of about 700 rifles that extended into the 800 serial number range. Sword allowed another 250 for various private purchases, etc., and estimated the low number for Copeland’s rifles at 1050, extending to 1550 in the first delivery of 500 made in late December 1862, and from 1550 (1551) to 2050 in the second delivery of 500 made January. (This was followed by another 200 rifles drawn from a shipment also in January falling in the 2501-3000 range that need not concern us here.) Marcot posited a lower starting number for the Copeland order- 1000, lowering the ranges of each of the groups by fifty, but no matter which number is closer to the truth, this Spencer, with #1811 visible on the underside of the barrel, clearly falls in the second group, which was issued to both the 5^th and 6^th Michigan in January 1863.

The rifle is complete, with all bands, springs, swivels, and sights in place along with the magazine tub in the buttstock. It clearly lay outside for some time, with the wood lacking much of its finish and metal showing brown with shallowing pitting on the barrel and thinner rust on the receiver, but deeper rust on the lockplate, triggerguard tang, and other elements. Only the dimmest impression of marker markings are visible on the on top of the receiver and the serial number on the wrist is not visible, but it is present on the underside of the barrel. The hammer and action are frozen, as is the magazine tube. The wood shows mostly as light brown, with little finish remaining on the buttstock and more, but still not very much on the forestock, showing as a darker brown when it does. The wood is stable, but shows some thincracks. The forestock has a narrow one on the right running forward from the receiver. The left buttstock shows two narrow parallel ones at the wrist, two at the midpoint and one, slightly wider running forward from the buttplate. Much of this is likely from exposure, but due also somewhat to weakness in the stock created by boring it out for the magazine tube, and cracks in line with the magazine are not uncommon in Spencers showing use.

No cartouches are visible on wrist. There is a set of owner’s initials, scratched into the upper left buttstock that pretty clearly read, “T. D. Co A” with the “o” suprascript. We have checked rosters of the 5^th and 6^th Michigan Cavalry and see no clear candidate, but there are men with the initials T.D. in other companies in both regiments, and rosters do not always pick up inter-company transfers. In addition, the first initial has a crossbar at top, but the vertical bar curves a bit, so if there carver intended something else, all bets are off. It is also possible the initials belong to a later user. The Michigan regiments transitioned into use of carbines and Sword notes that by June 30, 1864, only 1 Spencer rifle was on hands in the 6^th Michigan and 37 in the 5^th Michigan and by September 30 there were none in 6^th just four in the 5^th Michigan and the original Michigan guns were subject to reissue, damage and loss by other units.

There was also the possibility of capture despite the firepower they gave their owners and the initials belong to a captor. At Buckland’s Mills in October 1863, for instance, Confederate cavalry successfully lured Federal troopers into a pursuit and then struck the middle of the Federal column driving back Custer and costing him 214 men, including some 164 captured, most of whose guns ended up in Confederate hands. Companies B, E, G and K of the 5^th Michigan, who were on foot, managed to throw some 48 of their rifles into a river before being taken, but even some of those may have been recovered. In any case, Buckland’s Mills would certainly not have been the only case of Michigan Spencers being captured, whether from the Michigan Brigade or other troops to whom they had been reissued.

On that note we turn to one other visible marking on the rifle, a small “Q” to the rear of the triggerguard. This has been identified as an inspection mark placed up guns cleaned and repaired preparatory to reissue by CS Ordnance officers: see Steven W. Knot, “’Captured and Collected’ Confederate Reissued Firearms” for details on these arms and markings. According to Knott’s research CS Ordnance teams, aided by some civilians, gathered some 200,000 firearms from battlefields during the war, mostly in the eastern theatre, where Lee’s victories left them in possession of the field. Along with another 50,000 or so turned in by CS units, these went largely to CS facilities at Danville, Staunton, Lynchburg, and Richmond. Confederate inspection marks applied to these guns before reissue were at first thought to be inspector’s initials, but are now understood to be assigned letters or symbols. Knot’s initial list consisted of five different stamps, one of which was the ‘Q” marking. This list has expanded slightly, to include an ampersand (“&”) for instance, but has not increased much. These marks appear stamped on the underside of the stock forward of the triggerguard on rifles and muskets, but show up on the underside of the buttstock on breechloading carbines, the principle apparently followed here.

Whether this was captured from the hands of a Michigan trooper or a later owner is unclear. A hint might lie in a fragmentary paper label applied to the right buttstock, but little is legible. The word “FOUN[D . . .” seems pretty clear at the start of one piece and the gun certainly looks like it lay outdoors for some time. The collector who owned the rifle passed away and the only thing remembered by his son was that it had come from a battlefield museum, location unknown to him, and whether that was passed on by certain knowledge from his father or supposition based on the label is uncertain, but it certainly looks like it- and is a strong argument for record keeping. Regardless of the exact provenance, the rifle is extremely rare as undoubtedly Custer Michigan Cavalry Brigade Spencer Army Rifle and there are few long Civil War longarms with more romantic or significant history or attached to them.  [sr][ph:L]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire!

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