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Wrong type of rifles used by U.S. cavalry troops

posted 14 years ago by jeffyoung1
3 replies | jump to latest

Hollywood is to blame for this frequent error of depicting U.S. cavalry and infantry employing Winchester lever action rifles during the post-Civil War Indian Wars of the late 1860s into the early 1880s.

The U.S. Army found itself with vast stocks of muzzle-loading Springfield rifles at the end of the Civil War, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Breech-loading rifles and repeaters were entering military service the world over so these muzzle loaders were obsolete and essentially unsaleable. The U.S. Army declined General Sherman's proposal to adopt the excellent, single-shot, breech-loading Remington falling block rifle. Instead, the U.S. Army adopted the economical and practical expedient of converting numbers of muzzle-loading Springfield rifles to breech loaders. The resulting conversion was called the Allin Trapdoor Springfield rifle or carbine.

So in CHUKA, what we should have seen would be the U.S. cavalry troopers armed with with Allin Trapdoor Springfield carbines. The infantry held the rifle breech loader.

Others have pointed out some inconsistencies as well. The fort was grossly undermanned in the movie. The fort itself appeared to be extremely small, but this was due to the fact it was an indoor studio set. Also budgetary constraints probably had much to do with the small numbers of stunt actors employed as cavalry troops. From a historical standpoint, there would have been infantry stationed at the fort as well. There should have been artillery at the fort. There was not a single cannon or howitzer in sight. Whether there would have been a Gatling gun as well is open to debate. The U.S. Army did not purchase many Gatling guns due to the end of the Civil War and the great reduction in the size of the standing U.S. Army.

[–] willjohn 13 years ago

George Custer was supplied with Gatlings for the battle of Little Big Horn, but decided to leave them behind on the principle that they would slow him down.

Not a good idea, Georgie boy!

[–] magolding 13 years ago

"The U.S. Army found itself with vast stocks of muzzle-loading Springfield rifles at the end of the Civil War, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Breech-loading rifles and repeaters were entering military service the world over so these muzzle loaders were obsolete and essentially unsaleable. The U.S. Army declined General Sherman's proposal to adopt the excellent, single-shot, breech-loading Remington falling block rifle. Instead, the U.S. Army adopted the economical and practical expedient of converting numbers of muzzle-loading Springfield rifles to breech loaders. The resulting conversion was called the Allin Trapdoor Springfield rifle or carbine.

So in CHUKA, what we should have seen would be the U.S. cavalry troopers armed with with Allin Trapdoor Springfield carbines. The infantry held the rifle breech loader."

That may have the the situation in the late 1860s. In 1873 the Springfield shingle shot breech loading carbine was adopted for the US cavalry. Since 1876 some people have blamed problems with the Springfield carbine for the disaster at the Little Big Horn. If that is correct it is ironic that Major Reno of the Seventh Cavalry was on the board which recommended the Springfield carbine and it was headed by General Alfred Terry!

PS the trap door carbines did not reach Fort Phil Kearney before the Fetterman Massacre on Dec. 21, 1866, but did arrive before the Wagon Box Fight the next year.

PPS Since the garrison were not shown riding much or at all, they might has well have been depicted as infantry in this film!

[–] jeffyoung1 12 years ago

The single-shot, Alin trap-door breechloading conversion of the Civil War muskets was more successful than people assume. As with the contemporary single-shot, cartridge, breech-loading rifles and carbines of the time, trained and experienced soldiers could load and fire many times each minute, anywhere from six to twelve or fifteen shots, depending upon the time spent aiming the weapon. Timed fast fire at a firing range proved that 15 to 18 shots were possible. This compared favorably to the muzzle-loader's 2 to 4 shots per minute.

In fact, the Alin trap-door rifles and carbines saved the lives of a group of ambushed soldiers in the far West. A large group of mounted hostile Indians ambushed a wood-gathering party of soldiers, expecting to easily overwhelm them because of inferior numbers and the expectation that muzzle loading rifles were too slow to load, also requiring the shooter to stand when re-loading, exposing himself. But the Indians were stunned when the soldiers poured out a non-stop fusillade of shots. The soldiers were able to successfully repel the indians.

The lesson was apparent decades earlier. In the 1840s, a frontiersman trapper purchased one of the new-fangled, Colt percussion, five-shot revolvers. It would turn out to be the wisest and luckiest purchase of his life. Isolated in the wilds, a small group of hostile Indians ambushed the frontiersman. Fully aware of the limitations of the single-shot muzzle-loader, the indians goaded the man into firing his rifle, then rushed him, expecting to reach him before he could finish reloading. The indians unexpectedly ran into a hail of bullets, if you can call five shots that. It's not known if any indians were hit, but the shock of so many bullets coming at them when it shouldn't have happened scared off the attackers, sparing the lucky trapper.