The FReeper Foxhole Remembers General John Buford at Gettysburg (7/1/1863) - Sep. 10th, 2003

www.bufordsboys.com ^ | Eric J. Wittenberg

[GailA]

Try the link graphic with attitude

[SAMWolf]

It's wierd it doesn't go to the link, it goes to a different link and says "file not found"

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the education today. I only have time for a quick bump and a hooch and smug. I have to go read to the kids now.

God bless you all tonight and the sad tomorrow coming.

[SAMWolf]

Hey. I miss your hooches and smugs!

[snippy_about_it]

God bless you all tonight and the sad tomorrow coming.

Thank you Spooky, same to you.

[SpookBrat]

I just wish I had more time to enjoy with my friends. Homeschooling is such a big commitment and I have no regrets. I do get lonesome for my adult buddies though. ((((Hugs))))

OK, I'm really getting off now. LOL

[SAMWolf]

No Problem Spooky.

I know how much time it takes to do home schooling. Drop in whenever you can, we apperciate it.

[snippy_about_it]

At least you know where to find us when you have time. :)

We'll be here. Kids first!

[snippy_about_it]

Good Night SAM.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

Good oldie standby.

[PhilDragoo]

Galloway brandishes a Swedish K submachinegun at Danang in August 1965.

Interview: Joe Galloway Proceedings, February 2002

I read this interview when published in Proceedings. The film Galloway throws down his M-16 in disgust--like a good little pc anti-gunner. Not so the flesh and blood Galloway, who carried his own M-16 in Vietnam. Celluloid myths debunked.

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening, PhilDragoo.

Thanks for the link to the Galloway article. Good interview.

"On the last day, with my last breath, my thoughts will be of my wife and my children and these men I fought with so long ago."

[PhilDragoo]

The first Spencers used by Union soldiers, which had been bought privately or by individual units, may have appeared on battlefields as early as late spring 1862. The first government-bought Spencers were delivered to the troops in October 1863. By the end of the war, 200,000 Spencer carbines had been put into service.

Fascinating Fact: Out of the 200,000 Spencers in use by the end of the war, only 94,196 were purchased by the U.S. government; the rest were purchased privately or by individual units.

~~~

[SAMWolf]

Good cross section that shows the inner workings of the Spencer Carbine.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Phil. Good pictures of the Spencer. Thanks for the links.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks, Phil. If only there were more journalists like Galloway.

[J David Petruzzi]

With all due respect to the battle analysis, there were absolutely no repeating carbines in Buford's cavalry's hands. I have the ordnance lists of every single company in every regiment of Buford's division, except for 2 companies of the 17th PA Cavalry, direct from the National Archives. They show the kinds and amounts of carbines in each company as of June 30, 1863. They are a mix of about a half dozen SINGLE SHOT breechloading carbines. The most numerous, by far, is the Sharps. As I said earlier, only about 6 Spencer repeating carbines (early production prototypes) existed in July 1863. The "repeater" myth was begun by an erroneous comment by a Confederate in Heth's division, long after the war, in which he mistakenly identified Buford's weapons as being repeaters. Too, Shelby Foote, in his "Stars in Their Courses" states that Buford's men had repeaters. Over the last few decades, then, people have picked up on the mistake and it's become somewhat common, although unfortunate, to claim that they existed at the time. Repeating carbines had nothing to do with Buford's defense because, simply, no one had any. The effectiveness of the defense was due solely to Buford's deploying of a classic cavalry delay tactic.

[PsyOp]

You're correct. I cut and pasted the passage I did for convenience and did not feel like arguing over the differences between Sharps and Spencers (not enough time when I was perusing the thread).

The point still stands, though. The breech loading Sharps still allowed a much higher rate of sustained fire than the muzzle-loaders of the confederate troops (about three to four times as high). This was critical to the initial defense at Gettysburg, and is backed up by most studies on the battle, including numerous papers on file at the war college.

As I recall (perhaps incorrectly), there came a point where Buford had to admonish the men to slow their rate of fire to conserve ammunition.

[J David Petruzzi]

Quite correct about the breechloaders speeding up fire. It's definitely part of the tactic of the delay. The troopers hide behind anything - rocks, buildings, fences, even tombstones in the Black Cemetery on Belmont Ridge. The higher rate of fire makes it appear as though many times more defenders are shooting. The troopers also hid the horses - hence the reason why Heth and Archer had a bit of a spat on Herr Ridge as to what they were facing - militia, cavalry, infantry? Many of Heth's infantryman admitted after the battle and war that they had no idea who or what they faced, or how many, until they began approaching McPherson Ridge. Also, in a letter Heth wrote in the 1880's he still, at that time, was claiming that he NEVER faced Union cavalry at ALL during the first day's battle.