The Illinois in the Civil War Message Board

Re: 66th ILL Western Sharpshooters

From the Rare Winchesters Web site:

The 7th Illinois Infantry got their Henrys as a result of Captain John Alexander Smith's efforts tracking down enough Henrys for sale. "He applied for an order to go to Hartford, Connecticut to get the rifles. It was refused. He then secured a leave of absence and paid his own expenses. Arriving in Hartford, he found no rifles, but information that 500 of them had been shipped to Chicago. Smith telegraphed to hold the rifles, and took the first train for Chicago. He found the rifles, but had to pay $52.50 for them instead of $47.50 each. He paid this difference out of his own pocket, and has never been reimbursed to this day. He ordered the rifles shipped by express, and started South. At Cincinnati he found the Captain of a company that was raised in his native town in Ohio. Going with him to see the boys of the company, he was stopped by a large van unloading some big boxes into a warehouse. Looking at the boxes he was astonished to see them directed to Captain J.A. Smith, 7th Illinois Infantry. 'What are you doing with those boxes?' he inquired. 'Storing them; no express matter sent South unless prepaid. 'Captain Smith borrowed enough money from his friend, with what he had, to prepay the freight, and the guns were forwarded. As soon as the balance of the regiment saw the sixteen-shooters, they all wanted them. The whole 500 were purchased. They arrived at the regiment a few days before the Allatoona fight. Now, the concurrent testimonies of the Union and Confederate forces agree that the 16-shooter rifles were all that saved the day in that terrible October battle."(36) Proceedings of Reunion. Association of the Survivors, 7th Regiment Ill. Vol. Inf. Springfield, 1915.

This is a several chapter history of the Henry Rifle that details it's evolution, evalution, uses and the various other regiments using the rifle including the 66th IL

A good book on the subject is Wiley Sword, "The historic Henry Rifle" The book has historical references and descriptions and ownership for the identified surviving Henrys.

I would like to see the Henry Rifle company make an authentic reproduction of the civil war era rifle. I have seen European replicas that vary in authenticity.

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66th ILL Western Sharpshooters
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