Samuel Colt’s revolver is one of the most revolutionary and well-known weapons. The revolver was a pistol that held a revolving cylinder with six chambers. Once a shot was fired, the cylinder would turn, lining up the next bullet with the barrel. This meant that a man could fire six shots without reloading. Colt had figured out how to mass produce them, and revolvers became a stable of the United States military. What is not well known is that Colt’s Patents Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company attempted to apply the same principles to a rifle: the Colt New Model Revolving Rifle. When people think of repeaters in the American Civil War, the Spencer Carbine and Henry Rifle (predecessor of the famed Winchester) usually come to mind. So why did a rifle based on one of the most famous pistols not gain the same recognition? As it turns out it was not as great as it looked on paper.
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| The 1855 Colt Revolving Rifle |
Production
The
Colt Fire-Arms Company produced two versions of the revolving rifle for the military. The first
was the Model 1855 Colt Revolving Rifle. It was not the first revolver rifle in history (with Colt having produced a hunting revolver rifle over ten years earlier), but it was the first such weapon to be
adopted by the U.S. Army. This version was more closely based on the pistol
model, with a six-shot cylinder holding .44 caliber bullets. When the Civil War
erupted, Colt modified the rifle so that its cylinder held five .56 caliber bullets.
The transition of the revolver concept from handgun to rifle was not smooth. To
reduce weight, Colt fluted the chambers. This means that the manufacturer created
space that allowed for more flow of gas. This would create problems for the
soldiers who wielded them. As with the revolvers, the rifles included a ramming
lever beneath the barrel. Unlike the more well-known Colt Revolvers, the rifles
could also hold bayonets. This feature was absent in several Civil War
repeaters.[1]
The revolver was applied to carbines, some of which, evidenced by the photo of a Virginia cavalryman, found their way into Confederate service. In fact, the carbine model appears to have been more utilized, with Colt rifles appearing more in reports of cavalry actions.[2] Colt of course produced thousands of pistols for the Army. It did not just produce revolver weapons, but also helped fill demands for muskets when the war started. In 1861 there was a great need to quickly arm the infantry with this more conventional weapon. Colt helped out, producing 100,000 of these and 80,000 more in 1862.[3]
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| A soldier posing with his Colt Rifle (https://www.loc.gov/item/2010648931/) |
The Revolving
Rifle’s Drawbacks
With
their use becoming more widespread, the Col Revolving Rifles, particularly the
second five-shot model, revealed an explosive issue. Likely due to the fluting
which enabled gas leakage, the cylinders could go off unexpectedly. If the
cylinder erupted, it could damage the arm or hand of its wielder. Most
susceptible was the left hand that held up the barrel. When the cylinder
erupted, it would sometimes severely mangle the hand and often necessitated
amputation. Lead shavings from the bullets could also fly backwards into the
soldier’s arm or face. This could potentially end in a mangled face, if not death.[4]
Berdan’s
Sharpshooters, a unique Civil War unit of accomplished shots, had acquired
1,000 of these rifles. Their commander Colonel Hiram Berdan, however, hoped
that they would eventually instead receive the Sharps Carbine. His wish was
soon justified. Shortly there were reports of all five or six bullets firing
off at once. The cylinders also had a tendency to overheat after a little use,
making them dangerous to reload. This was the first recorded case of the Army’s
dissatisfaction with the weapon.[5]
A later report would state that “although
the Colt rifles are a very good arm in time of action, they are difficult to
keep in order specially [sic] during rainy weather.”[6]
The Rifle in
Action
Despite
their apparent issues, the Colt Revolving Rifles still saw significant use in actions
from late 1861 through 1862. The first recorded instance was late in 1861 at
Mill Springs, Kentucky. Pickets of the 12th Kentucky used the rifles
in a brisk skirmish, with a 50% accuracy rate. On March 7, 1862 at least two
Union units went into action with colt repeaters at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. In
this action the Confederates managed to advance into the Union rear, forcing
the Northerners to scramble their units piecemeal into action. The 1st
Missouri Cavalry protected a battery with Colt revolving carbines. On another
part of the battlefield, in the dense thicket of Morgan’s Woods, the 37th
Illinois utilized Colt Repeating Rifles in a furious shootout. In this case the
rifles proved to be an advantage, giving them a higher rate of firepower that
slowed the Confederate advance and bought time for the surprised Federals to
send in reinforcements.[7]
In
April, on the other side of the Confederacy on the Virginia Peninsula, General
George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had stalled in front of Yorktown
(under the mistaken impression that it faced a large, dug-in force). During the
following siege warfare, Berdan’s Sharpshooters, still waiting for their Sharps
Carbines, had to use their Colt Rifles. They played havoc on Confederate
batteries, silencing them by killing and wounding their crew. This had more to
do with the men’s incredible marksmanship than any inherent advantage of the
weapon itself. An illustration in Harper's Weekly did not show the Sharpshooters using the rifles, suggesting that many of the marksmen used their own privately bought weapons instead.[8]
The
Colt Rifle appeared to have more involvement in the actions of the Union
Cavalry. On July 1, 1862 at Booneville, Mississippi, Phil Sheridan put 160 men
with the rifles in a line to confront a Confederate cavalry charge while more
of his men slipped around the enemy flank. The five-shot chambers enabled them
to pour in significant fire before a hand-to-hand fight ensued. Here the men used the Colt Rifles as clubs. Their higher rate of fire did not always
translate into victory. At Brice’s Crossroads on June 20, 1964, skirmishers
fired at Nathan Bedford Forest’s Confederate cavalry from behind logs and
trees. Though the rifle’s rate of fire helped them repulse two attacks, Forrest
still managed to break their line.[10]
The Abandoned
Repeater
Overall,
the Colt Revolving Rifle provided welcome advantages in several battles with
its higher rate of fire, but was plagued by several technical issues, a couple
which could cause lifelong injury or death to its wielder. With more efficient
and less dangerous repeaters coming out as the war progressed, the War
Department now looked to get rid of the Colt Rifles. They sold them off at 42
cents apiece, a cheap price for a firearm even back then. To put the reduced
price into perspective, some units in 1861 purchased them at prices up to 45$
apiece. This best exemplifies the interesting failure of the Colts Revolving
Rifle and explains why it is not as readily known as the more famed Spencer
Carbine or Henry Rifle.[11]
Sources
[1] John D. Macaulay, “Colt’s Model
1855 Revolving Rifle in the Civil War,” https://www.american-rifleman.org/content/colts-model-1855-revolving-rifle-in-the-civil-war/;
Willlaim C. Davis, Rebels & Yankees:
Fighting Men of the Civil War, (Salamander Books, 1999), 64-65; Ivan V. Hogg,
Weapons of the Civil War, (Brompton
Books Corp., 1995), 36.
[2] Davis, Fighting Men, 64-65.
[3] Hogg, Weapons of the Civil War, 34.
[4] Hogg, Weapons of the Civil War, 36-37; Davis, Fighting Men, 64-65.
[5] Roy M. Marcot, US Sharpshooters: Berdan’s Civil War Elite,
(Mechanicsburg: Stackpole, 2007), 48, 50.
[6] Macaulay, “Colt’s Model 1855,” https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/colt-s-model-1855-revolving-rifle-in-the-civil-war/.
[7] Macaulay, “Colt’s Model 1855,” https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/colt-s-model-1855-revolving-rifle-in-the-civil-war/;
William L. Shea & Earl J. Hess, Pea
Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West, (University of North Carolina Press,
1992), 121-122.
[8] Marcot, US Sharpshooters, 68.
[9] Silas S. Canfield, History of the 21st Regiment Ohio
Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, (Toledo, Vrooman, 1893),
141-145.
[10] Macaulay, “Colt’s Model 1855,” https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/colt-s-model-1855-revolving-rifle-in-the-civil-war/.
[11] Davis, Fighting Men, 65; Marcot, US
Sharpshooters, 50.
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