A man to remember; Benjamin T. Henry

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June 8th was the anniversary of the death of Benjamin T. Henry, inventor of the Henry Rifle. Henry sold out to Oliver Winchester in 1866. The Henry Rifle was patented in 1860 before the Civil War started but it wasn’t available for general distribution until July 1862.

Abraham Lincoln was one of the first owners of a Henry Rifle. Despite the fact that several of Lincoln’s Cabinet members own a Henry, the War Department wouldn’t buy any of them. In the eyes of the War Department, there were two problems. First, it cost more than twice as much as a musket; second, they feared the soldiers would use too much ammunition. Of course, the fact that a soldier with a Henry Rifle could fire five or six times more effectively as a soldier with a musket was ignored.

In the long run, the Henry and Spencer repeating rifles would have shortened the war and saved many lives. Until the 1890s, soldiers were only allowed to have five rounds of ammo a month for practice. For every round over five they fired, they were fined $1.00. That was a pretty hefty fine for a guy making $13.00 a month. Where Henry rifles were used in the Civil War, they made a huge difference.

Some regiments bought their own Henrys. Eventually, 1731 rifles were purchased by the government. The 7th Illinois Infantry carried Henry Rifles. In fact, Illinois troops had more repeating rifles, including the Spencer repeating rifles, than any other state but they were kept home because the War Department wanted to show them off in parades. This is why the term Military Intelligence is an oxymoron. Whatever the case, Benjamin T. Henry’s rifles changed the history of the United States. He is a man worth remembering.
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I was a "C" student in American history but my interest in M/L's, got me started doing a bit of research and found a treasure of historical information, in support of my hobby. I've been to Gettysburg and when you walk these grounds, there is a spiritual presence. …… ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Period literature, and all the gun writers for 100 years+ since have always referred to him as "B. Tyler Henry". I think it was his preference.

Winchester was in the business of making men's shirts, until he decided Henry's rifle would be a good deal. Henry got a degree of "immortality" from the deal, though not many people today realize that the letter "H" stamped on the bottom of Winchester rimfire ammo stands for "H"enry.
 
As an aside, since you mentioned the Spencer rifle: Custer's troops at Little Big Horn had recently been issued the Springfield 1873 rifle to replace the aging Spencer carbines they had been carrying. There is a lot of conjecture about how the little skirmish at the Greasy Grass would have turned out if his troopers had still been carrying the Spencer. And yet, the US military resisted the trend towards repeaters for another 20 years, the whole time complaining that the natives had great firepower.
Some regiments bought their own Henrys.
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Almost all regiments bought their own rifles, ammo, uniforms, etc. There was not a "regular" US Army as we know it now.
 
And yet, the US military resisted the trend towards repeaters for another 20 years, the whole time complaining that the natives had great firepower.
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And include in this the oft stated belief that with repeaters, the troops would "waste" too much ammunition.

Until after the lessons of WW II, there was no more hidebound, conservative "traditional" military bureaucrat than those in the Ordnance Dept. OF course, there were a few exceptions, but overall, and often the personal opinions of a handful of Ordnance officers determined overall policy for the entire military.

When we ran into something particularly stupid that the Army did, we used to say, "its not the army, its the people in it..." and nowhere was this as true as the Ordnance corps. Today, the history of their few brilliant successes tends to overshadow the history of generations of simple stupid pig headed stubbornness keeping better weapons out of the hands of our troops.

Repeaters were available in the 1860s, The Spencer, Henry, and others following, but other than individual units buying their own, the Army didn't adopt a repeating rifle until the Krag in the 1890s. What did they cling to for 20 some years, a single shot, and not the best single shot available, the cheapest! The Trapdoor Springfield got the nod because it cost the Army less, because the design came from an Army officer.

We got the M1 Garand with its enbloc clip because Army Ord wouldn't accept it with a protruding box magazine, claiming that such a thing would "prevent the troops from performing a proper manual of arms".

Somehow it was ok to have the BAR but not the same kind of firepower for line infantry...this line of thinking faded away during WWII, thanks to the harsh and obvious lessons of combat.

Henry's designs are a classic part of firearms history, and turned Winchester in to "the" rifle company in America. Winchester built Henry designed lever guns, until Browning's more modern and better designs replaced them.

Today's Henry rifles are an homage to the originals, sharing a similar look and some design features but not exact reproductions.
 
Henry rifle

Somewhere I read a period piece condemning the Henry rifle, very derogatory, essentially claiming it too much of a killing machine and not suitable for warfare nor civilian ownership, critical of its cartridge capacity and rapidity of fire. The piece was presented in such a fashion, one would have thought it was contemporary and referring to the AR and AK and MSR rifles of modern day. I suppose some things never change. My Dad used to say "history repeats itself".

Speaking of history, I spent 3 yrs at Gettysburg in the first of my career.
 
Well, I'll be darned. I thought that battle only lasted three days. :)

As to the Spensers and Henrys, I've read that droll Southern boys referred to them as "Yankee guns. They load 'em on Sunday, and shoot 'em all week."
 
Somewhere I read a period piece condemning the Henry rifle, very derogatory, essentially claiming it too much of a killing machine and not suitable for warfare nor civilian ownership, critical of its cartridge capacity and rapidity of fire. The piece was presented in such a fashion, one would have thought it was contemporary and referring to the AR and AK and MSR rifles of modern day. I suppose some things never change. My Dad used to say "history repeats itself".
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The same thing was said when repeating shotguns came along and fired with the pull of the trigger 5 times. Hunters who used them were called game hogs and other names.

And B Tyler Henry didn't so much as invent the Henry rifle. It was an improvement on the Volition and Volcanic lever action firearms that predated it that Winchester bought the rights to. But Henry was the shop foreman where the Volcanic was being made at so was familiar with the design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Repeating_Arms
 
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