Soldiers Bought Their Own Rifles to Survive

Why would Civil War soldiers spend more than four months of their own pay on a rifle the U.S. Army had declined to adopt on a large scale? In 1864, veterans of the 7th Illinois Infantry made an extraordinary decision. Many purchased their own Henry Model 1860 repeating rifles — weapons costing around $50 to $52.50 at a time when a Union private earned just $13 per month. The Henry offered something their standard muzzle-loading rifles could not: the ability to fire again almost immediately. With a 15-round tubular magazine and one additional round in the chamber, a soldier could work the lever and keep shooting while an opponent armed with a muzzle-loader was still reloading. But the Henry came with serious disadvantages: high cost, special .44-caliber rimfire ammunition, limited production, heat, maintenance concerns, and a supply system the soldiers largely had to support themselves. Then came the Battle of Allatoona Pass. There, outnumbered Union defenders faced a Confederate assault — and the privately purchased Henry rifles finally faced the kind of battle their owners had paid to survive. This is the story of why experienced soldiers were willing to sacrifice months of pay for a weapon the Army would not issue on a large scale — and what happened when that decision was tested in combat.