Spencer Rifles, Fort Stevens, & the 37th MA Regiment Volunteer Infantry

[Two Flints]

The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early and Union Maj. Gen. Alexander M. McCook. Although Early caused consternation in the Union government, reinforcements under Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright and the strong defenses of Fort Stevens minimized the military threat and Early withdrew after two days of skirmishing without attempting any serious assaults. The battle is noted for the personal presence of President Abraham Lincoln who along with his wife, observing the fighting in the far distance
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On July 15, 1864, the 37th Infantry Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers was issued Spencer Rifles.  The three pages appearing below were scanned from the Regimental History of the 37th Infantry written by James L. Bowen, 1884.

I own a Spencer Rifle with the serial # 23372 and my rifle is in the Massachusetts contract SN range (22-24,000 and 28,000) of those rifles purchased by the State of Massachusetts. There are almost no Spencer serial #s that show up in the above ranges in the SRS records. And I assume it’s  because they were not delivered to the Federal Ordinance Department, but to Governor Andrew of Massachusetts.

This my Spencer Rifle, serial # 23372 and I “guestimate” that my rifle was issued to a member of the 37th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment on July 15, 1864.















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These are the three pages scanned from the 37th Regimental History by Bowen.







Thanks for reading.

Two Flints