By the end of the Civil War, the Army’s most popular cavalry carbine was the Spencer Model 1860 carbine, a seven shot cartridge breech loader. In addition to the improved “Spencer Model 1865” model from the Spencer Rifle Company and the Spencers made by the Burnside Rifle Company (all delivered after the Civil War ended,) the Army refurbished a good many of these Civil War Model 1860s for use by the troopers in the Indian Wars of the 1860s and 1870s. My Spencer Model 1860 carbine is one of the rare ones marked as property of a particular unit, Company K of the 10th Cavalry on the right side of the buttstock. The marking also shows it was assigned rack number 9.

The Tenth Cavalry was comprised of African American soldiers, with white officers, and they, along with the Ninth Cavalry, were given the nickname Buffalo Soldiers which coined by the Indians they fought.

Although popular with the troops, the Spencer action could not be adapted to take the longer .50-70 cartridge that has been chosen as the standard frontier carbine cartridge, and the Sharps single shot carbine was modified to take this cartridge and eventually replaced the Spencer. The single-shot trapdoor Springfield replaced the Sharps. These Spencer carbines were the main carbine of the frontier cavalry in the early post-War days, and it has been suggested that if Custer’s men had been able to keep their seven-shot Spencer carbines instead of the single shot trapdoors they carried to the Little Big Horn, things would have worked out more in Custer’s favor.

This Spencer still retains most of its barrel blue, and the receiver still shows the case color finish. The bore has strong sharp rifling, having just a bit of the frosted surface seen in black powder bores. The serial number of 35791 matches on the receiver and bottom of the barrel, as it should.

It is rare to have a any frontier cavalry arms marked to a unit as this was discouraged by Army regulations. I have seen three other arms with these same Company K, 10th Cavalry markings, two other Spencers and one Colt 1860 Army revolver.

The mechanics on this are crisp, and it is a much better than usual example of a veteran of the post-Civil War frontier cavalry. But the fact that we know this one was carried by a 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldier adds special helping of history to this Carbine. I’ve always collected items that speak to me (and any collector, I believe), and if someone doesn’t step forward to be the next caretaker of this historic Spencer, I will be glad to keep it for myself!

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