My understanding is the Henry Repeaters were too expensive to manufacture and issue in large number. Some soldiers purchased them on their own, but that's it. Only 14,000 Henry Repeaters were ever made (which is a big reason they're so rare) and it was the Winchester company that ultimately mass-produced lever-action repeaters throughout the late 19th century.
It's a nice photo, but the story behind it is probably fake. William Lundy, the guy in the photo, was born in 1859 according to Census records. Meaning he was only six when the war ended, as opposed to sixteen/seventeen as he claimed. It was not uncommon, especially in the south where Confederate nostalgia was high, to claim to be a Civil War veteran in the 1940s/1950s for attention. Most of these claims were later disproven by census records. For example, this is a photo of the last Confederate Veterans reunion in 1951, from left to right the men photographed are William Townsend, John Salling, and William J Bush. Based on Census records we know for certain Salling was lying about his age, he claimed to have been born in 1846 (making him 19 when the war ended) but was actually born in 1856, making him 9 at the wars end. Bush is also thought to have added a year to his DOB, going from a claimed DOB of July 1845 (19 at wars end) to July 1846 (18 at wars end). The only one whose actual DOB might be the same as the age they claim to be is Townsend.
Oh absolutely, plus the came out only a year before the war began so they had a very limited run. They were an exclusive northern weapon as they were manufactured by Winchester (then known as New Haven Arms Co.) out of Connecticut, so if you were a confederate unless you brought one in the very limited window of a few months between it coming out and secession you were out of luck.
Yeah the Union mostly stuck with their Springfields while the CSA mixed British Enfields with older model Springfields.
Winchester purchased New Haven Arms (who made the Henry Repeater) and the rest is history, I believe it was the inspiration for their Model '73. The only other experiment repeater I know of from the Civil War (outside of revolvers) was the Spencer Repeating Rifle, it went into larger producer than the Henry at the later half of the water, but was a bit jankier, it was kind of a mix of the old musket and Henry repeater, you had to work the hammer and lever in tandem to cycle a new round. Unlike the Henry repeater it only held 7 as opposed to 16.
Robert E. Lee was a role model for nearly all the upper levels of US Army officers in WW2 which really makes libshit heads asplode
I remember watching it on VHS many, many years ago and I'm pretty sure the opening battle where the guy's head exploded scarred me for life.
