Henry rifle, USMC, & the Red River Expedition

[GunnyGene]

Since there are other members w/Henry's and an association with the USMC, I thought I'd share this bit of history that may be of interest. One of the first Henry's belonged to Lt. Frank L. Church, USMC. The rifle mentioned was the .44 rimfire. Just a brief mention in his diary: Civil War Marine: A diary of the Red River Expedition ( Illustrated w/maps daguerreotypes, etc. ) The book is available for free download here. Good read. :)

https://archive.org/details/CivilWarMarine

The page that Lt. Church mentions the rifle (March 2, 1864). There were only 1731 of these rifles bought and issued to Union forces, although many men bought their own.

 

[powder smoke]

Good find Gunny, Saved the link for future reading! ps

 

[GunnyGene]

Good find Gunny, Saved the link for future reading! ps

It's a short book, about 90 pgs. First half is background info about the expedition and various battles. 2nd half is the actual diary. I read it a few years ago.

What I'm really curious about is if the Henry survived and is in somebody's collection now, or if it just disappeared. It would certainly be a highly valued relic if it survived.

 

[tinman]

Thanks for that link!

 

[WendyZXZ]

Thanks for sharing!