"14th Penn. Cavalry at Ashby's Gap - questions" Topic

I came across an account of a disastrous expedition by a detachment of the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry which was badly chewed up by Mosby's Rangers at Ashby's Gap, Va. on Feb. 19, 1865. Sources from both sides state that the 14th was armed only with carbines, which put them at a great disadvantage in the close quarters fight against Mosby's men, who all carried at least 2 revolvers. A Union survivor also stated that the carbines were difficult to reload.

So, I have two questions. Does anyone know just why the 14th Pennsylvania would have been without either pistols or sabers? Second, would anyone happen to know what kind of carbines the 14th possessed in Feb. 1865?

From my reading on Mosby's raid, the 14th may well have had sabers or even revolvers. The critical distinction was in the use of large numbers of revolvers as part of a shock action. If the 14th trained to fight first with the carbine, they would have definitely been at a serious disadvantage against Mosby's force in a tight environment as Mosby's doctrine was to close rapidly to pistol range and overwhelm the opponent with volume of fire from all of his troopers unloading with pistols. This was the pattern in a number of Mosby's successes.

The 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry was equipped with 596 Burnside carbines and 12 Spencer carbines in late i864. In early 1865 the returns listed only 510 Burnside carbines.

Thank you to BCantwell and Ryan T for the information. FYI I had a great grandfather who served in the 14th Pennsylvania, and was captured after being hit in the back of his head with a revolver by one of Mosby's men. The place and date was not stated, but I suspect it was at Ashby's Gap, as two men from his company (B) were listed as killed there.

The following excerpts are from the AARs of Ashby Gap (Official Records, Series I, Vol. 46, Part 1, pp. 462-467).

Report of Bvt. Brig. Gen. William Tibbets (Commandingly 2nd Cavalry Division)

"As to the number of men armed with revolvers he [Capt. James Graham, acting assistant inspector general] can't inform me. I intended that the men should carry the saber, but Major Bailey and Captain Martindale and Lieutenant Draper informed me that it was essential that they should not be so armed, as they wanted to move as silently as possible."

Report of Maj. Thomas Gibson (14th Pennsylvania Cavalry Detachment)

"I ascribe the disaster to … the men having neither sabers nor revolvers, and consequently being unable to engage with an enemy armed with at least two revolvers to the man."

"The men had no weapons but their carbines, and these were extremely difficult to load and inefficient in the melee that ensued."

"The rebels had very few sabers but were well supplied with revolvers, and rode up to our men and shot them down without meeting more resistance than men could make with carbines."

One is left to wonder if the order not to take along sabers was misconstrued to include revolvers as well?

The issue may have best been summed up by Sheridan's endorsement of the report:

"There is no doubt that this scout was badly managed by all concerned…"

Thank you again Ryan T, that is great information. I had found Major Gibson's report, quoted in its entirety in the book "Mosby's Rangers . . .," by James J. Williamson, who served with Mosby (available on Google Books), but did not have the additional comments by Generals Tibbets and Sheridan. Leaving sabers behind in order to minimize noise on the march makes sense, but if that was the goal, it seems to me that it would have been better to take revolvers and leave the carbines behind too, as the sling swivels would also make a racket. Anyway, I really appreciate your time looking this material up.