and men of the
command, was the rifle known as the "medium Enfield." The short Enfield
was very convenient to carry, but was deficient both in length of range
and accuracy. The long Enfield, without any exception the best of all
rifles, was unwieldy either to carry or to use, as sometimes became
necessary, on horseback. The Springfield rifle, nearly equal to the long
Enfield, was liable to the same objections, although in a less degree.
Now that the military world has finally decided in favor of
breech-loading guns, it may seem presumptuous to condemn them; but, so
far as my own experience goes, they are decidedly inferior. When I say
inferior, I mean not so much that they will not carry far, nor
accurately, although a fair trial of every sort I could lay my hands
upon with the Enfield and Springfield, convinced me of the superiority,
in these respects, of the two latter; but that for other reasons they
are not so effective as the muzzle-loading guns. Of the two best
patterns, the Sharp and the Spencer--for the Maynard is a pop-gun, and
the others are so contrived that, generally, after one shot, the shell
of the cartridge sticks in the chamber--of these two, I have seen the
Sharp do the most execution. It has been the verdict of every officer of
the Western Confederate cavalry with whom I have talked upon the
subject, and it certainly has been my experience, that those Federal
cavalry regiments which were armed with breech-loading guns did least
execution. The difference in the rapidity with which men dropped when
exposed to the fire of an infantry regiment, and the loss from that of a
cavalry regiment of equal strength, even when the latter fought well,
ought of itself to go far to settle the question, for the federal
infantry were all armed with muzzle-loading guns.

A close study of the subject will convince any man that the very fact of
having to load his gun will make a soldier comparatively cool and
steady. If he will stay to load at all, and will fix his mind upon what
he is doing, he will become cool enough to take aim. While if he has
only to stick in a cartridge and shoot, or turn a crank and pull
trigger, he will fire fast, but he will fire wildly. I have seen some of
the steadiest soldiers I ever knew, men who were dead shots with an
Enfield, shoot as if they were aiming at the sun with a Spencer. The
Spencer rifle would doubtless be an excellent weapon for a weak line to
hold works with, where the men were