Spencer cartridge and cleaning brush, dug at Sailor’s Creek Battlefield

Being offered is an original Civil War dropped Spencer Cartridge and the remains of a Carbine Cleaning Brush. Spencers were carried by a number of cavalry and mounted infantry regiments and provided the Union army with additional firepower versus their Confederate counterparts.

The South occasionally captured some of these weapons and ammunition, but, as they were unable to manufacture the cartridges because of shortages of copper, their ability to take advantage of the weapons was limited. The Carbine cleaning brush was a device used to clean out the barrel bore of breechloading carbines during the war. It was carried by most Federal cavalrymen. This cartridge was found with the brush remnant at the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield, Virginia Battlefield.

They were recovered by a long-time relic hunter who searched primarily in the Sailor’s Creek Virginia area in the late 1960s into the mid-1970s.This battle took place when General Robert E. Lee's army was retreating from Richmond to Petersburg. Here, on April 6, 1865, Union General Philip Sheridan cut off and beat back about a quarter of Lee's army. Eight Confederate generals surrendered, and 7,700 men were lost. This was the last major engagement of the war in Virginia; Lee's surrender at Appomattox occurred three days later.

Both pieces are in nice condition and would make a great addition to any Civil War collection. They come in the glass top display case pictured.