Is it known to what extent the Blakeslee Quickloader cartridge box was issued to Wilson's Corps prior to the Alabama-Georgia expedition of March-May 1865? Evidently some were carried by units of this force owing to the description of wounds caused by the simultaneous discharge of cartridges contained in the Blakeslee boxes, these by Wilson's chief surgeon.

I am particularly interested in the equipage of Croxton's brigade, 1st of the 1st Division. One regiment of this brigade, the Second Michigan Cavalry, had been carrying the Spencer for perhaps a year and were well-drilled in its employment and fire discipline. Of the remaining regiments, the Fourth Kentucky Mounted Infantry had two companies which had been issued the Spencer Carbine at least before the McCook Raid the previous summer in Georgia, but most of this regiment and likely all the the Sixth Kentucky Cavalry carried the Ballard Carbine until the Wilson expedition. The Eighth Iowa Cavalry were armed with the Burnside Carbine until March 12, 1865, when these weapons were exchanged for Spencer carbines from Hatch's brigade of the Third Division.

The reason for my inquiry is the disparity in casualties on April 6, 1865, in Pickens County, Alabama, between these various regiments. As many as sixty losses were sustained by Croxton's First Brigade, with 75% being men captured from the Sixth Kentucky and Eighth Iowa regiments, units with the least experience with the Spencer carbine. Casualties inflicted by Confederate fire (KIA, wounded) were relatively few compared with Confederate losses, nine killed and twenty-five wounded, with three captured. My suspecion is that the men captured either shot up all their ammo (85 rounds carried to the man) or could not effectively reload their weapons to take full advantage of the rate of fire possible with the Spencer carbine.

Might these have not been equipted with the Blakeslee cartridge box?