We have been talking about the same subject with a different time period in mind. In 1861 any number of officers purchased good quality arms for their commands. This was not possible later.

Most of the arms captured by Forrest were infantry weapons, which helped when fighting on foot by not on horse. Captured Federal carbines were useful as long as captured ammunition lasted.

Any review of mounted combat in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama from 1863 through the end of the war will demonstrate the considerable advantage possessed by Federal troopers, armed as they were with first-class revolvers, carbines and swords.

In that period many Confederate troopers carried only a single-shot carbine or musket. Mounted combat against Federals armed with swords nearly always resulted in a catastophic Confederate defeat.

You may not have read Laurence D. Schiller's article on this topic in North-South Magazine:

http://www.gdg.org/Research/Authored%20Items/Schiller/SchillerNorthernSteel.html