United States Patent No. 30,446 contains an illustration of a Magazine Fire Arm that became known as the Henry Rifle, named after its inventor B. Tyler Henry.  Figure 3 (below) in the illustration is a cutaway of the stock which is described in the specification portion of the Letters Patent as depicting the "arrangement for carrying a jointed ramrod for cleaning the gun." 

One might wonder why Mr Henry would use the term ramrod when equipping a breach loader?  Well it probably will make more sense when examined through the prism of history, circa 1860. We are now back in the age of the muzzleloader for which the inclusion of a ramrod with a rifle makes perfect sense, to the Army.

Remember the Pre World War II debate about the aircraft carrier vs the battleship?  It seems that the military brass is prone to fighting the last war.  Prior to World War II the admirals were convinced that the battleship would reign supreme over the upstart aircraft carrier and made General Billy Mitchell's life miserable for suggesting otherwise.  Pearl Harbor cleared up that issue!

Well in 1862 things were about the same when new technology was presented as superior to the tried and true, in this case, the muzzleloader.  Oliver Winchester offered the Henry to the U.S. Army and was blocked from completing a military contract at first by General James M Ripley, Chief of Ordinance.  Ultimately Mr Winchester was able to sell a small quantity of Henrys to the Army, however certain appendages appropriate only to a muzzleloader were required with the delivery of the Henry.  Winchester protested, but ultimately compromised by agreeing to supply a cleaning rod for each rifle, the ramrod described in Patent No 30,446. Ramrods and breachloaders, just right for the Army.  Well the Henry and the Spencer certainly proved the superiority of the breechloader.

One historical question remains regarding the ramrods to be supplied with the U.S Henry's.  Some time ago a wooden crate addressed to the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet, New York became available filled with ramrods.  The ultimate destination as addressed on the box was to be the 1st DC Cavalry based in Washington, DC in 1863.  This was the unit that was outfitted with the U.S. Henrys (see: The Historical Henry Rifle, by Wiley Sword).  Obviously the box in question never made it to the Civil War and as a result more ramrods may exist today than probably would have had they been installed in the Henrys. At least it's comforting to know that items were also lost in shipping in the good old days or were they?  We will never really know for sure if it was a mistake, or if someone in the supply system decided that ramrods and breechloaders just didn't make a lot of sense, or if the box and its contents were just a hoax.  Food for thought!!

timbuk2002 

P.S. Components for the Henry Rifle were made by different vendors under contract with the New Haven Arms Company due to the company's limited production capacity, including Colt's Manufacturing Company (See The First Winchester by John E. Parsons p 22).