An excellent example of the firepower of the new Spencer carbines was the action at Parker's Store on the morning of May 5, 1864. The 500 cavalrymen of the Fifth New York Cavalry dismounted to form a skirmish line. They were attacked by an entire division of Confederate infantry The Union cavalry held off the Confederates for over three hours until they ran low on ammunition, forcing them to pull back. The cavalry lost about 80 casualties in the skirmish. The Confederates believed they were facing an entire Union brigade and had no idea it was a small cavalry regiment using Spencer repeating carbines.