The Henry lever action rifle (manefactured by Winchester, and later rebranded as such) saw use in the civil war, but was never officially adopted.
The Spencer carabine was, however, and often gave Union cavalry a firepower advantage.

I am not sure if the winchester was adopted for military scervice after the civil war, though....

The Turks used lever action Winshesters in .44 Henry rimfire in battle against the Russians.

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Turkey/TurkWin.htm

Copy/pasted from the above source:

Quote:

" GENERALLY: It is generally conceded that Turkey was able to purchase sufficient numbers of M1866 Winchester rifles and carbines to play a decisive role in delaying, for almost half a year the reapeated major assaults of the combined Russo-Roumanian Armies at the Battle of Plevna (1877). This was the first major military engagement in which the use of repeating firearms had a substantial influence on it's battles and in which extraordinarily heavy casualties were repeatedly inflicted. The Turks engaged the charging Russians at long range with their M1872 Peabody-Martini rifles (long range, powerful and flat trajectory for its day). The Russians were armed with the already obsolete Krnka rifles and only a limited number of Berdan I and Berdan II rifles. When the Russians closed to within 200 yeards, the Turks switched arms and engaged them with the repeating Winchesters and cut them to ribbons. "

The Henry repeating rifle was EXTREMELY popular in the civil war, with officers often purchasing them for their units. The same with the Spencer, both of which are lever action.

Elling,
Lever action Winchesters were never issued to troopers in the US army. The Model 1876 in .45-.75 caliber
was issued to the RCMP and you can find lots of pictures of Mounties with them. There were however, some
Model 1892 in .30-.30 caliber issued to US personel during WWII, Navy I believe, who were to protect stands of
timber and other lumber resources. Navy? Woods? Go figure.

Doug Gentner

The Spencer carbine impressed everyone who shot it -- including President Lincoln himself. The Spencer and Henry both impressed Confederate troops, who referred to the lever actions as "those damn Yankee guns you load on Sunday and shoot all week".

The Spencer did become standard issue to the Cavalry. After the Civil War, however, the Spencer carbine was replaced -- by the single-shot Springfield "Trapdoor" Carbine -- much to the consternation of the troops. This move was, of course, highly controversial and the reasons for it are debated to this day -- including whether the 7th Cavalry would have fared better at the Battle of the Little Bighorn armed with Spencers rather than the Springfields they were stuck with, or not....

"those damn Yankee guns you load on Sunday and shoot all week"

XD

I don´t know how such cavalry worked, but i asked since I imagine tthat since cavalry tend to be more wealthy they could purchase lever action guns and other stuff.

Maybe this is a bit off topic but,
Do you know if they used any protective garments? (Like Headgear or any plate)
Do you know when soldiers dropped their military greatcoats? (The caped)
What about civilian ones?

Do you know if lever rifles could be used as bayonets too?

Thanks a lot for your answers.[/code]

The lever action carabines where civilian designs, and thus didn't have bayonets.

As for protective gear, it was generaly not worn, having been (with the exception of curassier cavalry) discarded in the 1600s.
Helmets where not used either; Metal helmets where reintroduced around 1900.

Most cavalry rifles used in the US in the 19th C. did not have provision for bayonet attachment. The idea was to fight either on horseback with revolvers and saber or dismount to fight with carbines. Cavalry were used as strike forces for sure, but during the Civil War their primary roles were reconnaisance, guarding flanks and mounting the occasional charge once their infantry had gained the upper hand. There were only a couple of pitched battles involving cavalry exclusively during the war.

Winchester and Spencer did make "musket length" rifles but neither were used extensively.