Enfield Marked CSA

[Patrick H]

And never buy the story buy the artifact.

That's great advice in most areas of life!

 

[Deleted User CS]

Welcome from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

 

[Lubliner]

A beautiful piece.
Welcome from Tennessee.
Lubliner.

 

[Craig L Barry]

Well, here is what can be said for certain. It does not appear to be a War Dept (British Govt) gun and aside from the rear sling swivel screw being in backwards (the screw heads always face the back...the side with the lock plate screws) it looks representative of the kind of Birmingham contractor made P53 which were used by the hundreds of thousands by both sides in the US Civil War. Just out of curiosity, can you make out the name of anyone stamped in the wood behind the trigger guard? It is usually in very thin capital letters. That would be the gun maker.

As far as CSA being on any particular imported musket, the Confederate Government did not mark them that way.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Well, here is what can be said for certain. It does not appear to be a War Dept (British Govt) gun and aside from the rear sling swivel screw being in backwards (the screw heads always face the back...the side with the lock plate screws) it looks representative of the kind of Birmingham contractor made P53 which were used by the hundreds of thousands by both sides in the US Civil War. Just out of curiosity, can you make out the name of anyone stamped in the wood behind the trigger guard? It is usually in very thin capital letters. That would be the gun maker.

As far as CSA being on any particular imported musket, the Confederate Government did not mark them that way.

Hello...sorry for the delayed response. I was away for the 4th. I will take a look when I get home, but as I recall there was some markings behind the trigger guard but it was hard to see. More to follow. Thanks!

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Well, here is what can be said for certain. It does not appear to be a War Dept (British Govt) gun and aside from the rear sling swivel screw being in backwards (the screw heads always face the back...the side with the lock plate screws) it looks representative of the kind of Birmingham contractor made P53 which were used by the hundreds of thousands by both sides in the US Civil War. Just out of curiosity, can you make out the name of anyone stamped in the wood behind the trigger guard? It is usually in very thin capital letters. That would be the gun maker.

As far as CSA being on any particular imported musket, the Confederate Government did not mark them that way.

Hi Craig,

Again sorry for not responding sooner...please see attached. I took a bunch of pictures. There looks like there was something behind the trigger guard but it is hard to make out. Hopefully someone with a more trained eye can make it out. What are your thoughts?

 

[Package4]

Th

Hundreds of Confederate Enfields were picked up on Culp's Hill following the battle of Gettysburg. They had belonged to men of Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell's Second Corps, which had recently standardized on .58 caliber weapons. Here's an excerpt from a letter written by John M. Madden of the 109th Pennsylvania in the Union Twelfth Corps, which fought on Culp's Hill:

September 8, 1863, to his brother. "I have a rifle here now that was laying out on the Gettysburg battlefield and it is a regular Rebel one with sword bayonet and marked C-S-A, still nothing that belongs to our Government or is found on a battlefield can be taken home by anybody unless they are private property and have no Government mark on."

This was most likely a Fayetteville rifle, which did have the marking on the buttplate and would have had a saber bayonet.

Hundreds of Confederate Enfields were picked up on Culp's Hill following the battle of Gettysburg. They had belonged to men of Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell's Second Corps, which had recently standardized on .58 caliber weapons. Here's an excerpt from a letter written by John M. Madden of the 109th Pennsylvania in the Union Twelfth Corps, which fought on Culp's Hill:

September 8, 1863, to his brother. "I have a rifle here now that was laying out on the Gettysburg battlefield and it is a regular Rebel one with sword bayonet and marked C-S-A, still nothing that belongs to our Government or is found on a battlefield can be taken home by anybody unless they are private property and have no Government mark on."

I would tend to believe that the arm referenced would most likely be a Fayetteville rifle, which were marked CSA on both lockplate and buttplate. The Fayetteville would also have a saber bayonet. North Carolina troops on Culps Hill would have had flanking companies utilizing a combination of rifle types. Marylanders on Culps were known to carry Mississippi Rifles (two flanking companies), many of the balance had 3 band Enfields.

 

[captaindrew]

Nice!