New Sharps Carbine Model 1863.

sehillard

Private
Joined
Apr 18, 2018
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My Dad recently handed down this Sharps 1863 carbine. My GGGrandfather Priv. John M. Hillard (pictured in my avatar) served in the PA 62nd, and in early 1864 was transferred into the PA 155th infantry from July 1863 until May 1865. My Dad said this has been handed down through the generations in the family and this was a gun his GGrandfather brought home after being mustered out in May 1865. He was wounded in the right shoulder area in the Wilderness at Saunders Field on May 5, of 1864 but was able to fight on and served at the surrender at Appomatox. My question is I would like to know more about this rifle? Was it his in the battle? It's a gun typically used by Cavalry but my GGGF was an infantry soldier. Regardless, It's now my prized possession. I have ordered a display case and soon it will be on my mantle. I wish this gun could tell me its story. Its clearly been used as there is some battle scars but its been well taken care of and is in very good shape.

Its clearly marked with SN C21019.
If anyone has any suggestions on how I could research the history of this gun, where it was first issued etc, I would much appreciate it.
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You have a real beauty there and there may be more of a story here than you realize as this is a Cavalry Carbine and your ancestor served in the infantry. That said, at the end of the war, soldiers were allowed to purchase their swords for $5.00 and Carbines for $10.00 so he may have acquired this carbine in this manner. There are members of this group that have access to reference materials that can give you the units that this carbine's number range will fall into. Good luck on your search and regardless of the results. you have a piece of history that any person with an interest in the Civil War would love to own.
 
That is a beautiful piece! And part of family history.
If he was in an infantry unit, I doubt that was his wartime piece. But like soldiers throughout history, he may have liked the carbine and traded for it or otherwise acquired it when leaving for home.
However he came by it, keep it and pass it on.
 
Very Nice Sharps. The "c" in your serial number represented serial numbers over 100,000, so it can be interpreted as 121019. This would put it the end of the serial # range.
 
Typically, a carbine would not be in the hands of the Infantry. That said several years ago while studying ordnance returns for the Army of the Tennessee I cam across a curiosity. An Infantry regiment, I don't remember which, showed 50 or so Sharps carbines on their inventory. Upon further research and digging it was determined that the Regiment had somehow acquired those Sharps Carbines and would issue them out to their foragers/skirmishers/patrols etc on an as needed basis to increase their firepower.

Such a thing was certainly NOT common and the ancestor who owned this Sharps carbine almost certainly picked it up postwar.
 
According to the book Civil War Sharps Carbines and Rifles by Earl J. Coates and John D. MacAulay when the Sharps Rifle Co. hit # 99,999 they added the prefix C which is the Roman numeral for 100,000. Thus C 1 translates to 100,001. A group of "C" serial numbered arms were issued to several regiments of Hancock's Veteran Corps. The men comprising the regiments of this unique corps were all discharged veterans who had seen service in combat regiments and whose original enlistment had ended. Part of the inducement to reenlist in this corps was the promise of a breechloading rifle that the soldier could retain upon discharge. All Sharp's rifles with the C prefix were available to Hancock's Veteran Corps. That these regiments saw no hard service because of the war's end certainly accounts for the superior condition of many of these arms.
That is my guess as to how your ancestor came to own a Sharp's Rifle being he was infantry.
 
Wow! What an awesome piece and an awesome story to go with it! Definitely should hold a spot of honor in your house. I can't offer anymore information about it that hasnt already been posted, but I can say i wish I had something as outstanding as this hanging in my house!
 
All Sharp's rifles with the C prefix were available to Hancock's Veteran Corps. That these regiments saw no hard service because of the war's end certainly accounts for the superior condition of many of these arms. That is my guess as to how your ancestor came to own a Sharp's Rifle being he was infantry.

Great info to know!
 
That’s an amazing rifle and heirloom! What is the u shaped ring fastened to the support hand side for? Anyone know?
 
According to the book Civil War Sharps Carbines and Rifles by Earl J. Coates and John D. MacAulay when the Sharps Rifle Co. hit # 99,999 they added the prefix C which is the Roman numeral for 100,000. Thus C 1 translates to 100,001. A group of "C" serial numbered arms were issued to several regiments of Hancock's Veteran Corps. The men comprising the regiments of this unique corps were all discharged veterans who had seen service in combat regiments and whose original enlistment had ended. Part of the inducement to reenlist in this corps was the promise of a breechloading rifle that the soldier could retain upon discharge. All Sharp's rifles with the C prefix were available to Hancock's Veteran Corps. That these regiments saw no hard service because of the war's end certainly accounts for the superior condition of many of these arms.
That is my guess as to how your ancestor came to own a Sharp's Rifle being he was infantry.
As a note Hancock's Veteran Corps were issued Sharps RIFLES not carbines as pictured above.
 
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It's a beauty. How an infantryman got a cavalry carbine needs to be solved though.

I do recall reading that Sharps had to shut down carbine production to retool their line to make rifles for Berdan's Sharp Shooters. I don't know if Sharps had another run of infantry rifles and if they didn't, then it's understandable why carbines were issued.
 
That’s an amazing rifle and heirloom! What is the u shaped ring fastened to the support hand side for? Anyone know?
the sling. This is a carbine design for and issued to cavalry.

You can find similar on many types of carbines going back to the late 18th century at least.
 
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