personalized Weapons

[Private Watkins]

A few more photos of the lock of this beautiful and hard fought Fayetteville which might indeed have had three different owners (or more)....

 

[originalrebelyell]

That is a beauty.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The 1862 dated Fayettevilles are very difficult to find, nice example!
J.

 

[Package4]

A few more photos of the lock of this beautiful and hard fought Fayetteville which might indeed have had three different owners....
View attachment 95740 View attachment 95741 View attachment 95742

There was a great display at the Baltimore gun show last weekend, that had about 30 reworked Confederate used battlefield pick ups. Some of the identifiers were marks on metal parts, particularly the underside of the barrel. The Richmond armory would typically rework a barrel and mark with either a "20" or star design on the underside. Many of the lock, trigger guard and bands had roman numerals marking them so that they would be reassembled with the proper rifle/musket.

There is no doubt that the Confederate army would scour a won battlefield and pick up serviceable muskets for rework/issue.

After Gettysburg, there are numerous reports of the tens of thousands of muskets collected, by the Union army. One report I recall reading had the soldiers fix a bayonet, if one could be found and spear the gun into the ground for later wagon pickup. The soldier said it looked like a field of musket stocks.

 

[johan_steele]

There was a great display at the Baltimore gun show last weekend, that had about 30 reworked Confederate used battlefield pick ups. Some of the identifiers were marks on metal parts, particularly the underside of the barrel. The Richmond armory would typically rework a barrel and mark with either a "20" or star design on the underside. Many of the lock, trigger guard and bands had roman numerals marking them so that they would be reassembled with the proper rifle/musket.

There is no doubt that the Confederate army would scour a won battlefield and pick up serviceable muskets for rework/issue.

After Gettysburg, there are numerous reports of the tens of thousands of muskets collected, by the Union army. One report I recall reading had the soldiers fix a bayonet, if one could be found and spear the gun into the ground for later wagon pickup. The soldier said it looked like a field of musket stocks.

This was rather common on both sides, after Shiloh Bragg ordered that hospital wagons be filled w/ discarded weapons and the wounded left for the US to care for. Bragg... not my hero.

 

[Private Watkins]

Bragg... not my hero

+1 on that. "Here's yer mule boys...!"

 

[originalrebelyell]

I have an Enfield P53 with 1862/Tower lock (no Confederate markings) and what looks like "Wt. Bish" carved in the stock...
View attachment 91379
I don't know if carved during or after the war, and have no provenance at all to prove whether or not the carving is authentic, but civilwardata records indicate that there was a "Washington Bish" who served with Co. A of the VA 30th Battalion Sharpshooters. I have seen other soldiers with last name of Bish, North & South (e.g. William Bish...), but none with a "Wt." In the first name.... So who knows...

I like the piece regardless, and got it for a nice low price that had no "ID-premium" at all...

That is pretty wood.

 

[Michael W.]

Yes, it was against military regs to mark or deface your weapon. Sometimes however, the soldier would carve his name very lightly and smally in an inconspicuous place in the hopes it would be missed upon inspection. I have an identified Wilder's Brigade Spencer that was one of 500 issued to the 72nd Indiana Infantry. The private placed his name, "J. Abott" and unit "Co. F" very lightly on the underside of the barrel stock between the 1st and 2nd bands. It is so worn and light that it nearly takes direct sunlight to see it. The photo was taken inside,so very hard to see.

 

[originalrebelyell]

I have never been able to find a personalized one they are very interesting.

 

[Jordan M.E. Williams]

You also find quite a few CW era sabres with the rear part of the guard plate bent upwards, (and in a different manner than damage) so the trooper could provide more purchase for his thumb.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

Just to add a bit to Private Watkins awesome Fayette posting of the multiple initials.
Rather than type this stuff I'll just attach 3 photos, that tell the story. The Lorenz rifles were .54 caliber and were very well made.

 

[originalrebelyell]

Very interesting thanks for posting that .

 

[Package4]

Yes, it was against military regs to mark or deface your weapon. Sometimes however, the soldier would carve his name very lightly and smally in an inconspicuous place in the hopes it would be missed upon inspection. I have an identified Wilder's Brigade Spencer that was one of 500 issued to the 72nd Indiana Infantry. The private placed his name, "J. Abott" and unit "Co. F" very lightly on the underside of the barrel stock between the 1st and 2nd bands. It is so warn and light that it nearly takes direct sunlight to see it. The photo was taken inside,so very hard to see.View attachment 179279

I also believe that many US attributed arms were marked post war, when carried at reunions, parades, or even when taken on hunting trips. I have several of these with names of men that I have been unable to find on the rolls of either side.

 

[originalrebelyell]

I agree I can see that too. I have often wondered if Confederate officers might have not been quite as strict when it came to the men marking their muskets. I know it seems you see more Confederate marked items

 

[Ralph Heinz]

I once owned a CW Spencer carbine that showed a lot of use and scratched into the buttstock on the right side was the man's first initial, last name "Young" and "9th Indiana." This was quite small and done with the point of a knife -- and I took it as the soldier's way of quickly recognizing his issued carbine -- not a postwar declaration of a weapon he had carried in the war. It came out of an old family's things in Bozeman, MT in the mid 1970's and had probably been carried over the Bozeman Trail to Montana Territory after the war. That would have been a wise choice since the Sioux and Cheyenne made travel over that trail hazardous in the late 1860's.

Being able to quickly recognize your weapon from a bunch of stacked arms was desirable when in a hurry. It may account for the initials carved into the stocks of many Confederate weapons as there are no serial numbers on Enfields, Springfields, etc. and they all looked alike. I have an early Bond P.53 with a Conf. inspector's circular stamp that has a cross of small brass tacks on the right side of the buttstock - it could be recognized quickly in a group of stacked arms. If you knew your bore was perfectly clean and you knew it shot a little to the right, you'd certainly want to get your rifle from that stack and not Snuffy Smith's rifle that had a bore that looked like a sewer pipe.

With modern military rifles that each soldier zeros himself with adjustable windguage sights, many have a painted rack number on the buttstock so you can be certain to get your rifle from the armory.

 

[originalrebelyell]

I cab see that too I agree.

 

[JOHN42768]

I have a Spencer Rifle that belonged to Edward P. Thompson , 1st Ohio Independent Sharp Shooters 5th Co. Ser.#2383 which is listed in SRS. Name is scratched on side of receiver, but no way of knowing when name was put on.

 

[Michael W.]

I also believe that many US attributed arms were marked post war, when carried at reunions, parades, or even when taken on hunting trips. I have several of these with names of men that I have been unable to find on the rolls of either side.

Correct. And many times the Federal records have the names misspelled, so they don't pop up on a search, which is also the case for John Abott. In the database, he is listed as John Abolt of Co. F, but in the Indiana State roster, his name is spelled correctly.

 

[James N.]

I guess I might as well post my "personalized" M.1842 Harper's Ferry musket here too, though I featured it earlier in a separate thread. Most interestingly, it's marked on the tang of the buttplate LEX KY, presumably for Lexington, Kentucky.

The personalization consists of this inscriptions S. BELVEAL and APRIL 11 on the left side of the butt.

The odd marks below are from the right side of the buttstock.

 

[James N.]

However, my most deeply inscribed arm isn't from the Civil War at all: it's this M. An IX French Napoleonic light cavalry musketoon manufactured in Charleville and dated 1813 with the surname JOUASSE carved into it. A fellow collector of French arms who hails from Alsace-Lorraine told me this is a relatively common French name. When I acquired the piece now many years ago back in the 1970's or 80's the area around the inscription was definitely much lighter in color than the rest of the wood, making me believe it may have been added much more recently. (It darkened to match the rest of the wood when it was oiled.)

Other than the carving, plus missing a sidebar for a carbine sling ring as seen on the other musketoon below it, this is in remarkably untouched original condition! The other is another French Revolutionary-era M.No. 1 light cavalry or hussar musketoon made and marked Gosuin a' Liege when modern Belgium was part of France; despite appearances it has NOT been cut down, but was made this way. It has been heavily over-cleaned and polished (in part by ME!) and many worm holes in the tiny stock filled with beeswax.