While Confederate marked and imported Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets are very scarce and always desirable collectibles, the rarest and most desirable of these guns are the ones purchased by individual southern states and marked with their state ownership marks. It is well known that early in the war the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Louisiana all acquired arms directly from England, functioning proactively to supply their troops that were rallying to the protect their states from the “Northern Invasion”. These guns had state ownership marks applied to them prior to their shipment to the Confederacy, in an attempt to keep the guns segregated from Confederate central government purchases, and to ensure that the guns reached the troops of that specific state. The guns purchased by the state of Georgia are rarely encountered for sale, but they are some of the best documented of the Confederate state purchased arms.

In 1861, Major Edward C Anderson was sent to England to act as a Confederate central government purchasing agent of small arms and munitions. As Anderson was a Georgian, Georgia Governor Joseph E Brown relied upon Anderson to work as a purchasing agent for his home state as well. During September of 1861 Anderson arranged the purchase of 5,500 “Enfield” pattern small arms through the firm of Sinclair, Hamilton & Company. Of these guns, 4,700 were Pattern 1853 “Long” Enfield Rifle Muskets, and the remaining 800 were Pattern 1856 “Short” Enfield Rifles, which were actually Pattern 1856 Sergeant’s Fusils for India Service. These were “short rifles” that were similar to the standard British Pattern 1856 Rifle but designed to accept a “shank” (socket) bayonet, instead of a saber bayonet. 

Anderson returned to the Confederacy aboard the Confederate Blockade Runner Fingal on October 8, 1861. In addition to Anderson, the Fingal brought the first 1,100 guns of his purchase for the state of Georgia, as well as 1,000 that had been purchased by the state of Louisiana and 7,520 that had been purchased by the Confederate central government. All the Georgia purchased guns that were on Fingal were “Long” Enfields and none of the short rifles were included in this batch of guns. It appears that nearly all of these Georgia purchased guns were marked with the JS/{ANCHOR}viewer’s stamp of John Southgate, a 5/8” tall capital letter G on the obverse buttstock and had inventory numbers hand engraved on the tangs of their brass buttplates. The majority of the Enfields that were shipped on the Fingal were marked with engraved numbers from 1-1000. It is possible that a crate or two of Barnett delivered arms, with slightly different markings, were contained in the Fingal cargo as well, although only one example has been reported to date, and it has not been fully verified and vetted. These Enfields, like all English long arms shipped to the Confederacy, were shipped in crates of 20, complete with socket bayonets for each gun, a bullet mold and two nipple keys (cone wrenches). 

Based upon an analysis of the cargo manifest of the Confederate blockade runner Gladiator, it is probable that Fingalalso carried the Georgia purchased “Long” Enfields numbered 1121-1220. The crates that contained these Georgia purchased arms were marked with the initials <JEB>, for Governor Joseph E Brown, within a rhomboid over the letter G, as well as with the number of that crate. To date only 12 of the Fingal delivered “Georgia G” marked guns are known to have survived. The Fingal arrived in Savannah, GA on November 13, 1861, after a brief stop in Bermuda. 

The next shipment of Georgia purchased arms left England on the blockade runner Gladiator on November 6, 1861. One page from the bill of lading for the Gladiator is in the archives of the American Civil War Museum (formerly the Museum of the Confederacy) and it lists 900 “Long” and 580 “Short” Enfields. The long Enfields were numbers 1001-1120 (cases 51-56), 1221-1300 (cases 62-65), 1301-1960 (cases 78-110), 1961-1980 (case 123) and 1981-2000 (case 129). The other cases (66-77, 111-122, and 124-128) contained the “Short” Enfield Sergeant’s Fusils for India Service, numbers 1-580. These guns were also marked with the JS/{ANCHOR} inspection mark in the wood behind the triggerguard tang, in the belly of the stock, and have engraved Confederate inventory numbers on the tang of their brass buttplates. The guns are additionally marked with a 5/8” tall capital letter G on the obverse buttstock. The Gladiatorarrived in Nassau, Bahamas on December 9, 1861. There she was unloaded, and her cargo was transshipped to the Confederacy via the smaller, faster blockade runners Cecile, Kate and Florida. The Kate delivered her cargo to Smyrna in early February of 1862, Florida made her delivery to the same destination in mid-March, and Cecile delivered her cargo into Charleston in mid-February 1862. To date, only 21 of the 900 Georgia marked Gladiator “Long Enfields” are known to have survived. The balance of the Georgia purchased arms were shipped aboard the blockade runner Economist, which made its delivery directly into Charleston Harbor in mid-March 1862.

Based upon examination of the limited number of surviving Georgia “G” marked Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets that are known to exist, it has been determined that the “Long” Enfields numbered from 1 to 2000 and from 3700 to 4700 were guns marked in the manner discussed above, with the JS/{ANCHOR} viewer’s (inspector’s) mark, an engraved inventory number on the buttplate tang, and a G on the obverse buttstock that is approximately 5/8” tall. Collectors tend to refer to these as the “Medium G” Enfields, as a smaller “G” mark is also noted in extant examples. However, it appears that approximately 1,700 guns, which appear to be the guns numbered between 2000-3700, were delivered by the London gunmaker J.E. Barnett & Sons, and these guns have their inventory numbers stamped on the toe of the buttplate, rather than being engraved into the top of the tang. These guns also bear a G mark on the obverse buttstock, but of a slightly larger size. Collectors tend to call them “Big G” Enfields. The guns are marked with a CH/1viewer’s mark in a circle, inspection stamp in the wood, in front of the buttplate tang, instead of a JS/{ANCHOR}. The CH/1 mark is that of a team of arms inspectors lead by Isaac Curtis and Charles Hughes. Curtis & Hughes were experienced arms makers with work history at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, thus they were particularly qualified to inspect military and approve small arms. A receipt from S. Isaac, Campbell & Company dated November 6, 1861, for “2 Stamps Initials CH 1” gives definitive period evidence that this mark is from marking dies ordered on behalf of the viewers hired to inspect Confederate arms. Additional confirmation of this is provided lower on the receipt, where Caleb Huse has written in red ink, in reference to the stamps, “For viewers of Rifles”. This pattern of stamp is primarily noted on Confederate imported arms provided by Barnett, including such obsolete British military longarms Pattern 1851 Minié Rifles and Brunswick Rifles, which Barnett apparently refurbished, had inspected and then sold to Caleb Huse for Southern use. The stamp receipt noted above must have been for additional or replacement die stamps, as receipts exist for the Isaac Curtis inspection of Barnett provided Pattern 1851 Minié Rifles as early as September of 1861. When looking at the process of inspecting and numbering of Confederate imported arms, it is interesting to note that Barnett alone seems to have completed all of this work “in house”. In all other cases, it appears the contracted arms were delivered to a central location, almost certainly a dockside warehouse, where the teams of arms inspectors and engravers unpacked each crate, inspected and numbered the guns, bayonets and ramrods and then repacked them. Only Barnett appears to have delivered arms that were already inspected and possibly already numbered. It is also interesting to note that it does not appear that Barnett applied numbers to bayonets and ramrods, as to date no numbered Barnett gun has been encountered with either matching numbered accessory. To date slightly more than 70 “G” marked Pattern 1853 “Long” Enfields of all types are known to have survived, with about fifty of the engraved number guns being known and about two-dozen of the Barnett guns with stamped numbers being known. This observation is based upon some twenty-five years of surveying extant examples by several noted arms historians and maintaining a very extensive research database.

The Georgia “G” Marked Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Musket offered here is one of the “Medium G” guns which delivered by James Kerr, one of the “Five Furnishers” contracted by Sinclair, Hamilton & Company to provide Enfield Rifle Muskets. The “five furnishers” were the long time London gunmakers EP Bond and Parker, Field & Co and the large Birmingham based firms of CW James and W.C. Scott & Son. The fifth furnisher was James Kerr, who had taken over as the manager of the London Armoury Company when Robert Adams left that position. Kerr is best known for designing and supervising the production of Kerr Revolvers at the London Armoury Company. He apparently received a tiny portion of the Confederate Enfield contracts as because the managing director of the London Armoury Company was Archibald Hamilton, the principle in the firm of Sinclair, Hamilton & Co. Kerr had no ability to produce arms as he was tied up supervising production of Enfields and Kerr Revolvers at the London Armoury Company. As a result, practically none of the Kerr furnished guns have his name on them, instead they were arms that he acquired on the open market and then resold to Sinclair, Hamilton & Company to sell to the south. The furnishers sometimes marked their guns with a capital letter on the top of the stock comb, forward of the buttplate tang, using a B for Bond, an F for Parker, Field & Co, a J for CW James, a K for James Kerr and an S for Scott & Son. This insured that the furnisher was properly credited for their deliveries and paid. However, the guns were not always marked with these furnisher letters. A 31 October 1861 dated letter from Sinclair, Hamilton & Company notes that the 2^nd Sinclair, Hamilton & Company contract to deliver 30,000 long Enfields to the Confederate central government was divided between the furnishers as follows: 8,000 guns from Scott & Son, 10,000 from CW James, 6,000 from E.P. Bond, 5,500 from Parker, Field & Co and 500 from James Kerr. The very small number of guns assigned to Kerr out of the 30,000 in that contract, less than 2% of the contract, clearly indicates that Kerr’s inclusion in the deliveries was more of a “kickback” thank anything else. The only reason we know that the Long Georgia Enfields in Case #95, numbered from 1641 to 1660 were delivered by James Kerr is because he is noted as the furnisher in the damaged margin of the surviving manifest page. Interestingly of the 74 cases of arms listed on that surviving bill of lading page from the Gladiator, only three cases were noted as furnished by Kerr. They were cases #76 and #77 which contained Short Enfields (Sergeants Fusils for India Service)  numbered 201-220 and 221-240 and case #95 with the twenty Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets numbered 1641-1660. Even more interestingly, three guns from that case are known to survive, #1650, #1653 and #1656 and even though they were all “furnished” by James Kerr, all three are Birmingham contractor produced guns with 1861 dated “Tower” marked locks.

This gun is #1656 from Case #95 and was part of the Gladiator’s cargo of arms. The gun is clearly marked in the toe of the stock by the Birmingham contractor who produced the gun, Joseph Wilson. The lock is clearly marked on its exterior in two lines, forward of the hammer: 

TOWER

1861

There is the usual British {CROWN} stamped to the rear of the hammer without a “VR” underneath it. The gun is relatively untouched, with an attractive attic appearance. The gun is marked with the expected John Southgate JS/{ANCHOR} inspection mark to the rear of the triggerguard. A small {CROWN}/B/ST/A/2 mark is present behind the triggerguard as well, the mark of the Birmingham Small Arms Trade gunmaker’s consortium. It is not clear if the “2” is an inspector number or an indication that the gun was for some reason “2^nd quality”. A handful of Confederate inventory marked Enfields are known with what I interpret as “2^nd quality” marks, so selling a lower quality (and cheaper for the furnisher) gun to the South was not unknown. The top of the buttplate tang is engraved with the inventory number 1656. No furnisher mark is visible in the wood forward of the tang and neither of the other two known surviving long Enfields furnished by Kerr that were in that case have a furnisher letter mark either. The gun has a very clear and crisp and clear “Medium” Georgia G on the obverse buttstock that is 5/8” tall. The upper left quadrant of the breech has the usual Birmingham View, Provisional Proof and Definitive Proof marks, with a pair of “25” gauge marks which indicate .577 caliber between the proofs. As with nearly all Birmingham and London made guns of the period, which were non-interchangeable parts guns, the various parts of the gun are marked with assembly mating marks and this case the gun shows a combination of both file slash “Roman numerals” and Arabic numbers. The upper edge of the lock is marked with the file slash mark XX// which could also be interpreted as “22”. The same file slash marks are present on the necks of the two lock screws and the Arabic number 22 is stamped under the barrel. The remnants of the XX// mark are present in the ramrod channel as well, although it is well worn due to friction from the rod. The interior of the lock is marked JW over the mainspring and TH over the mainspring boss stud. The marking over the mainspring is typically that of the gunmaker and the mark at the boss stud is that of the lock marker. As the gun was made by Joseph Wilson, the “JW” mark is correct on the lock’s interior. The bottom of the barrel is stamped JOSEPH WILSON as well as the aforementioned 22 and with the initials TT. The “TT” is likely the mark of Birmingham gunmaker Thomas Turner and likely indicates that his firm made the barrel. There are no visible mating marks on the barrel bands, which is not uncommon, particularly on a gun with some wear as the marks were often very tiny and long the rear edges. The only part that appears to be a replacement is the breech plug tang screw, which has a worn mating mark that does not appear to match the balance of the gun. The obverse of the rear sight wall has a weak W&S mark, indicating the sight was made by Philip Webley & Sons, who made a large number of gun sights during the period. Webley is better known for his revolver designs and for later partnering with WC Scott & Son to form Webley & Scott. The original numbered ramrod that the gun was delivered with is missing but a wonderful maker marked correct pattern period ramrod is present and is marked F PRESTON/MANCHESTER. Francis Preston is probably best known to Civil War collectors as a cutler who made bayonets, but he also made “small work” including barrel bands, ramrods, gun screws, etc. I have seen a number of Enfields with barrel bands that had his mark. Preston also had some sort of small “kickback” contract to deliver Enfield, similar to Kerr’s. I have seen two Birmingham-made Confederate inventory numbered Enfields that were marked with a small {CROWN}/FP/M/{ARROW} mark behind the triggerguard, in the style of an early Sinclair, Hamilton & Company mark. These guns also had “P” furnisher marks on their stock combs, even though there is no indication that Preston was actually an official “furnisher”. I hypothesize that a small number of guns were delivered by Preston either as part of CW James’ or Scott & Sons contracts, or possibly both, as some sort of bonus or side deal.

As noted, the gun is in attic condition and has a moderately oxidized attic patina that is largely untouched. The gun is in about VERY GOOD condition overall, but in terms of a Confederate purchased and used gun and the crispness of the wood edges, it rates closer to fine. The metal is moderately oxidized with a medium brown patina over most of the metal surfaces, although it has a more mottled gray and brown appearance from the breech to the rear sight. The markings in the metal remain clear and legible and the metal itself remains relatively smooth except for the last 3”-4” nearest the muzzle, which is moderately pitted. The breech also shows some old light pitting and erosion from percussion cap flash, but forward of the breech area to the last few inches near the muzzle, the metal shows only some lightly scattered pitting and pinpricking, along with some scattered patches of minor surface roughness from oxidation and age. The lock functions crisply and is mechanically fine, working perfectly on all positions. The bore of the gun rates FAIR at best and is very heavily oxidized and rusted with heavy pitting along its length but with the rifling still visible, if weak. The gun retains the original long-range rear sight, which is complete and fully functional. The rear sight may have been reattached a very long time ago, but its age and patina indicate that it is original to the gun. The barrel bands all retain their original screw keepers at the ends, small items that are almost always missing. The gun also retains both its upper sling swivel that is mounted on the upper band and the lower swivel mounted on the triggerguard bow. As mentioned, an original, period Pattern 1853 ramrod is in place in the channel under the barrel. It is full-length and retains some threads at the end. The patina of the rod matches the balance of the gun very well and it has likely been with the gun since the period of use. The loss of ramrods in the field during combat was so common that the Confederacy was importing loose Enfield ramrods by the thousands during the last couple of years of the war. The brass furniture of the gun is very attractive and has a lovely, completely uncleaned dark golden patina with a greenish tone. The stock is in about FINE condition with crisp edges and markings and shows no indications of having been sanded. All the stock markings remain crisp, clear and fully legible, with the exception of the JS/{ANCHOR} which is a little soft due to the face that it is located where you grip the gun on a regular basis. There is a small, tight grain crack that runs from the rear lock mounting screw to the barrel channel, a common issue that is the result of overtightening the lock screw. There are also a couple of tiny surface chips missing around the lock mortise. The stock shows the excepted scattered bumps, dings and surface scuffs, but as noted is quite crisp and very well-marked. 

Overall, this is a wonderful example of a relatively untouched and fairly crisp, attic condition Georgia “G” Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Musket. All Georgia marked Enfields are quite scarce, but the guns that can be matched to a crate number on the manifest of the Gladiator are incredibly rare. These early-war Georgia purchased guns were some of the first Enfields to arrive in the south, and their early delivery insured that they saw significant service during the course of the war. This one would have arrived in time to see combat at Shiloh in the West or to see service during the Peninsula Campaign in the East. In fact, many of the Gladiator guns that were transshipped from Bermuda were delivered to Confederate soldiers in Corinth, MS immediately before the Battle of Shiloh. High quality Confederate Enfields are difficult to find for sale, but state marked guns are particularly difficult to locate. This is a wonderful and very well-marked Georgia gun that is 100% authentic and correct, with the exception of the replaced tang screw and period replaced ramrod, both of which are original period items and of the correct pattern.

This gun would certainly make a fantastic centerpiece to any advanced collection of Confederate long arms, especially a collection that emphasizes Confederate imports or the state of Georgia in the Civil War.

ON HOLD