The best possible description of the British Military Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine is that it was a compromise; a carbine that no one wanted, and yet was the only logical solution to the current needs in the British military. The mid-19th century saw the British Board of Ordnance in a transitional phase, in fact the Board of Ordnance ceased to exist in 1855, being replaced by a section within the War Department. It is sometime around 1856 that we see the changeover from the B (Broad Arrow) O Board of Ordnance storekeepers mark in the stocks of firearms, to the W (Broad Arrow) D War Department mark. This mark still conveyed the same information, that the gun was British military property, but was now marked by the War Department, rather than the Board of Ordnance. 1853 had seen the adoption of the Pattern 1853 “Enfield” Rifle Musket by the British military and had brought the most advanced muzzle loading, percussion ignition rifle musket of the period into use for all regular infantry regiments. An entire series of long arms would be spawned from the Pattern 1853, including the Pattern 1853 Artillery Carbine, the Pattern 1856 and Patter 1858 (and eventually the Pattern 1860 and Pattern 1861) short rifles, and the Pattern 1856 cavalry carbine. The “Enfield” family of small arms was the first widespread adoption of a “reduced caliber” rifled long arm for a major world power. While the .577 bore of the Enfield does not appear to be “small” by today’s standards, it was somewhat revolutionary in concept for the period, as at the time most of the world’s powers still relied upon muskets that were nominally .69 to .71 caliber. The fact that the Enfield was rifled was revolutionary as well, as up until that time standard infantry doctrine called for rifled arms to only be issued to specialty troops and relied upon the smoothbore musket for the line infantry. Now, all British infantry would be issued rifled long arms. During the early part of the 1850s, the British cavalry was armed with a variety of outdated and non-standard arms. The most widely issued was the Pattern 1844 Yeomanry Carbine, a .66 caliber smoothbore percussion weapon, and the next most common was the .66 smoothbore Pattern 1847 Padget Percussion Carbine, many of which were either converted from flint or made up from old flintlock parts, some of which still retained the Georgian era proof marks! Additionally, some Padget’s were rifled in an attempt to make them more modern, and several regiments serving in India, South Africa and Ireland used double-barreled carbines of various patterns that saw issue only to those regiments. None of the cavalry arms were standardized. Small arms standardization had been one of the goals of Board of Ordnance Inspector George Lovell, who had helped champion the modernization of British military small arms.

At the same time the P1853 was revolutionizing the concept of the infantry musket, it was becoming clear that some form of breech loading rifled carbine was going to be the best choice to arm the cavalry. The problem was to decide which one. In 1855, a number of American made Sharps Model 1855 carbines were ordered for the British cavalry. These were delivered between May of 1856 and April of 1858, with a total of 6,000 of the guns seeing British service. All were issued to cavalry regiments serving in India. In 1855, another American design was ordered as well, the Greene Patent Carbine. Over the next 18 months or so, some 2,000 of these carbines were delivered to the British military as well, but these arms saw only trials issue and service, and no real use in combat. Domestic designs were also considered, including the Calisher & Terry breechloading carbine, and eventually the Westley Richards “Monkey Tail” design. None of these arms provided the solution the British military was looking for. In almost all cases the primary issue was with the ammunition. In the case of the Greene and Sharps carbines, the problem was that combustible cartridges that were sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of field service tended to be too tough for the carbines to use and detonate effectively, while those that were easily cut open by the Sharps’ breech block or pierced by the Greene’s firing pin shaped flash channel tended to fall apart in the cartridge box during regular field service. The Terry Carbine had reliability issues with its patent ammunition as well. Other patterns and designs of breechloading were tested in smaller numbers as well, but none proved to be the answer the British were searching for. The end result was that in 1856 the Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine was authorized, a gun essentially based upon the carbine in service with the East India Company at the time and was known in service as the East India Service Pattern. The gun was a compact, muzzle loading percussion firearm with a 21” barrel with the service standard .577” bore. The carbine closely resembled the P1853 Rifle Musket that it was patterned after, with a blued barrel and barrel bands, color case hardened lock and brass furniture. The ramrod was of the captive design, mounted to stud under the barrel, near the muzzle, with a pair of swiveling arms. The rear sight was of the same pattern used on the P1853 Artillery Carbine and consisted of a fixed 100-yard leaf and two additional folding leaves for 200 and 300 yards, respectively. The sight had been developed by Thomas Turner as part of the design of the P1853 rifle musket and had originally been intended for use in conjunction with an adjustable long ladder sight regulated out to 1,000 yards. This pattern of sight was never officially adopted for general issue with the P1853, but the 3-leaf portion used for 100, 200 and 300 yards did see use on the carbines until a new sight was adopted for cavalry and artillery carbines in 1861. The carbine was 37” in overall length, and included an iron sling bar opposite the lock, secured to the stock with iron side nail cups that also secured the lock mounting screws. Although the majority of the P1853 family of arms utilized progressive depth rifling, the majority of P1856 carbine production did not, although the standard 1:78” rate of twist was retained in the carbine bores. In the end, in an era where even the US military had discovered that breechloading carbines were the wave of the future, the British military settled upon an essentially obsolete design and kept it in use for a decade, when it was finally replaced by the Snider carbine, the British version of the American “Trapdoor” system, that altered percussion muzzle loaders to breech loading cartridge guns.

This example of a British Military Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine is in about FINEcondition and were it not for a damaged cone (nipple) and some wood loss in the ramrod channel, it would rate about “very fine”. The carbine is 100% complete and correct in all ways and shows the assembly number 29 on nearly every major and minor component. The lock is crisply and clearly marked (CROWN) / VR to the rear of the hammer and 1861 / TOWER to the front of the hammer. There is also a small British military (CROWN) / (BROAD ARROW) on the forward portion of the lock. The interior of the lock is marked W.H. over the mainspring and MOXHAM in an arc around the mainspring boss. Numerous inspection marks are also present, inside the lock and on the reverse of the hammer neck. The top edge of the lock plate is marked with the mating mark 29. The breech of the carbine is marked with the usual British military proofs, and the bottom shows a myriad of marks and initials. The mark of the barrel maker HENRY CLIVE is clearly stamped underneath, as is the mark of the contractor who made the carbine, MOXHAM. Again, the usual myriad of crowned inspection marks are present under the barrel as well, along with the mating number 28 that appears on both breech plug and the barrel. This assembly mating number refers only to the barrel and breech plug assembly. The rear of the breech plug is also marked with the mating number for the gun, 29. As noted, the number 29 appears throughout the carbine, including the barrel bands, nose cap, breech tang screw and both lock mounting screws. The barrel channel of the stock is stamped MOXHAMJ. BRADNOCK, as well as with inspector marks. Bradnock was almost certainly the stock maker, although he is not listed in any of my directories of English gun makers. The obverse buttstock shows a British military storekeepers roundel cartouche, that reads BIRMINGHAM around a (CROWN) / W O / (BROAD ARROW). While the “BO” for Board of Ordnance and the “WD” of War Department are frequently encountered on British military arms, this is only second time I have noted the “WO” mark, and I assume it might stand for “War Office”, possibly a transitional mark between the other two. Interestingly the other gun with the same cartouche was also a Moxham contract P1856 Cavalry Carbine. The stock is also marked with a 1 indicating the carbine was a “First Class” arm and could be issued to front line troops, rather than reserve or Yeomanry regiments, who typically received lower quality arms. The belly of the stock is marked with some partially legible inspection and markers marks behind the triggerguard, as well as with the maker name MOXHAM along the toe of the stock, between the triggerguard and the buttplate. Thomas Moxham established himself in Birmingham as a “gunmaker & victualler” (a “victualler” was one who sold supplies to Royal Naval vessels, such as food and drink, etc.) in 1799, working at a number of addresses during his lifetime. He died in 1837 at the age of 75 and was succeeded in the business by his son Thomas Moxham Jr., who continued operations as a “gun & pistol maker” at his father’s 37 Moland Street address, and also operated a second location at 26 Weaman Street from 1853-1861. Thomas Jr. died in 1878 and the company went out of business at that time.

As noted above, the overall condition of the carbine is about FINE. The gun retains about 20%+ of its original blued finish on the exposed portions of the barrel, with lovely deep original blue concealed by the barrel bands and under the barrel, where it has been protected by the stock. The protected portion of the barrel retains about 90% of its original blued finish. The top of the barrel shows evenly distributed surface oxidation with flecks of oxidized roughness shot through the finish. There is also some pinpricking in the breech area, behind the rear sight, as well as scattered along its length towards the muzzle. As noted, the exposed portion of the barrel retains about 20%+ original blue, which has thinned and faded, blending beautifully with a mostly smooth plum brown patina over most of the gun. This makes the gun appear to retain more finish than it really does. The gun remains very crisp throughout, with clear markings, including the British military proofs on the upper left quadrant of the breech. The bore of the carbine rates about VERY GOOD. It is partly bright with scattered patches of darkened oxidation and retains very crisp rifling. The shows lightly scattered pitting along its length, as well as some old dirt and debris and would likely be improved by a vigorous cleaning. The lock of the gun has a lovely plum-brown patina with traces of original case colored mottling peeking through the attractive plum-brown coloration. The lock is mechanically excellent and functions perfectly on all positions. The only real defect is that the original cone is broken, with the vent portion missing and only the cone seat remaining in place. An original cone would greatly enhance the gun, but the defect is only visible with the hammer cocked. The original rear sight is present and complete, and the leaves fold up and down, as they should. They are still marked “200” and “300” on the 200 and 300 yard leaves. The original front sight is in place near the muzzle as well. The original sling bar and ring are present on the flat of the carbine, opposite the lock, and remain fully functional. The ring shows some period wear, as would be expected. The swivel ramrod is in place in the channel under the barrel and works smoothly, exactly as it should. The stock is in about FINE overall condition and remains very crisp. The stock has never been sanded and retains very sharp lines and edges where it should. The stock does show the usual assortment of bumps, dings, rubs and minor blemishes from field use, handling, service and storage, but nothing significant or abusive. In fact, the only real wear to the stock is along the edges of the ramrod channel, where some slivers of wood are missing. This is not uncommon for any carbine that saw actual use. The stock is full length and solid with no breaks or repairs noted. Like so many “old guns” the stock does show a few scattered flecks of old paint that could be carefully cleaned away.

Overall this is a really attractive, 100% complete and correct example of a British Military Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine. The gun has lots of eye appeal and is a very nice untouched example. The gun has lots going for it, in that none of the usual broken or missing parts like the sights and rammer are broken or missing. The gun shows real use and some light firing wear, but still retains a very nice bore. It would be a great candidate for a shooting example of these compact rifled carbines with the replacement of the percussion cone (nipple), as the shooting of the gun would not likely significantly reduce the condition of the gun, as it would with a really minty example. The gun has a nice bore and is mechanically excellent. This carbine would be a very nice addition to any collection of Enfield pattern arms or mid-19th century military carbines.

SOLD