This is a fine condition example of a Colt Altered US Model 1841 “Mississippi” Rifle that is unit marked to the 46^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The rifle is a particularly good example of the alterations done by Colt during the American Civil War to make these rifles more practical for use in that conflict. It is particularly interesting in that the rifle is from one of the less commonly encountered contractors to produce them, E Remington & Company.

The US Model 1841 Rifle was the first general issue percussion long arm to be adopted by the US military. The rifle was adopted in 1841 with production beginning in 1843. As had always been the tradition since the inception of the US military, the military rifle of the early to mid-19^th century was a special purpose arm, intended for limited issue and use. The rifle was not designed to accept a bayonet, as the tactics of the time called for riflemen to be deployed as skirmishers or to take long range shots at specific targets of opportunity, such as officers, artillery crews, etc., and then retreat behind the main infantry battle line prior to an assault. The riflemen would then harass the enemy from the flanks. The US Model 1841 Rifle earned the sobriquet “Mississippi Rifle” in the hands of the 1^st Mississippi Rifles during the Mexican American War. The regiment was led by future US Secretary of War, and later Confederate States President, Colonel Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. The riflemen under his command turned in yeoman’s performances at the battles of Monterrey (September 1846) and Buena Vista (February 1847) and from that time on, the gun was known as the “Mississippi Rifle”.

The rifle was a single shot, muzzleloading percussion ignition rifle that produced with a 33”, .54 caliber barrel that was rifled with 7 deep grooves with a moderate rate of twist at 1:72”. The barrel was secured to the rifle with a tang screw and two spring retained brass barrel bands, the upper of which was double-strapped. The rifle was designed to fire a patched round ball of .535” diameter. The rifle had an overall length of 48 ½” and weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces. The rifles were produced with a lacquer brown finished barrel, a color casehardened lock and hammer, brass furniture and screws that were fire blued during their drawing process. The furniture was of polished brass, with a large brass patchbox in the obverse of the buttstock for the storage of lubricated patches and tools for the maintenance of the rifle. The rudimentary fixed notch rear sight was optimized for a point of aim / point of impact of 50 yards but proved to be effective out to 300 to 400 yards, with a number of period accounts refer to the successful use of the rifles at those distances, especially against Native American combatants in the west. 

With the adoption of an expanding base conical Minié style projectile for use in rifled arms in 1855, a variety of experimental alterations were tried in an attempt to find a more effective rear sight design. At the same time, many of the rifles were additionally altered to accept bayonets, mostly of the saber variety. As the decade of the 1850s ended, and the new .58 Minié ammunition became the standard for use by the US military, many of the Model 1841 rifles in storage at the various national and state arsenals were altered to the new caliber and were also re-rifled. At this time even more of the guns were altered to accept bayonets, with some of the alterations being adaptations to use socket bayonets. At Harpers Ferry alone, some 9,800 Model 1841 rifles were altered for use with expanding base, conical ammunition of either .54 or .58 caliber.

In the months leading up to the opening of Civil War hostilities, Secretary of War John B Floyd ordered that 10,000 .54 caliber M1841 Rifles be delivered to the southern arsenals at Fayetteville, NC, Charleston, SC, Augusta, GA, Mount Vernon, AL and Baton Rouge, LA, with each location receiving 2,000 of the rifles. Floyd was an ardent supporter of the south and wanted to help make sure that small arms would be available for the coming conflict, which he felt was inevitable. As the Civil War began, even more Model 1841 rifles were altered to .58 caliber, particularly in the North, further reducing the number of arms remaining in their original .54 caliber configuration. 

During the production of the US Model 1841 Rifle from 1843 to 1855, some 91,796 rifles were produced. Of those, the National Armory at Harpers Ferry produced 25,296 of the rifles (roughly 28%) with the balance of the 66,500 guns being produced by contractors for the US government. Eli Whitney Jr. produced 26,500 (about 29% of total production), Robbins & Lawrence produced 15,000 (16%), E. Remington & Sons produced 10,000 (11%), Robbins, Kendall & Lawrence also produced 10,000 (11%) and Tryon produced only 5,000 (about 5%). Due to the large number of arms that were altered and adapted to the new caliber and to accept bayonets from the mid-1850s through the Civil War, surviving unaltered Model 1841 rifles can be extremely difficult to find on the collector market today. Additionally, due to the heavy use and the fact that nearly every one of these rifles saw use during the American Civil War, high condition examples are extremely scarce today. 

Eliphalet Remington Jr. had first entered the US military contract arms market in the mid-1840s by essentially acquiring another maker’s contracts. In 1845, he negotiated the acquisition of a contract for 5,000 US Model 1841 Rifles. This contract had originally been let to gunmaker John Griffiths of Cincinnati, OH. The Ordnance Department had pursued Griffiths as a maker of US Model 1841 Rifles in order to have a “western” supplier who would be able to deliver arms to the St. Louis Arsenal at a more reasonable cost than shipping them from the makers in the northeast. Griffiths’ original contract had been executed on December 5, 1842, but as of the summer of 1845 Griffiths had been unable to produce any rifles and seemed unlikely to be able to do so. As a result, Griffiths sought to be released from the contract and Remington sought to take it over. Remington approached the Ordnance Department offering to produce the rifles from Griffiths’ contract for $12.00 each; $1 less than the original contract price. Remington also offered to produce the guns with cast steel barrels, a significant improvement over iron and a new technology that was just starting to see use in America for gun barrels. The Ordnance Department agreed to allow Remington to take over the Griffiths contract at the standard rate of $13 but did stipulate the use of cast steel barrels. As a result, Remington became the only maker of Mississippi Rifles who only delivered guns with steel barrels. The other two sources of steel barreled Mississippi Rifles, Whitney and Harpers Ferry, transitioned to the use of cast steel after initially producing iron-barreled guns. Remington’s contract to produce 5,000 Model 1841 Rifles was dated September 8, 1845, but it would be nearly five years before any of the rifles were to be delivered. Remington apparently encountered difficulties in setting up production of the guns, and during this same time period purchased the Jenks rifle and carbine making machinery from the Ames Company in order to produce a run of 1,000 Jenks Naval Carbines with Maynard Patent tape priming locks, which were delivered during 1847 and 1848. It is not clear if this naval contract directly inhibited the production of the Model 1841 Rifles or if the problem was with setting up the tooling, machinery and jigs to manufacture the rifles. As some locks and barrels are known that are dated 1849, it is clear that Remington was producing major components during that year, and possibly completing guns that were simply not delivered until the following year. The first 1,240 Remington manufactured Model 1841 Rifles were delivered in 1850, with 2,000 additional rifles being delivered the following year and the last 1,760 rifles from the 1845 contract being delivered in 1852. Remington received a second contract for 5,000 rifles on November 3, 1851, and 740 rifles from that contract were delivered in 1852 as well. Remington went on to deliver 2,000 more rifles from the second contract in 1853 and finished the second contract by delivering 2,260 rifles in 1854. In all, Remington delivered a total of 10,000 US Model 1841 Rifles between 1850 and 1854, making them one of the smallest of the Model 1841 contractors, with only George Tryon delivering fewer guns; 5,000. Robbins, Kendall & Lawrence delivered the same number of rifles as Remington but went on to deliver an additional 15,000 rifles as Robbins & Lawrence. 

On April 25, 1861, 5,000 Remington produced US Model 1841 Rifles were issued to the State of New York to help arm the volunteer regiments being raised by the state, pursuant to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers to put down the “southern rebellion.” Slightly more than thirty days later, on May 30, 1861, the state of New York contracted with Remington to alter these rifles to accept bayonets. Due to an inability to secure enough saber bayonets from Collins & Company, Remington could initially only alter 2,500 of the rifles. Eventually they altered 768 more rifles for a total of 3,268 Remington Model1841 rifles modified to accept saber bayonets. Remington subsequently contracted with the firm of Frederick Grosz to alter additional Model1841 Rifles to accept socket bayonets. Although the state of New York only authorized 1,600 rifles to be altered to accept socket bayonets due to the shortage of saber bayonets, it appears Grosz altered the balance of 1,732 rifles and possibly more, as the New York Adjutant General’s report for 1862 listed 2,180 Model 1841 Rifles altered to socket bayonet as having been issued to the state’s troops. As such, at least half of the Remington Model 1841 Rifle production was altered to accept a bayonet for the state of New York during 1861 and possibly as many as 5,448. 

Due to Secretary of War John B Floyd’s order to send Model 1841 rifles to various southern arsenals during 1860, a total of 4,000 Remington contract M1841 Rifles were sent south. These guns are often referred to as “Remington Rifles” or “Herkimer Rifles” in period Confederate documents, referencing the Remington markings on the locks of the guns. It appears that most of the Remington Model 1841s were delivered to the US arsenals in Charleston, SC and Fayetteville, NC. In Charleston, some of those rifles were subsequently altered to accept saber bayonets by JH Happoldt. Receipts exist showing that Happoldt altered at least 338 Model 1841 Rifles to accept saber bayonets. Based upon extant examples it appears most of those alterations were performed on Remington produced rifles. Due to the fact that nearly all of the Remington Model 1841 Rifles that remained in the north were altered to accept bayonets, as were some of the southern guns, it is relatively safe to assume that unaltered specimens of Remington contract Model 1841 rifles were part of the 4,000 “Herkimer Rifles” that were shipped south in 1860.

The largest group of rifles to be altered to accept bayonets in the north were those guns modified by the Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company of Hartford, CT. Sam Colt was ever the forward thinking entrepreneur and had the presence of mind to help turn “lemons into lemonade” for the US Ordnance Department, and of course make a tidy profit in the process. With the coming of the Civil War the US Ordnance Department was sadly unprepared to field and equip the huge volunteer army that was being raised. Thousands of obsolete muskets and rifles were in ordnance stores, but very few of the standard .58 caliber US Model 1855 and the new Model 1861 Rifle Muskets and Model 1855 Rifles were available for issue. The Ordnance Department was concerned about the logistical nightmare of issuing arms of varying calibers, and was even more concerned about issuing long arms, which would not accept a bayonet. In mid-19^th century America, the bayonet, and the accompanying bayonet charge, were still considered the primary weapon of the infantry. In early June of 1861 Colt requested a sample US Model 1841 Rifle from the Ordnance Department to determine how best to alter the .54 rifles that did not accept a bayonet into .58 rifles that would accept a bayonet. Colt’s solution was simply to ream up and re-rifle the arms at .58 caliber, add a long-range rear sight, and equip the rifles with a saber bayonet lug that was attached to the barrel by a split ring secured by screw tension. By the end of June Colt had proposed to purchase the available stocks of .54 caliber Model 1841 rifles from the Ordnance Department at $10.00 per rifle and resell to them to the Ordnance Department after the alteration) at $18.50 per rifle, including a saber bayonet. Colt took delivery of some 11,500 “obsolete” Model 1841 Rifles from the Watertown, Watervliet, Governor’s Island and Washington Arsenals. The guns were from a variety of makers, with the largest proportion being from Robbins & Lawrence, Harpers Ferry and Whitney, with only a very few being Remington made rifles. Colt reamed the original barrels up to .58 caliber and most were re-rifled with 7-groove rifling, although some were re-rifled with 3-groove rifling. Based upon surviving examples, it appears that 3-groove guns represent less than 20% of the alterations, making them rather scarce. The rifles were equipped with the same three-leaf long-range rear sight that Colt had employed on his Model 1855 Revolving Carbines. The sight had a fixed post in the center graduated for 100 yards, with two additional flip-up leaves graduated to 300 and 500 yards, respectively. The rifles had a saber bayonet lug added to the barrel by installing a ½” wide split ring that had the lug on one side and a screw tension lug on the other. This allowed for easy installation on the rifles and easy adjustment or replacement of the lug should it become necessary. The lugs, the rifle barrels and the bayonets that were fit to them were serial numbered together. The majority of the rifles retained their original brass tipped, trumpet head ramrods, with the only modification being the that the ends were cupped for use with conical projectiles. Approximately 1,000 of the rifles were equipped with the post-1855 style Model 1841 all iron ramrods when they were shipped to Colt and those rods remained with the guns through the alteration process. Colt began delivering the altered rifles in November of 1861, with 11 guns. According to Colt factory records, between February 1862 and June of 1862 Colt delivered an additional 10,400 altered rifles to the US Ordnance Department. According to Colt himself, some 468 of the original 11,500 rifles were delivered to the State of Connecticut with the only alteration being the saber bayonet adaptation. These guns were used to arm the 5^thConnecticut Volunteer Infantry. According to US Ordnance Records, 5,000 of the Colt altered Mississippi Rifles were shipped to the St. Louis Arsenal on May 4, 1862, to help arm regiments formed in the mid-west that were equipped from that arsenal. It is interesting to note that as of May 4, 1862, only 2,011 of the rifles had been delivered by Colt, with an additional 4,000 being received by the Ordnance Department on May 5, 1862; the very day after the St. Louis order to send 5,000 rifles there was issued.

This particular Colt Altered US Model 1841 Rifle remains in about FINE and was issued to Company G of the 46^thMassachusetts Infantry, man #26. The buttplate tang of the rifle is clearly stamped in three lines:

CO. G

MASS 46

26

The buttplate is also stamped with the rack number 19, but it is unclear if that mark was applied in the pre-Civil War period or after the gun was no longer in use by the 46^th Massachusetts, which was only a 9-month regiment.

The 46^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was formed during the late summer of 1862 and officially mustered into service on October 1, 1862. The regiment was primarily recruited from Hampden County, MA and was raised and commanded by Colonel George Bowler. The regiment was organized and trained at Camp Banks in Springfield, MA and on November 5, 1862, began the process of moving to New Berne, NC. The regiment was attached to the 3^rdBrigade, 1^st Division of the Department of North Carolina. The regiment took part in Foster’s Expedition to Goldsboro from December 11 to December 20 of 1862 and saw action at Kinston, Whitehall and Goldsboro. In January of 1863 the regiment was reassigned to the 2^nd Brigade of the 1sst Division of the Department of North Carolina and saw action in skirmishes at Deep Gulley in New Berne in mid-March and saw additional fighting at Gum Swamp and Bachelor’s Creek in late May. In late June, the regiment was moved to Fortress Monroe to and then, as the Battle of Gettysburg was beginning were rapidly moved to Baltimore, MD, where they arrived on July 1. Following the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment was assigned to join the chase of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it retreated south. Between July 6 and July 8, the 46^th Massachusetts moved to Monocacy Junction, then on to Frederick, MD, to Sandy Hook and finally to Maryland Heights, allowing them to occupy Harper’s Ferry on July 8. They were temporarily assigned to the 1^st Corps of the Army of the Potomac and continued the pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia from July 12-15, including executing a 25-mile march to Funkstown from Harper’s Ferry in only 16 hours. On July 15 the regiment received orders to return to Boston, MA, from which they moved to Springfield, MA, then onto Hampden Park, MA, where the regiment was mustered out on July 29. A look at the roster for Company G of the 46^thMassachusetts Infantry indicates that man #26, to whom the rifle was issued, was Osborn Fenton. Fenton was born in 1844 and was an 18-year-old “Operative” when he enlisted in the regiment on August 19, 1862. He appears to have remained with the regiment through its entire service and mustered out with the rest of the men on July 29, 1863. Fenton reenlisted in the army on July 16, 1864, when he joined Company H of the 42^nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as a corporal. The regiment was a 100-day regiment raised to bolster the defenses of Washington in the wake Grant’s Overland Campaign of May-June 1864. Fenton appears to have remained with the regiment through its limited service, which involved no combat and being stationed in Alexandria, VA and Great Falls, MD. Fenton was mustered out on November 11, 1864. He returned to Hampden and married and worked as a farm laborer. He died on August 5, 1867, leaving behind his bride and a newly born daughter. While no cause of death could be located, he likely died of the effects of Civil War campaigning, which often left soldiers with weakened constitutions due to the harsh environments they encountered in the field.

As previously noted, Osborn Fenton’s Colt Altered US Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle was made by the firm of E Remington & Sons of Herkimer, NY. It has been rebored to .58 caliber and has the more commonly encountered 7-groove rifling in the bore. The gun has its original Colt added, blued steel ring adapter for saber bayonet attached to the barrel. Both the barrel and the bayonet ring are numbered 1499. It is worth noting that finding a Colt altered Mississippi Rifle with the original, matching saber bayonet ring is rather uncommon. Both the ring and the barrel are marked with the mating number on their bottoms. The rifle also has the other expected Colt modifications, including the original Colt three-leaf rear sight and the correctly modified and cupped brass tipped trumpet head steel ramrod.

The rifle is marked on the lock in three small horizontal lines, forward of the hammer and reads: 

REMINGTON’S

HERKIMER

N.Y.

The lock is additionally marked in two vertical lines behind the hammer: U.S. / 1849. The lock markings are clearly and remain fully legible. The has a lightly oxidized dull pewter patina with some darker oxidized mottling and age discoloration that help suggest the original color casehardened finish. The lock is crisp, fully functional and mechanically excellent. The barrel tang is crisply marked with the mismatched date 1851. The barrel is marked at the breech with the US proof and inspector marks: US / J.C.B / P. The initials “JCB” are those of US arsenal sub-inspector Joseph C Bragg who did inspect Mississippi Rifle barrels at Remington during his tenure as an inspector. The left breech flat is not marked “STEEL” as many Remington barrels are but does have a small “K” sub-inspection, likely the mark of US arsenal sub-inspector Samuel Knous, who also inspected Mississippi Rifles at Remington’s factory. Knous’s small K inspection mark is also found on the reverse of the hammer. Colt removed the barrels from the guns to rebore and re-rifle them and to attach the saber bayonet mounting ring. They did not actively attempt match the original barrels with the original guns, thus the mismatch in dates between the lock and the barrel. The barrel’s tang sits a little deep in the stock mortise, so there is the possibility that the barrel was not made by Remington, although it does have a documentable Remington inspector on the breech. The counterpane of the stock, opposite the lock is clearly stamped with a script SK cartouche and a script WAT cartouche. These are the marks of US arsenal sub-inspector Samuel Knous, who appears to have sub-inspected the left barrel flat and the hammer, and US Ordnance Officer Captain William Anderson Thornton, who was overseeing the inspection of contract arms during the period this rifle was made.

As previously noted, the gun remains in about FINE condition overall. The barrel retains about 30%+ of its original thinning, fading and worn lacquered brown finish overall. The areas of the barrel that are devoid of finish have a mostly dull pewter gray patina which has mixed with a moderate amount of surface oxidation, giving the gun a speckled appearance in the areas of greatest finish loss. The metal is mostly smooth, with some freckled patches of oxidized roughness and some small areas of light pitting, mostly around the breech area and the muzzle of the rifle. The bore of the rifle is in about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE condition. The bore was rebored to .58 caliber Colt and has fine 7-groove rifling. The bore is partly bright, with some areas of light pitting scattered along the length of the barrel and with some patches of more moderate oxidation and pitting present as well. A good scrubbing might improve the bore and bring up to truly fine overall. The Colt bayonet adapter ring retains about 30%+ of its original blued finish, and shows thinning, fading and wear similar to that of the barrel. The original Colt installed rear sight is present and is clearly marked 100, 300 and 500 as appropriate. The sight retains some traces of its original blued finish and has a mostly lightly oxidized plum brown patina that matches the balance of the rifle very well. The original brass blade front sight is present on top of the barrel, near the muzzle. The brass furniture has a mellow golden patina that is quite attractive and again matches the balance of the gun perfectly. The gun retains both of its original sling swivels as well. The correctly Colt modified original production brass tipped ramrod is in place in the channel under the barrel. The rod is full-length and retains excellent threads on the end. The stock is in about FINE condition as well. The stock is full-length and has no breaks or repairs noted. The stock remains relatively crisp, although there is some rounding of the sharp edges of the counterpane, likely from handling and use during the period. The cartouches are very crisp and there is no indication of the wood having been sanded, although the stock does appear to have some old oil added to it at some point in time. The grain of the wood is interesting, in that a large dark patch is present on the reverse of the stock, near the butt. This appears to be the natural coloring and grain of the wood. The stock does show some scattered bumps, dings, and mars from handling and use during the period of issue but shows no abuse. 

Overall, this is really very nice example of the always desirable and attractive US Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle as produced on contract by Remington, altered by Colt and then issued to the 46^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. While Colt altered Mississippi Rifles are not exceptionally rare on their own, Colt alterations performed on Remington rifles are very scarce. The fact that the buttplate markings allow us to know not only to what company and regiment the rifle was issued, but also likely to what soldier it was issued make it even more interesting and valuable. Mississippi Rifles have always been popular arms for collectors because there are so many variations in makers, alterations and modifications, that an advanced collector can concentrate on these guns alone and would still need to acquire more than 50 to find all of the different variants. This is a very nice, identified Colt alteration that remains in wonderful condition, is absolutely righteous, and is from a rare maker. I am quite confident that you will be very proud to add this gun to your collection and display.

ON HOLD