Whitney’s New Hampshire Contract 1842 Muskets
Eli Whitney Jr. was probably the single largest supplier of “contract arms” to the state and local militias of the United States during the middle of the 19th century. His father (Eli Whitney Sr.) established the Whitney Arms Company when he obtained an order for 10,000 stands of arms, under the U.S. M-1798 musket contracts. From that point on, until the assets of the company were acquired by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1888, the Whitney name was inexorably associated with the production of military arms.
During production of the U.S. M-1841 “Mississippi” Rifle contract Eli Whitney Jr. came to the realization that U.S. government contracts were important for business, but state contracts were far more lucrative and profitable. Whitney opined at the end of his U.S. Ordnance Department contract to deliver Mississippi Rifles that the firm had failed to make money. According to Whitney, this was due to the strict examination of the arms by U.S. government inspectors who used gauges to determine if specific parts of the gun were within acceptable tolerances. When parts of the gun were out of specification, the entire rifle was usually rejected, or if accepted, was paid for at a lower price than the original contract amount. This meant that Whitney had to build another rifle to replace the rejected one. Whitney soon realized that these rejected and condemned guns, which were usually completely functional but simply outside Federal government quality control tolerances, were very acceptable to the various states that were acquiring arms for their state, county and local militia regiments. The guns could often be sold to the states for only slightly less (or sometimes even more) than the Federal government would pay for an interchangeable parts gun, and were not subjected to such Overall view of the Whitney Variant Model 1842 .69 caliber New Hampshire rifled musket, serial number U 75.
Close up of the lock area of a Whitney Variant M-1842. Note the unmarked lock, a surplus U.S. armory lock that was ground down. Note also the rear sight base for the Sharps 1853 type ladder sight (ladder missing). A few examples are known with other rear sights of either the U.S. M-1855 or M-1858 pattern, suggesting that Whitney “ran out” of the Sharps pattern sights.
Close up of the muzzle area of the Whitney Variant Model 1842, clearly showing the brass front sight on the single strapped upper band, the iron forend cap, the brass tipped “Mississippi” style trumpet head ramrod and the bayonet lug under the barrel. The alphanumeric serial (or assembly) number U 75 is stamped under the barrel behind the bayonet lug.
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Whitney started to actively obtain surplus and condemned gun parts from a variety of sources, including auctions of US government arsenal made gun parts, and started producing his line of “Good & Serviceable” arms. These guns often closely followed standard U.S. long arm patterns, but were not made of interchangeable parts, and often had minor differences in sights, furniture and fittings because they were assembled from available parts at hand. When Whitney had to manufacture parts in house, he often defaulted to using parts he was already set up to manufacture, such as the internal lock parts of Mississippi rifles. When Whitney obtained large numbers of parts from the auction when assets of the failed Robbins & Lawrence Company
were sold, he devised an entire product line of “Enfield” style arms that would utilize the many stocks and components for Pattern 1853 Enfields that he had purchased. Whitney also tended to use 7-groove rifling in his rifled long arms, making the most of rifling machinery purchased to manufacture Mississippi rifles.
One of the more rarely encountered Whitney “Good & Serviceable” arms is the Whitney Variant M-1842 Rifle Musket (New Hampshire). Evidence suggests that Whitney assembled at least 1,300 (and possibly as many as 2,000) of these rifled percussion muskets, which were based upon the U.S. Model 1842 percussion musket. The guns were manufactured with condemned U.S. M-1842 barrels, as well as unfinished, and probably surplus, U.S. M-1842 locks and similar Close up of the muzzle area of Whitney Variant M-1842 #U75, showing the narrow 7-groove rifling and the recess in the brass tipped ramrod for use with conical ammunition.
Close up of the breech area of Whitney Variant M-1842 #U75, showing the original U.S. arsenal proof marks and date on the breech plug tang, as well as the mark NEW HAMPSHIRE on the top of the barrel breech.
surplus, rejected or unfinished U.S. stocks. The barrels often carry the original U.S. arsenal inspection and proof marks of a V / P / (Eagle Head), and even carry the original arsenal production dates on the breech plug tangs.
While the guns bear no maker’s mark identifying them as the work of Whitney, their overall configuration, odd combination of parts and similarity to other Whitney “Good & Serviceable” arms makes it quite certain that these guns were manufactured by the Whitney Arms Company. Some of these undeniably “Whit
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ney” features include 7-groove rifling in the bore, an alphanumeric “serial number” on the barrel behind the bayonet lug, Mississippi rifle internal components in the lock and a brass trigger guard bow attached to an iron triggerguard plate, secured with brass nuts without slots. The guns were otherwise quite similar to the U.S. M-1842 musket using .69 caliber, 42" long, U.S. arsenal made barrels, locks and stocks. Some examples are known with 3-groove rifling, and it is conjectured that these barrels may have been ones damaged during U.S.
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arsenal rifling to upgrade existing stocks of U.S. M-1842 muskets.
The furniture on the guns was primarily iron, and the buttplates and triggerguard plates may have been U.S. arsenal production as well, although the buttplates are typically not marked “US”. An iron forend cap varying between 1 3/32" and 1 5/8" in length is present at the end of the stock. The barrel bands are different from the flat bands used on the U.S. M-1842 as they are solid, convex bands, similar to those on the Robbins & Lawrence (Windsor) made Enfield rifle muskets, and subsequently used on many Whitney “Enfield” pattern arms. The bands are retained with band springs, and unlike the U.S. M-1842, the upper band is a single, rather than double strapped band. However, like the U.S. M-1842, a brass blade front sight is mounted on the upper barrel band of Whitney variant as well. The rear sight used on the Whitney muskets is most often the Sharps rifle pattern circa 1852- 1853, and Whitney is known to have used this same pattern of sight on some of his other militia type rifles.
The ramrod is a longer, thicker version of the rod used on the M-1841 Mississippi rifle, with a brass tipped trumpet head that is recessed for elongated ball (Minié style) ammunition. A lug for a socket bayonet is mounted under the barrel, allowing the use of the standard U.S. Model 1835 socket bayonet that was also used on the U.S. M-1842 musket. Of the handful of extant examples of these Whitney variant muskets known, most are marked either NEW HAMPSHIRE or NH on the top of the breech, suggesting that these guns were sold to that state under contract with Whitney. Research conducted into the New Hampshire Adjutant General’s report by collector, researcher and author George Moller reveals that 1,269 percussion muskets were accepted into stores in that state between May 1857 and May 1858. The guns are described as “…new percussion muskets of modern style….equal, if not superior” to those provided by the Federal government under the Militia Act of 1808. While Whitney is not mentioned by name in the report, the fact that the guns are referred to as “equal, if not superior” to Federal muskets strongly suggests that these guns were provided by a contractor and not the U.S. government. The fact that they were rifled and sighted would make them appear “superior” to the standard smoothbore version. These muskets almost certainly saw use in the early days of the American Civil War. New Hampshire regiments that are known to have carried .69 muskets for at least part of their service include the 4th and 12th New Hampshire Infantry, with those of the 4th being noted in ordnance returns as having been rifled.