“Gettysburg, Penn. July 3, 1863. We went out and picked up Springfields and left our Enfields. Nearly everyone did so.”– Diary of William Livermore, 20th Maine Infantry.
The U.S. Model 1861 rifle musket occupies a unique niche in Civil War history. The quote in the heading is based on instructions given by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain to Union soldiers deployed on Little Round Top during a lull in the battle of Gettysburg. Is this a form of latent provincialism on his part or was there another reason why Chamberlain would tell his fellow Maine-men to discard their issued arms and glean the battlefield for “Springfields”? The most obvious conclusion you might draw is that the machine made, parts interchangeable M1861s were more desirable than the handmade (mostly not parts interchangeable) imported English P 1853 Enfields.
Another quote that reinforces this preference for the M1861 is from Pvt. Orrin Cook of the 22nd Massachusetts Infantry, Co. B. Cook hailed from Springfield, Mass., and served in the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged in most major Eastern Theater battles including Antietam, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Courthouse. Cook was injured at the Wilderness in 1864, but it did not keep him down for long. When the regiment mustered out later in 1864, he transferred to the 32nd Massachusetts for the duration of the war. In his memoirs, Cook notes the following about the arms they were issued: “Some of our boys got Austrian rifles, some Enfield and others Springfield. I got the Enfield and (my comrade) Bob got the finest arm of the whole lot, a fine United States Springfield rifle.”
The term “Springfield” was a catch-all phrase used by soldiers for what the U.S. Government officially referred to as the U.S. M1861 rifle musket, whether they were manufactured at the National Armory in Springfield, Mass., or by one of about twenty private companies that produced them on contract as pattern arms. There were 756,567 M1861 rifle muskets manufactured during the Civil War. Springfield Amory produced 265,129; government contractors produced the remaining 491,438. William B. Edwards notes in Civil War Guns (Stackpole Publishing 1962 p. 25) that had Lincoln’s first Secretary of War Simon Cameron not committed the United States Government to procuring these private contractor produced U.S. Model rifle muskets, “there would have been little chance for the North in the latter stages of the war.” The U.S. rifle muskets made by contractors were marked with the year of manufacture and an identifying name while those produced by the National Armory were marked “US Springfield” with the year of manufacture. This all seems straightforward enough. Hence, if a Union soldier was fortunate enough to be issued “a fine United States Springfield rifle” the odds were about 2:1 that it would have been manufactured by a private contractor rather than the National Armory. Soldiers don’t seem to have cared, as long as they got one. In fact, oddly enough, there is anecdotal evidence that Union soldiers who captured the C.S. Armory variation called them “Richmond Springfields.”
is now offering several government contractor variations for the M1861. Watts is perhaps best known for his work on reproduction Enfields and U.S. M1841s (Whitney and Harpers Ferry). Some years ago, he de-farbed my ancient mid-1970s vintage Parker-Hale Enfield as a LACo dated 1862. The case colors are still vivid on the lock plate. I also have an equally ancient (mid-tolate 1970s) U.S. M1861 made up of original and reproduction parts with a custom barrel made by Mike Yeck. It had one of the aforementioned “US Springfield 1861” reproduction Miroku lock plates that was always a sore point for me and it seemed time for an upgrade. I selected the “Philadelphia” variation, based on the initial government contract with John Rice that was actually filled by Alfred Jenks.
John Rice has an interesting story. He wrote Secretary of War Cameron on Oct. 2, 1861, offering to supply muskets for the Union. Rice was not himself a gun maker. He was actually a contractor for stonework at the U.S. Capitol building and a carpenter by trade, but he had many contacts “in the mechanical industries of Philadelphia.” He wrote in his correspondence to Secretary of War Cameron that “I can organize the manufacture of (US rifle muskets) at various places in Philadelphia and furnish from ten to twelve thousand by July 1, 1862…and furnish employment to a large number of workmen who are now idle.” Despite the apparent philanthropy, his offer was not accepted but, after “checking about in Philadelphia,” Rice came back with a new proposal to make 3,000 to 4,000 per month for twelve months commencing in Feb. 1862. This offer was accepted and on Nov. 21, 1861, he received a contract for 36,000 “Springfield pattern rifle-muskets.” The deliveries were to begin with 3,000 in Feb. 1862 and an additional 3,000 per month afterwards. The catch was that “in case of any failure to make deliveries to the extent and within the times specified all obligations of
the United States to receive and pay for any muskets…shall be cancelled and become null and void.” This meant that Rice, who never made arms in his life, had two and a half months to supply 3,000 M1861 rifle muskets. The U.S. government was also curious and inquired where his operation was to be located? He did not own a factory to manufacture parts or even a workshop to assemble the arms. He hoped to find premises near the Springfield Armory, so he could more easily deliver arms for inspection there.
Rice seems to have been somewhat unconcerned about these details and set about to have several lock assemblies made up that were delivered to Springfield Armory and passed inspection with gauges, as well as several ramrods which did not. He was also unsuccessful in his initial attempts at getting his iron barrels made before July 1862, and he sought an extension to the initial deadline. Rice entered contracts with at least ten subcontractors to provide various parts, at least some of whom had their own government contracts to fill, in addition to supplying any parts to John Rice. It appears he finally realized there was more to manufacturing parts interchangeable M1861 rifle muskets than making kitchen cabinets and sought in April 1862 to have the Government take the contracts off his hands or as Rice phrased it, “…be relieved of the liabilities.”
Did John Rice ever get any finished M1861s out the door? There are existing examples found with the lock plate marked “Philadelphia” and dated 1862. Claud E. Fuller notes in The Rifled Musket (Stackpole 1958) that the Philadelphia marked M1861s were fully produced by Alfred Jenks of Bridesburg Machine Works, but at a separate shop located in Philadelphia. William B. Edwards states in Civil War Guns that there is some evidence that Alfred Jenks (Bridesburg) took over the John Rice contract and supplied “Philadelphia” marked M1861s as a part of his government contract for 98,000 arms. Undoubtedly that was the case;
Jenks was already one of the subcontractors initially providing gunstocks and stock tips to John Rice, as well as parts to many other contractors. Claud E. Fuller states that the “Philadelphia” marked M1861s were all finished and provided by Alfred Jenks, while Edwards allows that “Rice was able to get a few arms finished…before defaulting on his contract.”
Alfred Jenks was not only the highest producing individual contractor but also one of the two private contractors with the fewest rejects after the rigorous U.S. government inspection with gauges at Springfield Armory.
Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from the University of North Carolina The (Charlotte). Craig served Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation.
He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy The Unfinished (2006, 2011), Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013) and three books (soon to be four) in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.