During the latter part of the 1850s, the Spanish military adopted a family of .577 caliber, percussion ignition, muzzleloading long arms based on the British Pattern 1853 “Enfield” series of arms. Like the British, the Spanish adopted both long barreled infantry rifle muskets, shorter barreled rifles, as well as a variety of other branches arms that included carbines for use by cavalry and artillery, as well as some specialty rifles for engineers and marines. The two patterns produced in the largest numbers and thus most likely to appear for sale at collector shows and on web sites are the Carabina Rayada Modelo 1857 (short rifle M1857) and the Fusil Rayado Modelo 1859 (long rifle M1859). These two models closely resembled the British P1856 Enfield short rifle and the P1853 Type III long Enfield rifle musket, respectively. Both had blued barrels, color case hardened locks, and walnut stocks.
The Modelo 1859 was a “three band,” full-length rifle musket with a 39.25-inch barrel and an overall length of 54.5 inches. Unlike the British long Enfield, the Spanish model was iron mounted rather than brass mounted, had its lower swivel screwed into the toe of the stock, rather than attached to the triggerguard bow, and the ramrod had a brass band around its head to protect the rifling. The rear sight of the M1859 was attached via a clamping band around the barrel, rather than soldered to the barrel like its British counterpart. The M1857 rifle was also iron mounted and even more closely resembled the British P1856 from which its design was derived. The two most obvious differences were the use of the clamping rear sight and the lack of a saber bayonet lug, as the M1857 used an angular socket bayonet, like the musket, rather than a saber bayonet. As originally produced, the short rifle’s rear sight had rather tall side walls, but in 1859 the graduations for the rear sight were changed and after 1860 the rifles were produced with a rear sight with lower walls. It is likely that the change was the result of upgraded powder that allowed for a flatter projectile trajectory. A similar change was made in the later 1850s to Harpers Ferry rifled and long-range sighted M1841 Mississippi rifles, whose sights were re-graduated for essentially the same reason. Some additional minor changes in the design in addition to the sight change have led collectors to refer to these rifles as M1857/59.
The association of Spanish pattern percussion long arms and the American Civil War was first widely noted in William B. Edwards’ seminal work Civil War Guns. Edwards identified the M1857 Rifle as having been used during the war but hypothesized that the guns were carried by U.S. troops. In their books Firearms from Europe authors Hartzler, Whisker, Yantz, & Noe and Europeans Arms in the Civil War by Marc Schwalm and Klaus Hofmann, the authors provide some interesting documentation suggesting the Spanish arms may well have been purchased by the Confederate government.
through Mexico during 1863.
However, the paper trail does not end there. While the initial letter does not confirm the importation of the guns, only their availability; the following is concrete evidence that at least a handful of these guns entered America and were eventually sold as surplus by the Federal government. Whether these surplus guns were U.S. purchases or captured C.S. purchases is not immediately clear, but this new research proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that at least a few of the Spanish-made rifles made landfall in America. The following documentation comes from the National Archives and was kindly provided to me by Civil War import arms researcher and author David Noe.
All the following comes from the U.S. Government publication R6 156-124, better known as Abstract of Reports of Sales of Ordnance Stores: 1864–1907. Within these reports, the following listings were found for the sale of “.577 Spanish Rifles:” September 27, 1880: 56 pieces were sold @ $.35 each to Francis Bannerman, all listed as “Unserviceable” (Volume 5, page 373); October 25, 1881: 1 piece was sold to S.R. Starr for $1.00, listed as “Unserviceable” (Volume 6, page 27); December 3, 1881: 334 pieces were sold @ $.78 each to Simon Belcher, all listed as “New & Serviceable” (Volume 6, page 38). One other gun is listed as being sold to Charles Townsend for $1, also unserviceable (Volume 6, page 217)
This information indicates that for whatever reason, the United States government was in possession of at least 392 “Spanish Enfields” after conclusion of the American Civil War, which they subsequently sold off. However, there is some more new evidence that helps establish even further the connection between Spanish rifles and the Confederacy.
A number of long-time collectors and researchers have long postulated that the Confederacy received at least two batches of Spanish rifles. The first batch, in late 1861 or early 1862, has always been associated with the famous Kentucky Orphan Brigade. The Orphan Brigade was formed from Kentucky regiments mustered into Confederate service. Because the state of Kentucky never officially joined the Confederacy, these regiments were considered “orphaned” as these soldiers fought for the Confederacy without the support of their home state, which never seceded. The brigade included the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th Kentucky volunteer infantry regiments. The guns with a Kentucky association are the Spanish M1857/59 Rifle and are inevitably dated “1861” on the lock and typically have a serial number below 500 on the lock, stock, and breech.
A second group of Spanish rifles appears to have entered the Confederacy in late 1863 or 1864 and are usually 1863 dated. These guns have higher serial numbers, typically in the, mid 3,000 to mid 4,000 range. A July 1, 1864, article in the Spanish newspaper La Iberia reads in part: “Units of the Spanish Army in Cuba are currently equipped with expensive and inefficient Liège rifles, while La Euscalduna (a Spanish arms contractor) has to sell their precision weapons to the Confederate South Commissioners, eager to buy them.” Additional period documentation of at least some of these later imports appears in the Official Records of the War of Rebellion. In a letter dated December 22, 1863, C.S. Major General Bankhead Magruder reported from his headquarters in Texas that “300 Spanish Rifles” had been recently received. These would have likely been the 1863 dated guns that collectors occasionally encounter today. However, the Official Records sheds a little light on the earlier importation of the guns, and this is what I have spent some more time researching.
The association of the 1861 dated Spanish Enfields with the Orphan Brigade originated with an identified Spanish M1857/59 rifle in a private collection that is concretely identified to a member of Colonel Hiram Hawkins 5th Kentucky Infantry. Hawkins helped establish the 5th Kentucky and eventually became the Regiment’s colonel. Hawkins also helped outfit the unit out of his own pocket, including the purchase of a number of imported rifles. While no history of the unit officially identifies these guns, there is much circumstantial evidence that there were a number of Spanish Enfields included in that purchase. In addition to the identified extant example, there have been a handful of Spanish Enfields that have surfaced in Kentucky, typically with a strong provenance and family story of Confederate Civil War use. These guns tend to appear in two states of condition: quite good or fairly rough. This is easily explained by the fact that the original 5th Ky. was mustered out of service on October 20, 1862, and then reformed. The original members were offered the option to go home with an honorable discharge, rejoin the newly reformed 5th Ky., or join another of the many Southern units being formed in Kentucky at that time. This explains the very good condition guns, as they likely went home with soldiers who opted out. In fact, the identified gun noted above has this story associated with it. The guns of the men who stayed to fight further would necessarily show significantly more wear than those that went home in the fall of 1862. The final piece of the puzzle as to why Hawkins purchased Spanish guns was recently revealed while doing some research on the Orphan Brigade; that puzzle piece is William Preston.
Preston, who would eventually serve as the division commander for the Fifth, was a Kentuckian who had a long pre-Civil War political and military service record. Preston served with distinction in the Mexican War as Lt. Col. of the 4th Ky. volunteers. After that war he entered politics and became a very powerful and well-known Whig politician. When the Whig party dissolved, Preston joined the Democratic Party and threw his political support to Democratic presidential candidate James Buchanan. After the election President Buchanan repaid Preston by making him the Minister to Spain, and for the next few years Preston was based in Madrid. In fact, Preston was on his way back to America when the war broke out. A quick search of the Official Records shows that with the coming of the war, the Confederate government relied on Preston to help them establish contacts in Spain for acquiring arms. While Preston was skeptical about the availability and quality of Spanish arms, he appears to have been more than willing to help the Confederacy obtain whatever arms were available. Additional records reveal that Preston returned to the South via Cuba. This dovetails with the letter from Cuba and the time line works out well. All this circumstantial evidence provides strong support for stories about Confederate Enfield pattern rifles manufactured in Spain. It is worth noting that the letter regarding the 6,500 guns available for shipment were likely contractor made M1859 rifle muskets sent to Cuba as part of a program to upgrade the weapons in the hands of Spanish colonial troops, a problem alluded to in the Spanish newspaper story quoted earlier. The huge difference
The accompanying photos illustrate a classic example of a potentially Confederate purchased Spanish Modelo M1857/59 rifle. The gun is dated 1861 and has the relatively low serial number 499. Like many non-interchangeable parts European military arms of the period, the Spanish rifles are serial numbered on most of the major components to enable reassembly if the guns were dismantled in a group. These numbers are usually found on lock, stock, and barrel and sometimes appear on other smaller parts.
The lock is marked in three lines, forward of the hammer with a Spanish Crown / Madrid / 1861. The left angled breech flat shows a Spanish Crown over the letters AR, indicating government arms, with the source of the gun indicated by the letter “T” underneath. It is worth noting that the Spanish relied on a variety of sources to supply their long arms, much like the British military did. These sources included Spanish government arsenals, Spanish contractors (usually based in Eibar in the Basque region of Spain), and foreign contractors. English made Spanish pattern guns appear on the collector market from time to time, particularly the M1859 rifle musket, but do not appear to have any Civil War association at this time.
While the research is ongoing, it appears that William B. Edwards was initially correct in his belief that the Spanish M1857/59 rifle was imported for use during the Civil War. However, his assertion that these were Northern purchases appears to be incorrect, as it now seems certain that at least a handful of these Spanish rifles were purchased by the Confederacy.
Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.
Close up of the unique clamping base 1859 pattern rear sight used on the M1857/59 Spanish Enfield rifle and rifle musket.