Infantry that lends some insight into how muskets could be lost, or in this case, exchanged. Pvt. Ware had previously entered in his diary how he had hoped to take his musket (which he named “Silver Sue”) home with him after the war. Earlier in the narrative he describes polishing the “brown finish” from the barrel of his musket. It sounds like a U.S. Model 1816/22 smoothbore made in the 1830s, which had browned barrels. He notes he polished his “bright as a mirror.” His account on how he lost “Silver Sue” follows:
“While marching along we passed off to the left, in a valley, a large spring-house; several soldiers ran in to fill their canteens. Ahead of me rushed a regular army soldier with his polished new Springfield rifled musket, and standing it up against the side of the log wall he went in to get a drink. The position which he chose for his gun was not altogether satisfactory to me, and so I moved it off about four feet and placed my polished gun in its place and went in to fill my canteen. What do you suppose that regular army soldier did? Why, he rushed out of that springhouse and without saying a word he just picked up [my musket] “Silver Sue” and ran off with her. It was one of the coolest pieces of robbery that I ever saw, and being at the spring-house made it cooler. He ran on and disappeared in the dust. There was no alternative for me—I had to take the only gun that was left. I smothered my
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indignation and also disappeared in the cloud of dust. That evening
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I traded my silver watch that had been on a strike for some time to a regular for two packages of ammunition—80 rounds, that would fit my new gun, which I called “Orphan.” “Orphan” was a Springfield rifle musket stamped 1861, probably made about March or April of that year. I called it “Orphan” because it had been so cruelly deserted.”
Reading between the lines, Pvt. Ware certainly got the better of that exchange as the U.S. Model 1861, whether made at Springfield Armory or elsewhere, was a highly coveted infantry arm by soldiers on both sides.
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.
