By an act of the Virginia legislature, the Virginia Manufactory of Arms was established in 1797. The goal of this armory, located along the James River in Richmond, was to supply the Virginia militia with arms required for the defending the Commonwealth. Over a roughly two-decade period, from 1802 through 1821, the Virginia Manufactory produced a variety of small arms, including some 58,000 flintlock muskets, 4,000 flintlock pistols, 2,000 flintlock rifles, and some 10,000 sabers. The facility also produced about 300 cannon during this period. Although the facility was shut down circa 1821, primarily because arms were now forthcoming from the U.S. government under the Militia Act of 1808, it was resurrected during the Civil War period as the Richmond Manufactory.
In the interim the facility served as an arsenal, a storage facility, rather than an armory or manufactory. In 1860, with the clouds of war looming, the Commonwealth of Virginia decided to return the facility to its prior manufacturing status. To perform this task former Harpers Ferry Master Armorer James Burton was hired to set up the facility. Burton had just returned from overseeing the set-up of the British Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) at Enfield Lock, Great Britain’s version of “Springfield Armory” and was undertaking to receive the necessary machinery to manufacture rifle muskets in Richmond when the Civil War erupted.
The reestablishment of the Virginia Manufactory as the new Richmond Arsenal was not the only action that the Virginia
government took to prepare for war. In addition to trying to acquire small arms from as many vendors as possible during the year leading up to the firing on Fort Sumter, a major program of improvement was undertaken to alter existing flintlock firearms to percussion. This had actually been going on somewhat aggressively since about 1857, when the Commonwealth started to turn in as many flintlock muskets as allowed to have them replaced with percussion altered muskets by the Federal Government under the Militia Act of 1808. The Commonwealth had also contracted with some private vendors like Merrill, Thomas & Company to alter existing stocks of arms to percussion, primarily Virginia Manufactory arms that were in store prior to the war.
Once the war broke out the Commonwealth relied on additional contractors to continue the percussion alteration program. The primary contractors were Thomas J. Adams of Richmond, J.B., and A.B. Barrett & Company, William Morgan, F. Persignon, S.C. Robinson, and the Union Manufacturing Company. Three smaller contractors also did alterations for the Commonwealth on a much more limited basis, including J.H. Wells, J.D. Brown, and S. Holbrook. While the majority of this work was performed on flintlock muskets, many remaining stocks of flintlock Virginia Manufactory rifles and pistols were altered to percussion as well.
During 1803, the Virginia Manufactory had produced its first flintlock rifles. These “First Model” or “Type I” rifles largely followed the pattern of the “Kentucky” or “Pennsylvania” rifles then in common use on the frontier. They were nominally .50 rifles with octagonal barrels that were initially 46 inches in length but were changed to 43 inches in 1806. The guns were 62 inches overall length (1803–1805) and then 58 ½ inches overall after 1805. They were full stock, did not accept a bayonet, and were brass mounted during early production, but were changed to iron mounted during 1806. The most notable visual feature of these early rifles was a large, four-piece patchbox in the obverse buttstock that terminated in a large coiled snake-motif hinge plate. The Virginia Manufactory produced only 333 of these very scarce “snake patchbox” rifles, and then only from 1803 through 1809.
The production of “Second Model” or “Type II” Virginia Manufactory Rifles began circa 1810–1811, but no rifles were completed until 1812. These later rifles were very similar to the earlier “Type I” guns, but came in .45 caliber, with a nominally 39 inches (38 13/16 inch) octagonal barrel and an overall length of 55 inches. The barrel was secured with three keys plus a screw through the breech plug tang. Like the preceding rifle, it was a flintlock muzzleloader, and like the earliest “Type I” rifles, was brass mounted. Again, the design incorporated a fulllength stock with no provision for a bayonet as U.S. tactical doctrine of the period saw the rifle as a specialty weapon, not generally equipped with bayonets. Instead of the “Snake Patchbox,” a more conventionally shaped four-piece brass patchbox was incorporated in the obverse buttstock. Between 1812 and 1821, a total of 1,760 Second Model Virginia Manufactory rifles were produced, bringing the Virginia Manufactory’s total rifle production to 2,093.
Between 1809 and 1815, the Commonwealth also purchased some contract rifles, and did so again in 1819. These contract rifles were quite similar to the current production Second Model rifles, and a total of 2,145 were acquired. Thus, the Commonwealth of Virginia manufactured or purchased a total of 4,238 flintlock rifles between 1803 and 1821. According to George Moller’s research, between 1,000 and 1,500 of these flintlock rifles were still in storage at various locations throughout the Commonwealth in 1860.
During the fall of 1858 and spring of 1859, one of the largest pre-war operations to alter Virginia Manufactory rifles from flint to percussion was undertaken. During that period some 600 Virginia Manufactory rifles were forwarded to the Washington Arsenal to be altered, but only 32 were modified. The balance of the rifles was then shipped to Harpers Ferry, where in early 1859, hammers and jigs were produced to perform the alterations. The remaining guns were altered and then returned to the Richmond Arsenal.
The cost of the work by the
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U.S. Ordnance Department was charged against Virginia’s annual arms allotment under the Militia Act of 1808; the effective “cost” equated to a deduction of some 44 muskets from the Commonwealth’s yearly issue. As a result of the October 16, 1859, John Brown Raid on Harpers Ferry nearly all the converted rifles were issued to the Virginia Militia. The raid likely induced the Commonwealth to look for other potential locations to have their remaining stock of flintlock rifles altered. One company the Commonwealth turned to was Merrill, Thomas & Company of Baltimore.
Merrill, Thomas & Company had formerly been the firm of Merrill, Latrobe & Thomas that had manufactured the Merrill, Latrobe & Thomas breechloading carbine for the U.S. military circa 1855 and would go on to manufacture Merrill breechloading carbines and rifles for the Union. The firm agreed to undertake the alteration process at a cost of $2 per rifle, plus shipping and packing costs. Between 250 and 360 rifles were forwarded to Merrill in Baltimore for alteration in early 1861; one group of guns consisting of 172 rifles, was returned April 17, 1861; less than a week after the firing on Fort Sumter. The work is distinctly identifiable as Merrill’s, as the percussion bolster and hammer both have the same profile found on Merrill patent carbines and rifles. The oblong, angled bolster included a clean out screw and was brazed over the original flintlock vent hole. The external flintlock battery was removed, and the associated lock holes filled. A percussion hammer of Merrill’s design was added to the tumbler, and the percussion alteration process was complete. An additional feature of the Merrill-altered rifles was that the barrels were cut back slightly from their original 39 inch length to between 36 inches and 36 ½ inches. A number was then stamped on the face of the muzzle, which is believed to be an alteration inventory number, to keep track of the number of guns altered and to be billed for.
According to research presented in Confederate Rifles and Muskets by Dr. John D. Murphy and Howard M. Madaus, at least 270 Merrill-altered Virginia Manufactory rifles can be documented as being issued between April 1, 1861, and June 13, 1861. The issues of the guns are as follows:
“50 Virginia Altered Rifles to Captain W.W. Cogbill, Chesterfield” this is believed to be W.T. Cogbill of the “Chesterfield Central Guards,” who would go
on to be Company D of the 14th Virginia Infantry.
“60 Altered Virginia Rifles to Captain S.S. Williams, Woodstock.” This appears to be Samuel C. Williams of the “Brooklyn Grays,” who would go on to be Company F of the 10th Virginia Infantry.
“100 Virginia Altered Percussion Rifles to M.J. Harman, Staunton.” This appears to be Quartermaster M.G. Harman of Staunton, who subsequently issued the weapons to the regiment being assembled by Colonel George A. Porterfield, that would become the 25th Virginia Infantry.
“10 Virginia Percussion Rifles to Captain J.W. Timberlake, Greenwood Depot.” These guns went to the “Albemarle Rangers.”
“12 Virginia Percussion Lock rifles to Captain Thomas G. Pollock” for issue to the “Wise Skirmishers.” Captain Pollock was a company commander in the 46th Virginia Infantry, who would later go on to serve on the staff of General Kemper and be killed at Gettysburg.
It is likely that some guns listed above that Murphy & Madaus believe were Merrill-altered rifles were actually from the first batch of rifles altered at Harpers Ferry. As the first issues of the percussion altered rifles they list occurred on April 1, 1861, slightly more than two weeks before the first Merrill-altered guns were returned; those rifles had to be Harpers Ferry alterations.
Other issues of “Virginia Rifles” are noted, but their references make it impossible to determine if the guns were percussion altered or remained in their original flintlock configuration. Using George Moller’s research as a point of reference, when the war broke out, approximately 700 to 1,200 Virginia rifles remained in store in their flintlock configuration after deducting the Merrill and Harpers Ferry altered rifles from his 1860 figure. Many of these guns were subsequently altered to percussion by Virginia
Close up of the name stamped behind the triggerguard of the Merrill-altered 2nd Model Virginia Manufactory rifle, linking this rifle to the 46th Virginia Infantry, a unit that was issued 12 percussion altered “Virginia Rifles.” based contractors, like those listed earlier in this discussion.
The Merrill-altered 2nd Model Virginia Manufactory rifle pictured in this article conforms in all ways to the handful of known examples that survive today. The rifle has the expected Merrill pattern hammer and bolster, and the barrel has been shortened from a nominal 39 inches to 36 ¼ inches. The face of the muzzle is numbered 44. Interestingly, the only Merrill-altered Virginia Manufactory rifle available for the Murphy & Madaus study was #46, only two numbers away from this example. The original Virginia Manufactory markings remain on the lock, including a large VIRGINIA under the bolster and RICHMOND / 1820 in a two-line vertical arc behind the hammer.
The rifle has an additional mark, a carved E WATSON (or possibly “G” WATSON) in the belly of the stock, behind the triggerguard. An examination of Confederate enlistment rolls show both an “E Watson” and a “G Watson” served in the 46th Virginia Infantry, a regiment that was issued 12 Merrill-altered Virginia rifles via Captain Pollock. The regiment used these guns for a small group of skirmishers.
Other than the replacement wooden ramrod and some restoration of the last couple of inches of the forend, the gun pictured in this article remains in the original configuration that saw use in the Civil War.
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 lock area of a Merrill-altered Virginia Manufactory 2nd Model rifle, showing the distinctive Merrill bolster and hammer.
Detail of the muzzle area of the Merrill-altered 2nd Model Virginia Manufactory rifle showing the Merrill conversion inventory number “44.”