March 2022
The 9th Virginia carried their M1841 rifles to the “high water mark” (seen in this clump of trees) in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. (Jack W. Melton Jr.)
In the Western Theater, Confederate field inspection reports for May 1864 show that Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry was armed with nearly 2,600 M1841 rifles, using them at Brice’s Crossroads and elsewhere. Some other Confederate cavalry regiments issued these rifles included: the 18th and 19th Mississippi; 8th, 11th, and 23rd Texas; and the 12th and 14th Virginia.
In addition to the M1841 rifle, Robbins & Lawrence also produced P53 Enfield long rifles (type II) for the British during the Crimean War. According to Tim Prince, “…in February 1855, the English Board of Ordnance contracted with the New York based firm of Fox, Henderson & Company to supply some twentyfive thousand Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle Muskets. Fox, Henderson & Co. subsequently contracted with Robbins & Lawrence to produce the firearms. Assuming that the order for 25,000 guns was only the beginning of what would be additional large orders for the British military due to the Crimean conflict, Robbins & Lawrence invested substantial amounts of money expanding their production facilities in Windsor, Vt., and built a second factory in Hartford, Conn. They also invested heavily in new machinery and an expanded
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workforce. All this was done with borrowed money, much of it from Fox, Henderson & Co., as well as other creditors.” When the deliveries were late, the British canceled the contact. The rapid expansion largely based on credit soon led to the financial ruin of the company.
Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from UNC (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog 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 (2006, 2011), The Unfinished Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013). He has also published four books in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and imports.
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