January 2024
Of that newly acquired Federal contract work, Whitney allowed, “I expect to be more particular in my government work than in my State work as the State inspection is not with gauges.”
There are, of course, many examples of Whitneyville arms used by the Confederate states, particularly U.S. 1841 percussion rifles and their “put together” Enfields made of parts from the failed Robbins & Lawrence (Windsor) venture, as well as condemned national armory parts. The locks on the Whitney Enfields were the old-style hook type and had no tumbler link, everything being as cheaply made as possible.
Across the pond in London, there was a gun-maker similar to Eli Whitney in many respects, BARNETT & SONS, gunmakers, contractors to the Crown,
East India Co. and Hudson’s Bay Co., 134 Minories, from 1842- 59; 134 Minories and Brewhouse Lane, Wapping. Thomas Barnett was a well-established gunmaker in the 1790s producing “trade guns” for the Hudson Bay Company in British America, as Canada was known at the time. T. Barnett supplied arms, some listed as “Tower” guns, from 1793 to 1818 at which time the firm changed names to Thomas Barnett & Sons, then later John E. Barnett (& Sons). The firm did business at various London addresses throughout the remainder of the 19th century. An interesting item about Barnett is that their trade muskets were considered “the standard” that other contractors had to meet. Northwest trade gun contracts sometimes used little language in terms of specifications other than that the musket be “equal to the Barnett.” This certainly would not have been the case for the majority of their later military arms. London gun-maker Thomas H. Potts (Potts & Hunt) was an apprentice to Barnett prior to becoming a freeman in 1846 and opening his own firm.
Barnett had long been major producers of military long-arms, both for the British government and the commercial market. The original shipment of 6,500 P-53s that landed in Savannah, Ga., on September 18, 1861, aboard the blockade runner Bermuda included Enfield rifle-muskets which were “Barnett marked.” Large numbers of Barnett arms saw Civil War service, many with the Confederacy. To use a rough analogy, Barnett was the “Eli Whitney” of the British gun trade.
Ironically, not all the earliest Confederate Enfields were British imports; as stated previously the “Whitneyville” Armory produced an Enfield variation on contract for the Southern states. Barnett was an opportunist producing firearms that ranged in quality from class 1 rifle-muskets to “trade guns” assembled from surplus or rebuilt parts. Like Whitney and other gun-makers, Barnett produced grade 2 hand-fitted arms that had locks, hammers, and hardware resembling those on first class (grade one) arms but were not parts interchangeable. Also, the firm sometimes stamped their locks with a cipher consisting of a letter B surmounting a downward pointing arrow, which resembled the British government crowned broad Arrow acceptance mark. They apparently did this for reasons that could be called deceitful and less kindly be termed fraud. Likewise, Whitneyville often stamped over government condemnation marks on their parts, much like an openrange cattle rustler changing the brand on a maverick steer. Such were the practices in the gun trade during the early 1860s.
Barnett produced many variants of locks, some marked with the crown and “TOWER” behind the hammer and marked Barnett in front of the hammer, some stamped in italics, some reading simply Barnett, London and usually with no date. Barnett is the only London gun-maker known to use the “Tower” mark under the crown. The “Tower” mark was more commonly found on Birmingham commercial lock plates and originally meant the arm passed an inspection with government gauges. However, it is difficult to believe the “Tower” marked Barnett Enfields would have passed any government inspection with gauges, and in fact, as commercial contract guns, they were not required to. The Crown seems to have accepted the “Tower” misrepresentation as long as the guns were being exported and not intended for government service.
Locks marked Barnett on the outside will often be found to have internal markings of another maker, such as Pritchett, who occasionally supplied the lock or complete arm to Barnett; conversely, some locks with
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standard Tower markings and dates are marked Barnett on the inside of the plate. Some P53s have been encountered with Barnett barrels and Liege (Belgian) marked locks. Occasionally, a barrel will be encountered on a Barnett or other maker’s P53 that is stamped on the bottom “The Gun Barrel Company.” Those barrels may also be marked Barnett and may have Birmingham or Belgian proofs (sometimes both).
Like Whitney, the contract rifle-muskets from J.E. Barnett can fairly be called a mixed lot in terms of their overall quality. No single gun-maker made “best grade” firearms all the time, but Whitney and Barnett furnished mostly inferior arms. Whatever their various deficiencies might have been, both J.E. Barnett and Eli Whitney sold a volume of contract rifle-muskets that shot well, and they were both ready to supply their weapons to the highest bidder. At least one Confederate contract with J.E. Barnett went into Union hands when the Confederates did not pay in a timely manner. U.S. Consul FH Morse reported to the Secretary of War on November 6, 1861:
I have the satisfaction of informing you that one of the gun manufacturers here who had a contract with the rebels running to March (1862) has had a difficulty with them, broken the contract, and will hereafter send his guns, Enfield rifles, to New York on his own account. His name is Barnett, and his rifles stand very well here.
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 published books and columns on 19th-century material. 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 English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.
