Collection Highlights
Framed leaves from Abraham Lincoln's bier
1865
Z.2603
Albumen photograph, plant material, ink, silk ribbon, wood gilding
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
61 Tower rifle musket
Title
61 Tower rifle musket
Object name
Rifle-musket
Date
1861
Medium
Wood, steel, brass
Dimensions
barrel length: 33 in. ( 83.8 cm )
Overall: 49 1/4 in. ( 125.1 cm )
Description
Wood, steel, and brass percussion rifle-musket; brass furniture; slotted and knurled steel ramrod; stamped marks forward of hammer and at tail of lockplate, on ramrod, forward band, left side of stock at wrist, tang of buttplate, and at bottom of buttstock; engraved mark on sideplate; stamped proofs at breech end of barrel.
Credit Line
Gift of General Henry W. Benham
Object Number
1862.8
Marks
stamped: forward of hammer on lockplate: "1861/TOWER" ( stored in Tower of London) ; stamped crown at tail
stamped: breech end of barrel: "25" (twice); two crossed scepters under a crown (also twice, post-1813 Birmingham proofs); "RP" (foliate, mark is under a thistle or other flower)
stamped: on ramrod: "T8CG"
stamped: forward band: "78"
stamped: tang of buttplate and ramrod: "2327"
stamped: wrist: "TL/35"
stamped: bottom buttstock: "JS" (anchor above mark); "B/STA/3" (crown above mark); "TIPPING & LAWDEN"; "TL/29"
Gallery Label
Beginning in 1860, many British Enfield firearms were imported into America under contract to both the Union and Confederate governments. By the end of the Civil War, Enfield rifles, muskets, and rifle-muskets had become primary infantry arms of the Confederacy, as well as valuable additions to the Union's arsenal. This rifle-musket was surrendered after the capture of Fort Pulaski, Georgia on April 11, 1862 by Union forces under General Henry W. Benham.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
