Civil War Muskets Used By Vermont Volunteers

[gew8805]

Concerning period photographs done in studio, the weapons shown in pictures were as often as not the property of the photographer and usually have no relevancy to what the soldier actually carried.

To find what rifle musket your ancestor carried, see if you can locate the ordnance records for his regiment, it's possible that they still exist, many do but they are not always too specific. He could have carried any of several rifle muskets in the late war period - a P53 British or US M1861, even a M1863. However, since he seems to have served near the end of the War, it is most likely he was issued the standard M1861 rifle musket, the most common weapon of the War. Had he been a "Regular" (US Army) soldier instead of a state soldier his likely weapon at the War's end would have been the far less common M1863 Type I. Personally, my best guess? I say he likely carried an 1861 Rifle Musket made at Springfield or one of the many contractors. It's your safest bet.