Civil War rifles: Atlanta History Center collection includes carbine sent to Japan, terrifying Whitworth sniper gun and a Texas firearm not up to snuff

Carbine has Japanese cartouche, mums on stock, barrel (AHC, Picket photos)

A surplus Civil War carbine, sold to the Japanese government in 1868 and marked with  imperial chrysanthemums and another design, has been acquired by the Atlanta History Center for its growing collection of firearms.

The history center, home to the Cyclorama painting depicting the Battle of Atlanta and a major exhibit on the Civil War, has acquired dozens of weapons in the past couple of years, bringing the total inventory to nearly 400. It purchased the Starr carbine in November 2022 from a private dealer.

Gordon L. Jones, senior military historian and curator at the AHC, recently showed me some of the firearms kept in the museum's secured basement. We examined the carbine and two notable weapons – one highly regarded and the other considered subpar -- from the existing George W. Wray Jr. collection of rare Confederate guns at the history center.

While some of the long guns at the AHC are in the long-standing exhibit “Turning Point: The American Civil War,” the vast majority are awaiting their time in the daylight, minus the occasional special exhibit.

Gordon L. Jones with guns from the Wray collection (Picket photo)

The AHC would like in coming years to revamp “Turning Point” with a new and expanded area that would showcase many of the stored firearms, says Jones. He said it would compare to the impressive Fuller Gun Collection at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.

The Starr carbine and many other surplus American weapons were shipped to Japan shortly after the Civil War.

There was significant upheaval there amid “the beginning of Westernization,” said Jones. The .54-caliber gun may have been used in the Boshin War (Japanese Civil War) in the late 1860s. Some experts say many were procured by the Tokugawa shogunate, which was desperate for such weapons.

New York arms dealer Schuyler, Hartley & Graham provided the gun to the Meiji government of Japan.

“It is marked with (the) chrysanthemum (photo, left) and what is believed to be a Japanese military school cartouche (not yet positively identified). The 1853-1854 visit of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry opened the once-closed society of Japan and started a race between rival clans to acquire modern firearms from the West.

"What followed was the rapid Westernization and militarization of Japan under the Meiji emperors, ultimately culminating in war against Britain and the United States in 1941,” the AHC says.

“This carbine helps tell the story of the long term and sometimes unintended international consequences of the American Civil War, which will be a key theme in the new exhibition.”

The newly acquired gun will be displayed with another Starr carbine already in the DuBose Collection that was sold to Great Britain and used in the defense of Canada against the Irish Fenian incursions of 1866 and 1870.

The Starr carbine was a single-shot, breech-loading weapon. Not many were used by the U.S. military, relative to those put out by other manufacturers.

Other guns acquired in the past two years include:

-- A British Pattern 1853 rifle-musket of Pvt. Robert Marold, Company K, 143^rd New York, used at Battle of Peachtree Creek and the Atlanta Campaign, 1864. (Interestingly, actor Chris Evans, who has portrayed Captain America, is a descendant of Marold)

-- U.S. Model 1861 rifle-musket, modernized with the patented Needham breech-loading system, as used by the Governor’s Guard, a Black volunteer militia in Atlanta in 1879.

-- U.S. Starr Arms Company breech-loading carbine with markings indicating use by the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, a U.S. regiment comprised of white unionists from Arkansas and West Tennessee.

-- Eleven European firearms shipped to Union and Confederate troops from 1861-1864.

Jones points to damage on the AHC's Texas contract rifle (Picket photo)

During my visit, Jones brought out two guns from the Wray collection as examples of the best and worst utilized by Confederates.

Visitors to the AHC’s “Confederate Odyssey” exhibit in 2014 learned how the Confederacy successfully adapted to modern warfare. They also saw failures or limitations: poorly crafted bayonets or makeshift clothing. Examples came from firearms, swords, uniforms, flags and other items collected by the late Wray over the years.

Southern manufacturers struggled to make firearms that could stand up to extensive wear and campaigns. Jones showed me a so-called Texas contract rifle, used for a time by William Malloy, a trooper with the 29^th Texas Cavalry.

"William Malloy" is carved into the gun's buttstock (Atlanta History Center)

Jones believes the 1863 contract rifle, made by a small private company, is the crudest weapon in the Wray collection.

“This has a thick heavy barrel with tiny iron bands,” the curator told me in 2014. “It is poorly balanced and the back action lock is weak.” The wood behind the bolster was chipped away, despite a nail inserted as a repair.

One officer said of the carbines, “These things are more dangerous to my men than the enemy.”

“Malloy” and “Tex” are carved into the buttstock. It is unknown whether Malloy was still with the unit at its most famous battle at Honey Springs, Indian Territories, facing the First Kansas (colored) Infantry in 1863.

The star of the Wray collection is a Whitworth rifle made in England and shipped to the South during the war. The Whitworth was the first sniper weapon and was incredibly effective, supplied to only the best marksmen. About 50 came over and only 18 are known to survive, Jones said.

Several Federal generals were killed by Whitworths, perhaps mostly notably Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick at Spotsylvania in 1864..

The weapon had a range up to 1,500 years and had an open site on the barrel and a side-mounted Davidson telescopic sight (right), giving the shooter two options. The Whitworth had much tighter rifling than an Enfield, making it that much more deadly.

The AHC believes the one Wray purchased was likely used in the Western Theater, though the telescopic sight on the AHC weapon is a restoration with 20^th century optics.

A book on the Wray weapons has this to say: “Although it is impossible to say when or where this particular rifle was used, as one of the Confederacy’s most valued weapons, it certainly did see use. Just as certainly, it killed and wounded many Union soldiers.”

Gordon L. Jones with a rare Whitworth sniper rifle used by the South (Picket photo)

AHC acquisitions from the past couple years (Picket photo)

In hindsight, this failed Confederate breech-loading gun may have been a bit ahead of its time (or improved technology)

Firing mechanism of Columbus breech loader (Picket photos)

The road to innovation is lined, shall we say, with disappointments.

A double-barreled cannon on outdoor display in Athens, Ga., is one such example. Its inventor hoped to convince the Confederate army that the two rounds, joined by a chain, would mow down infantry and cause chaos.

It did cause chaos. Test-fired in April 1862 in the early months of the Civil War, the gun turned out to be a flop. On one try, the chain holding the two rounds broke -- with one ball hitting a chimney and another killing a cow, according to observers. Another firing resulted in the rounds going off-center and plowing “up about an acre of ground, tore up a cornfield, mowed down saplings, and then the chain broke, the two balls going in different directions.”

About a year later and 140 miles to the southwest, innovators at the Columbus Iron Works on the banks of the Chattahoochee River were experimenting with another relative oddity at the time: breech-loading artillery.

Manufacturers in Europe were trying their hand with such technology, including production of the Whitworth, an English rifled gun that saw limited use during the Civil War. Benefits of such guns included protection for the crew by being behind the weapon, accuracy of fire and faster reloading. Southern breech-loading guns included the Williams and Hughes models.

Designers and craftsmen at the Columbus Iron Works, a large war materials, steam engine, iron cladding and artillery manufacturer for the South, decided to build and test a breech loader.

According to its history, the Columbus piece was designed by engineer and steamboat Capt. W.J. McAlister and Freeman C. Stewart, who worked for the iron works, which was then under command of the Rebel navy.

Prior to the war, some 200 steamboats traveled between Columbus south and the river’s exit in the Florida Panhandle, carrying cotton, crops and other items. Like other captains, McAlister lived near the riverfront and main wharf.

The barrel was fashioned from the wheel shaft of the steamer John C. Calhoun, which had its own misfortunate history. In 1860, its boilers exploded and the mail vessel caught fire, sinking near Ridleyville, Fla. At least one man died and others suffered horrible burns.

A 1978 article in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper gave a brief description of how McAlister and Stewart fared in 1863.

The lathe work on the gun was done by Jacob G. Burrus. His sibling, George, paid a visit to the site, which was close to a naval yard.

"On a visit to my brother at the Columbus Iron Works, I found him engaged at the lathe turning the gun. When completed, it was tested three times, but the recoil broke the stirrup through which the breech screws passed for holding the breech plug in place.

"It was finally pronounced a failure. The federal raiders broke off a trunnion to prevent its further use. But it did service as a corner post at Springer's corner."

At this time in their development, breech loaders were fickle and presented some challenges.

An article in Wikipedia says: “The major problem to be solved with breech-loading artillery was obturation: the sealing of the breech after firing to ensure that none of the gases generated by the burning of the propellant (initially gunpowder) escaped rearwards through the breech. This was both a safety issue and one of gun performance – all the propellant gas was needed to accelerate the projectile along the barrel.

“The second problem was speed of operation – how to close the breech before firing and open it after firing as quickly as possible, consistent with safety.”

Eventually, designers came up with ways to create a safe seal and mechanisms that made the technology work. Along, the way they perfected what became forerunners of modern artillery. This Encyclopedia Brittanica article details how changes were made to improve breech-loading artillery, including increasing the strength of certain parts of the barrel to handle the pressure from firing of the weapon.

Today, the iron works gun sits outside the Columbus Museum on Wynnton Road. A sign affixed to its stand calls it “the first breech loading cannon.” It notes that Federal Wilson’s Raiders broke the trunnion when they took the city in April 1865.

(Picket photos)

The website for an auction house that sold a small replica outlined the concept: “This gun has a simplistic ingenious swiveling strap breech that allows easy access to bore for projectile and powder bag. Strap is then returned to position and screw is turned which closes breech, then friction primer is positioned through breech seal for firing.”

The Columbus Museum’s website says: “The breech-loading cannon is a testament to Columbus residents’ ingenuity and innovation in time of war.” It notes the North did not develop such a weapon, instead using a few imported Whitworths.

What became of the investors of the Columbus breech-loader? I have had no luck on McAlister, but Freeman died in February 1908 at age 77. He was superintendent of the Columbus Iron Works for 30 years after the war.

The W.C. Bradley Co. donated the cannon to the museum in 2016.