Imported Rifle Muskets

The secession ot the southern states & beginning of the Civil War found both the U.S.A and C.S.A. woefully deficient in preparedness for the comming hostilites. Neither side had enough small arms to adeqately equip their respective rapidly expanding armies. To remedy this situation both the North & the South sought to purchase small arms from Europe, where they found the continental powers eager to sell them obsolete stores from their armories and gun making firms eager to supply them with their products and turn a profit.

To supplement its limited store of small arms the C.S.A. sent Capt. Caleb Huse to Europe in April of 1861 to purchase weapons. His efforts provided a flood of small arms. The 400,000 British Enfiled rifle muskets ranked as the Confederate standard, followed by the Austrian Lorenz model 1854 which was heavily used by the Army of Tennessee.

In July 1861 the U.S. War Dept. sent 3 agents abroad with the hope of buying arms. These agents spurred on by Caleb Huse's success proceeded to purchase arms with reckless abandon. In the process they not only purchased the British Enfield & Austrian Lorenz, plus other excellent weapons, but any worthless piece of junk to keep them out of Confederate hands.

English Enfield

Austrian Lorenz

Belgian Liege

Saxon Model