Presented here is a Model 1843 Hall-North .52 caliber, breechloading percussion carbine, sometimes referred to as a Side Lever Hall.

This interesting carbine has a 21” round barrel with two barrel bands that secure it to the walnut stock. Steel barrel is smooth and mostly bright with dark spotting scattered overall. Top flat of barrel exhibits a light “STEEL” stamp behind the open rear sight indicative of post 1848 production. Inspector’s initials “J.H” stamped on the right side below the sight. Bore is clear with scattered light oxidation and good rifling. Receiver opens by operating a lever located on the right side of the gun. Top flat of receiver is stamped with a worn five-line address, “U.S / S. NORTH / MIDLTN / CONN. / 1849”.  Hammer/trigger mechanics are crisp and strong. Weapon retains its original button-head ramrod. Sling bar and ring mounted to left side. All gun metal has matching color and wear. The black walnut stock shows moderate use and wear. There is a government cartouche visible on each side of the stock behind the receiver. There is a 3” long hair line crack running back from mid-receiver on each side. Nicely carved on the underside of the stock behind the trigger guard tang is “G.W. WATSON 1862”.

George W. Watson was born in Marion, Virginia, and a carpenter by occupation, when he enlisted as a Private on 9/10/62.  On 9/16/62 he mustered into Company M, 7th Missouri Cavalry.  Muster rolls show that he was present for duty until 12/28/62, when he was severely injured during a charge at Van Buren, Arkansas.  Watson was thrown from his horse, landing on his right hip and the small of his back, with his horse simultaneously falling on top of him.  He suffered a crushing injury to the lumbar region of his spine, a dislocated hip caused by a fracture of the neck of the femur, and his right leg was broken both above & below the knee.  His injuries would cause total and permanent disability.  Watson was at the General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, and later moved to Benton Barracks Hospital in St. Louis.  His pension records show that he was discharged on a Surgeon's Certificate of Disability on 7/13/64, although his name later appears on muster rolls as being a private in Co. I, 1st Missouri Cavalry from January 1865 to muster out on 9/1/65.  Following the war, he resided in both Missouri and Iowa, dying in Mt. Ayr, Iowa, on 1/19/95.

After the inconclusive Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, on 12/7/62, Union General James Blunt, in command of the Army of the Frontier, together with division commander Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron, led 8,000 men on a rapid march across the Boston Mountains, storming into the town of Van Buren. They captured over 100 prisoners. This is where Watson was injured. Confederate General Hindman had only about five thousand troops in the vicinity, most of them just across the river in Fort Smith. He eventually moved down the south bank of the Arkansas River toward Clarksville with what remained of the C.S. First Corps. The Confederate exodus was so abrupt that thousands of wounded Rebels were left behind in Fort Smith hospitals. Blunt withdrew from Van Buren on December 29. The Army of the Frontier recrossed the Boston Mountains and returned to its camps in northwestern Arkansas two days later. The Prairie Grove campaign was over.

Accompanied by military & pension records from the National Archives.  [jet] [ph:L]

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