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A RARE SURVIVOR: EARLY-WAR CONFEDERATE MARKED BRITISH P53 ARTILLERY CARBINE #1500 WITH A TENNESSEE PROVENANCE

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British artillery carbines were used by both Confederate cavalry and infantry: in October 1862 Jeb Stuart wanted to exchange rifles carried by some his troopers for “Enfield carbines (artillery) in the hands of our infantry.” This is one of just thirty-two or so known examples bearing the engraved inventory numbers seen on Confederate government purchased long arms run through the blockade in 1861 and early 1862, and additionally has the block “S” furnisher’s stamp of W. & C. Scott & Son, who supplied numerous guns to Confederate purchasing agents. It is also almost the prototypical Confederate rifle, showing not only early-war Confederate import markings and subsequent heavy field service, but owner names carved in the stock, along with alterations and repairs necessary or convenient for use in civilian life in an impoverished postwar rural south after being brought home by a veteran.

The English Connection (2014) recorded just twenty-five of these Confederate imported Enfield British artillery carbines with engraved inventory numbers. The number has grown slightly since then, but only to thirty-two according to a well-respected researcher. The highest number recorded in the initial group was 1428. This one raises that to 1500, which fits with initial speculation that they were from early Confederate government purchases of just 1,500 arms of this pattern that were inspected and numbered (in a series specifically for this pattern of longarm) in the standard Confederate fashion used until the second quarter of 1862, and were shipped on blockade runners from 1861 to early 1862. Recorded purchases of this pattern by the Confederate government, marked or unmarked, total only about 4,500 through 1864, with no state purchases known. Private purchases by arms dealers would add somewhat to the total number, but they are a very hard Confederate-used carbine to find in any case.

Measuring just 40” overall, these brass-mounted carbines use a 24” rifled barrel in the standard .577 caliber. They have a standard block front sight and a short three-leaf rear sight graduated up to 300 yards, and mount a bayonet lug on the right side of barrel near the muzzle for a saber bayonet. Sling swivels were mounted on the top barrel band and in the belly of the stock between the buttplate and triggerguard tang. Ramrods were independent, not captive by a swivel or chain, and were numbered like the butt plate tangs the bayonets. For full details refer to the “English Connection.”

As noted above, these carbines seem to have been used by both Confederate infantry and cavalry, with the short length making them convenient to carry on horseback, though the bayonet was only appropriate for infantry and cavalry preferred a ramrod that would not be lost. In postwar civilian use, of course, the bayonet was of no use either and the lug has been removed. Similarly, the rear sight was of little use in hunting around the farm, with the rifling gone, showing it was most likely used as a shotgun. For the same reason a shoulder sling was unnecessary and the sling swivels were also removed: a simple screw remains on the underside of the buttstock where the rear swivel once was. The upper swivel would have been attached to the upper band, near the muzzle, now missing.

The lock was also repaired to keep the carbine functional. At some point the entire lock was replaced with another British lock dated 1863, possibly done wartime. The English Connection notes that all the numbered artillery carbines, except a very few coming from the London Armoury Company, have 1861 dated locks and we can see some alterations to the lock mortice to accommodate the new plate. A clearly civilian repair was made at the same time or later when the bolster blew out or was removed for some reason and replaced with a simple side lug.

The mechanics are functional. The barrel is brown and crusty, with some deeper pitting near the bolster as is natural, but full length and has the front sight block in place showing a bit of the blade. The breechplug tang shows some crude forging and the wood around it shows gaps and a notch with what looks like a short nail in it at its head, all certainly due to the necessary work on the bolster. The rear barrel band is correct and matches in condition. The front band is missing. The lockplate shows some pitting below the bolster, natural from the use of percussion caps, but it largely smooth metal. The hammer shows some pitting at top. The hammer shows largely brown and the lockplate a mix of brown and bluish-gray. The brass stock tip shows dark. The brass triggerguard, buttplate and lockscrew washers show a slightly less dark, but still aged, tone. None of it has been polished or dressed up. The wood shows as a dark brown and has assorted dings, scrapes and stains. The edges of the barrel channel are pretty good, as are those of the side flat. The ramrod channel shows wear and the underside of the stock shows a hole forward of the triggerguard tang where the end of a ramrod eventually wore through. The outer edge of the lock apron is good, but inner edge shows working from fitting the different lock plate.

For all the (legitimate) wear, the markings are still quite clear. The Birmingham barrel proofs at the left breech are strong, as are the lockplate markings. The buttplate tang is clearly and correctly engraved, “1500.” The JS/Anchor mark of viewer (inspector) John Southgate, employed for the task by the Confederate purchasing agents and expected on these numbered artillery carbines, is visible though a bit faint from rubbing by the hand on the belly of the stock to the rear of the triggerguard. Just forward of the buttplate tang in the wood is the clear large “S” stamp of W. & C. Scott & Son indicating they furnished (not necessarily manufactured) the carbine to a purchasing agent for the firm fronting the Confederate export operation. The English Connection suggests Scott supplied the vast majority of the numbered carbines, perhaps all from about #400 to the estimated 1,500 hundred so numbered. For an example of a September 1861 invoice from W.J. Grazebrook to CS purchasing agent Caleb Huse, operating through Fraser Trenholm & Co. see p.173 of the English Connection. The invoice includes 20 artillery carbines among an assortment of other arms.

Most noticeably rifle bears owner names on both sides of the stock. On the left is the reading, “K EAFURn.” This has defied explanation, though it might be a phonetic rendering, and bad spelling, of a name like “Kieffer,” though what appears to be an “N” still presents a problem. Carving on the right side is more comprehensible, if still with problems. A name at top appears to be “John Bolden” with the first name in script and the last in block letters, with the “N” reversed. Below that is “G.W. Beets” in an acceptable period script. And, at bottom is “Ernest Hill” in a much cruder script.

The carbine has a note with it from a purchaser dated March 9, 2009, indicating he bought it in Knoxville, TN, from the purported son of Ernest Hill, but who claimed to be the great-grandson of George W. Beets. It seems clear the gun passed from the Beets family to the Hill family by marriage, though the line of descent is still unclear. The family story, mentioned in the note, was that Beets had picked up the gun “from a dead soldier whos [sic] name is cut on the stock along with George W. Beets . . .” This led to a good deal of research on George W. Beets, on the assumption he carried the gun as a Confederate soldier as well. This led to G.W. Beets of the 2^nd TN (CS) Cavalry and a man of the same name (sometimes G.W.H. Beets as well,) who served in the 7^th TN (US) Mounted Infantry. There was some expectation they were one and the same- with Beets a “galvanized Yankee,” but the Confederate cavalryman was mortally wounded March 30, 1863, certainly at Dutton’s Hill, KY, on a raid led by Pegram, and the original family tradition points to GW Beets of the 7^th TN (US) Mounted Infantry, a brother of whom served in another US unit and who later was vouching for the loyalty of a neighbor to U.S. authorities.

It seems clear, and more natural, that “John Bolden” or the mysterious “K EAFER” would be more likely Confederate owners, though their exact identity and whether or not either was killed in the war is unknown, but we do suggest two possible Confederates for Mr. Bolden: John Bolden of the 2^nd NC Cavalry or John Bolden Co. H, 2^nd SC Rifles. Either would be a candidate for weapon brought into a southern port and a short, rifled carbine that could carry a bayonet could serve either man. How it then made its way to Tennessee eventual status as a war souvenir remains to be determined.

There is thus more room for research on the personal identification, but the carbine itself is both a very scarce gun and a very rare, very desirable Confederate-marked example. There are not many of these out there at all. They are a key piece in any Confederate arms collection, and collectors lucky enough to have one seldom let it go. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Jeb Stuart is documented as trying get some or more of them for his cavalry.  [sr][ph:L]

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