This is a 5^th Model Burnside with serial number 12942. Walnut stock is dark. No cartouche is visible. Wood is in good condition with acceptable dings and dents from wear and use except for the section between the barrel tang and the lock. This thin piece of wood has two closed, moderate cracks and two small chips. Where the barrel tang and lock meet there is a section of wood missing that meas. approx. 0.25 x 0.25 of an inch. Receiver and hammer retain very little case colors. No bluing left on the barrel. Forend band is dark. Clearly stamped behind the hammer is “BURNSIDE RIFLE Co., PROVIDENCE, R. I.” Above the serial number on the receiver is “BURNSIDE PATENT MARCH 25^TH 1856.” Barrel stamping is “CAST STEEL 1862.” The stamping of the year is a little weak. Hammer holds at half and full cock positions. Breechblock moves well. The weapon still has its original nipple that is in good condition. Rear leaf sight manipulates well and is not frozen. Saddle bar and ring as well as sling swivel are present. Screw heads exhibit some wear. Bore needs light cleaning but is in good condition. Rifling is also good. 

Weapon was ID by serial number to Private Erwin Page of Company D, 6^th Illinois Cavalry. With the item comes documentation giving the Record Group and Entry number where this information can be found at the National Archives. The number appears next to Private Page’s name in the Regimental books of the 6^th Illinois Cavalry. 

Page is carried on the rolls of the regiment as Erwin or Edwin. Copies of documents that accompany the carbine show him listed as Edwin while the Illinois roster book carries him as Erwin. He enlisted in the regiment on February 29, 1864. He is listed as being 19 years old with gray eyes, sandy hair, florid complexion and standing at 5 feet 8 inches tall. He was discharged November 5, 1865 at Selma, Alabama. 

During the time Private Page served in the 6^th Illinois they were very, very active fighting General Nathan Bedford Forests Cavalry and then chasing General John Bell Hood’s Army on his invasion of Tennessee in late1864. During their service from 1861-1865 the regiment lost a total of 401 officers and men. 

With the weapon comes some internet research, a letter from the archives researcher attesting to the ID, copies of Pvt. Page’s enlistment paper and muster out record from the National Archives, a 361 page modern history of the 6^th Illinois Cavalry and a hardcover 95 page book “THE BURNSIDE BREECH LOADING CARBINES” by Edward A, Hull.

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