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Title:	CARBINE -  CONFEDERATE CARBINE TALLASSEE .58 SN# 32
Maker/Manufacturer:	TALLASSEE ARMORY
Date of Manufacture:	1864
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1492
Measurements:	OL:103.5CM 40 3/4" BL: 63.5CM 25"

Object Description:

CONFEDERATE CARBINE TALLASSEE .58 SN# 32
Manufactured by Tallassee Armory, Tallassee, Ala. in 1864 - Confederate percussion rifled muzzle-loading carbine. Patterned after British Enfield. Full length stock with two bands. Blued barrel, bright lock, brass furniture. Two-leaf rear, iron/block blade front sight. Swivel ramrod. Iron sling swivels on forward band and bottom of stock near butt. Tang screw too short for weapon. Approximately 500 manufactured with few seeing actual service. It is believed that no more than 10 exist today.

Markings:
Lock: 1864 rear of hammer. CS/TALLASSEE/ALA. forward of hammer
Rear of barrel tang: 32.
Stock: (32) also scratched into the barrel channel of stock. 85 painted in white on right side of butt.
Buttplate: 593 (possibly old Museum number).

1909 Catalog #3052 - "Carbine. Rifled Carbine. Rebel. Cal..577. Brass butt plate and bands. Imitation of English Cavalry Carbine. On lock plate, C.S. Tallahassee, Ala. 1864."

In photo with mulitiple weapons this weapon is third down from top. In photo with multiple lockplates this weapon is the top one on the left.

Notes: The Confederate Ordnance Department always wanted to headquarter the Ordnance Department safely in the middle of Alabama. Political pressure at the time, however, forced them to stay in Richmond. But by 1864, the political pressure gave way to the realities of war, and Tallassee was chosen to manufacture a carbine modeled after the British Enfield. This was the Confederate Arm officially designed and adopted by a Board of Cavalry Officers in the field. There were approximately 500 carbines manufactured in 1864, with the gunstocks provided by the Macon Arsenal.
Before Federal troops could arrive, the employees destroyed all the gun parts, much of the machinery, and a quantity of the arms. The employees then fled to avoid capture.

"Welcome to the history of our gun. Maybe one of the most sought after guns manufactured by the south during the war, because only a very few are known to exist.
On April 28, 1864, as the vulnerability of the armory at Richmond, Virginia had become increasingly alarming, Lt. Col. James A. Burton, superintendent of armories was sent to Tallassee, Alabama, to investigate the possibility of relocating the Richmond Carbine Factory. He arrived on May 28 to find two stone mills operated by Tallassee Falls Manufacturing Company. The old mill which still exist today was the perfect place for the new armory. It was completely isolated form the newer mill and powered by the water coming over the falls of the Great Tallapossa River. The machinery was quickly relocated from Richmond to Tallassee and the manufacture of the rifles was soon begun. Tallassee was a small mill town on the banks of the river and became evident that materials there were in short supply and would have to be shipped in. Times grew harder as the war raged on and the north advanced even further towards the southland. Materials for the construction of these guns became even harder to acquire, but it is known from official records that approximately 500 guns were made. The Union troops were ravaging the South destroying everything in their path. As they moved through Selma, destroying the Arsenal, detachments were sent to destroy the Armory at Tallassee. At least twice they tried to locate it, but either through false information and maybe blind luck the Armory remained unharmed. Knowing of the threat of Union invasion the Armory had been abandoned, taking all the machinery and carbines with them. Now the story truely gets vague. Were the guns buried in the ground, thrown in the river, or melted down? To this day there are many unanswered questions as to the fate of the Tallassee carbines. Only a few have shown up in collections across the country (less than 10 are known to exist). We are still researching this and any information anyone might have would be greatly appreciated....We have purchased this Armory and are trying to restore and preserve it." - Talisi Historical Preservation Society, PO Box 780022, Tallassee, Al.
"Approximately 1 June 1864 - James H. Burton, Supt. C.S. Armory, Macon, Ga. to Col. J. Gorgas, Chief of Ord., Richmond - Report on location of Tallassee, Alabama as Carbine Factory location.
3 April 1865 - Jas. H. Burton, Supt. Armories, Macon to Maj. W.V. Taylor, Tallassee Armory - 'Turn over and forward at once to Col. Cuyler Macon Arsenal the Five Hundred Carbines.'
7 April 1865 - Jas. H. Burton, Supt. C.S. Armory, Macon, Ga. to Maj. W.V. Taylor, C.S. Armory, Tallassee, Ala. - Instructions for removal of machinery at Tallassee.
10 April 1865 - J.H. Burton, Supt. C.S. Armory, Macon, Ga. to C.H. Ford, M. Armorer Athens, Ga. - Explanation of situation regarding removal of machinery at Tallassee to Athens, Ga.
15 April 1865 - Jas. H. Burton, Supt, C.S. Armory, Macon, Ga. to Maj. Jas. Harding, C.S. Armory, Columbus, Ga. - 'Please ascertain and inform me if the machinery of Tallassee Armory has been brought away. And also the whereabouts of Maj. Taylor.'
17 April 1865 - Jas. H. Burton, Macon to Capt. F.M. Johnson AQM, Atlanta, Ga. - 'How many if any, car loads machinery and tools from Tallassee have arrived Atlanta or are yet to arrive.'" - Davies

Staff included C.P. Bolles, Superintendent, Jun 1864 - Jan 1865; W.V. Taylor, Superintendent, Jan 1865 - Apr 1865. Information obtained from Confederate States Armory Homepage, http://members.wbs.net/homepages/r/h/b/rhb1833.html.

References:
Davies, Paul J. C.S. ARMORY RICHMOND. American Society of Arms Collectors. Bethlehem, Pa. 2000.
Flayderman, Norm. FLAYDERMAN'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN FIREARMS...AND THEIR VALUES. 6th Ed. DBI Book, Inc. Northbrook, Il. 1994.
Murphy, John M., M.D. CONFEDERATE CARBINES & MUSKETOONS. John M. Murphy, M.D. La Mesa, Ca. 1986.