Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	MUSKET, RIFLED -  GERMAN MUSKET MODEL 1809 PERCUSSION CONVERSION .72
Maker/Manufacturer:	SPANGENBERG & CO.
Date of Manufacture:
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 4612
Measurements:	OL:142.8CM 56 1/4" BL:104.7CM 41 1/4"

Object Description:

PRUSSIAN MUSKET MODEL 1809 PERCUSSION CONVERSION .72
Manufactured in Prussia - Rifled?.

Markings:
Lock: SP/SUHL.
Barrel: Crown/M.
Triggerguard: 4. C.
Stock:

Notes: "My Prussian Musket: Model 1809 by Dennis B. Tenk. How many collectors have said 'If only this old gun could talk!' as they held one of their antique muskets and examined markings and alterations hoping to pick up some clues? The muskets are all trying to tell us their stories and we want so much to hear them. Usually, we cam readily determine the date and place of manufacture. That, and other markings, can give us information about the musket's life of service before it became an item in a private collection. Further, by examining the historical times in which it served we can better understand its story. Imagination can help us fill in the blanks with 'might have been.' The more information we have about a particular piece the more interesting it becomes for us.
I have a Prussian Model 1809, smoothbore, musket. It was most likely imported for use early in the Civil War when both North and South faced an arms shortage and were desperate for any weapons they could get. I have done my best to hear the story my Prussian musket is trying tell me and I would like to share that story with you.
My musket was made in Suhl , Prussia, in 1841 at a time when the Prussian government was in the process of changing from flintlock to percussion muskets. The Dreyse 'needle-fire' (more about this later) was patented in 1834, but because the Prussian government had doubts about it, they decided to rearm with percussion muskets. The National Armories in Potsdam, Neisse, Saarn and Danzig as well as private firms began to alter Model 1809 flintlocks and manufacture percussion muskets. The firms in Suhl were very busy from 1840 to 1860 in ths process.
The Model 1809 was orignally made as a flintlock. I consider my Suhl musket to be a Model 1809 musket because it was made with Model 1809 parts. It was, however, made as a percussion musket, not as a flintlock, because the flintlock system had become obsolete by that time. As pointed out above, the Prussian government wanted all their muskets to use the percussion ignition system. Model 1809 muskets are commonly known as 'Potsdam' muskets because so many were made in Potsdam, even though they were manufactured in Neisse, Saarn and Suhl. The story of the Model 1809 begins in Prussia.
In the 18th century 'Germany' was not a country. It was a collection of some 300 states, some large and some quite small. Frederick William I (1731-1740), with the title 'King in Prussia,' created a bureaucracy that was obedient to his will. He wanted everyone to serve the state. He built up the Prussian army to be the 3rd or 4th largest in Europe. His son, Frederick the Great (1740-1786), made Prussia one of the great powers of Europe. Frederick William II (1786-1797) was the next ruler of Prussia.
With the coming of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon in the late 18th and 19th centuries, Europe was plunged into war. Prussian tried to remain neutral but French involvement in 'Germany' provoked Prussia to war. Frederick William III (1797-1840) was King of Prussia at that time.
The year 1806 was humiliating for Prussia. The famous Prussian army was defeated by Napoleon at the battles of Jena and Auerstadt. In the following year, 1807, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander of Russia met on a raft on the Neiman River. The Treaty of Tilsit that resulted was a crushing blow for Prussia. Prussia lost half of its territory. In addition, they had to make payments to France and limit their army to 42,000 men. Prussia had reached a low point. Frederick William III was determined to reform Prussia.
The reforms were no intended to make Prussia democratic or even to create a constitutional monarchy. Rather, the reforms aimed at making the state more efficient and stronger. There was a desire to create a German nation and be able to fight the French. Frederick William appointed General Gerhard von Scharnhorst and Count von Gneisnau to reTo solve the problem of building up a large army, when the army were limited to 42,000 men, the military reformers established a program to train soliders and then put them into the reserves. They then trained a new set of soldiers and put them in the reserves also. By continuing this process they had 270,000 trained soldiers by 1814. General Scharnhorst wanted to create a new musket for the army. Here is where the Model 1809 musket comes in.
The army was armed with Model 1782 and Nothardt Model 1801 muskets. A new, improved, musket was to be created and tested under the personal supervision of Scharnhorst himself. It had to be made rapidly and inexpensively in Prussian factories and be an improvement over the Northardt.
The Prussian High Cabinet approved the new design on May 19, 1809 and the Prussian Model 1809 was born. It was a smoothbore flintlock musket, .72 caliber, 56.5 inches long. The barrel is finished bright and is attached to the Beech or Walnut stock with three brass barrel bands. The triggerguard is brass and the buttplate can be brass or steel. The Model 1809 '.... can be distinguished form later patterns by the distinctly 3-pointed ends of the triggerguard and the heel of the buttplate. (Todd, page 138.) My musket has these characteristics. The triangular socket bayonet has a 19.2 inch blade and an unslotted sleeve. It attaches to the musket by engaging a spring lock beneath the barrel.
In his report to the King in 1810 Scharnhorst wrote: our current new musket has a caliber and weight compatible with French, Austrian and Russian cartridges. The older Model 1782 musket could use the new cartridges also. The lock has a better mechanism than the Northardt. It is completely like the French. The barrel is fastened to the stock in such a way that the barrel can be quickly separated from the stock for ease of cleaning. The Model 1809 is very much like the French Model 1777 in lock, stock and fittings. Although there are differences such as hot the ramrod is retained and the pan cover, the Model 1809 resembles the French Model 1777. This should not surprise students of the United States flintlock muskets.
The U.S. Model 1816 musket was 'patterned after a French arm, the Model of 1777....' (Reilly, page 19). Thus, both the United States and Prussia looked to France for musket development. The Model 1809 was to be the official musket of the Prussian army. The musket was manufactured in Prussian state armories in Postdam, Neisse and Saarn. The Prussian Government did place orders for Model 1809 muskets with private contractors in the city of Suhl, but this might have been after the Napoleonic Wars when Suhl became a part of Prussia.
Prussia was rearming with a new musket and quietly building a large army with which to fight France at the proper time. Model 1809 muskets saw service against Napoleon. Prussian troops under Field Marshall Von Blucher played a crucial role in Wellington's* defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, June 18, 1815.
As a result of the Congress of Vienna, 1815, Prussia made territorial gains. The city of Suhl became part of Prussia. As we have seen, my Model 1809 musket was made in Suhl in 1841. (The underside of the barrel is stamped 1841. The barrel must be removed to see it.) Suhl has had a long history gun-making. It was a gun-making town somewhat like Birmingham, England and Liege, Belgium.
Suhl is located beside the river Hasl in central Germany in the present state of Thuringia. The mountains around the town are rich in iron ore and iron smelting was well established by 1350. The iron is ideal for the production of gun barrels. During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) Suhl provided guns to Denmark, Belgium, Austria and others. Gun production declined in Suhl toward the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century business picked up somewhat for the Suhl craftsmen as they found work converting flintlocks to percussion and manufacturing percussion muskets as noted above.
I contacted the Waffenmuseum in Suhl for information about the markings on my musket. Dr. TMy musket has a crown over 'FW' stamped on the barrel. The crown over 'FW' is a proof mark which indicates acceptance by the Prussian government. The 'FW' stands for Frederick William, King of Prussia. The barrel is dated 1851. (It will be recalled that the 1841 stamped under barrel indicates the year the musket was assembled.) There is an 'ST' stamped over the Prussian government mark. This shows that the barrel was produced by Suhl barrel maker Wolfgang Heinrich Sturm.
Because my musket was assembled in 1841, the 1831 on the barrel indicates that my musket was made with a Model 1809 flintlock barrel. Maybe Sturm had old barrels on hand supplied them in 1841 or perhaps another firm had Sturm barrels in storage and made them available. At any rate, all I can say for sure is that the barrel was manufactured by Sturm, has the Prussian government mark and has 1841 stamped on the underside indicating my musket was made in that year. (There are some other marks and numbers on the barrel also.) The inside of the lockplate is stamped 'IUNG'. The old German spelling used an 'I' for a 'J', so it is 'JUNG'. There were three gunmakers in Suhl named Jung: C. Jung, Friedrich Jung and Samuel Jung. Which one of them supplied the lock for my musket cannot be known today.
If the buttplate is removed the initials 'CH' can be seen stamped on it. I do not know the name of that firm. The different makers names on the various parts confirms that the musket was assembled from parts supplied by a number of factories. There is an assembly number, 36, stamped on the barrel, escutcheon, buttplate, all three barrel bands, triggerguard piece, pieces inside the lockplate and even on the screws. This indicates that the musket parts all belong together and were assembled at one time.
The buttplate is stamped 'IC13LWR.' The numbers and letters stand for 1st Company of the 13th Landwehr regiment. 'Landwehr' regiments were reserve regiments of the standing army from 1814 to 1918. My musket is in very good condition. It does not show hard use, which is consistent with it being in a reserve regiment. As noted above, my musket was manufactured in 1841. Let us see what was going on in Europe at that time.
The French Revolution had stimulated nationalism but also the ideas of liberty and equality that threatened the monarchs and landed nobles of Europe. They feared popular uprisings that could overthrow them. The example of French King Louis XVI being beheaded was a reminder of what could happen to them. In Prussia, King Frederick William III promised a constitution but instead reestablished the old alliance of the Prussian monarchy, the army, and the Junkers (large landowners). Anyone who advocated even moderate social or political reform was suppressed. In 1833 Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Metternich of Austria and Frederick William III pledged jointly to aid any sovereign who was threatened by revolution.
My musket was intended to be used not only to defend Prussia from foreign enemies, but also to maintain the status quo in Europe and support the alliance of King, army and Junkers in control of Prussia. In 1839 the Prussian army adopted the Model 1839 musket. The age of flint was drawing to a close as the age of percussion dawned. The Model 1839, unlike the Model 1809, was made as a percussion musket.
There was a parallel movement to percussion in our own country as we moved from flintlock to percussion witThere were large disturbances in Berlin, Prussia. Frederick William IV (1840-1861) at first agreed to reforms but did not follow through. The government was to be dominated by the richest people. The Prussian army swore allegiance directly to the king. So again, my musket existed to maintain the status quo and put down popular uprisings.
In 1855 the Prussian government decided to rifle their muskets. When Model 1839 muskets were rifled they became known as Model 1839/55 muskets. My musket, Model 1809, originally made in percussion, was not rifled; it remains a smoothbore to this day. It is interesting to note that at about the same time the Prussians began rifling their muskets, the U.S. government replaced the Model 1842 smoothbore musket with the Model 1855, .58 caliber, rifle musket for the regular army. Of course, the U.S. then began rifling some of its smoothbore muskets. By the time the Civil War began in our country the Prussians were replacing their Model 1809 and Model 1839 muskets with the famous Dreyse 'needlegun.'
The 'needlegun' (Zundnadelgewehr, better translated as 'ignited by a firing pin gun'), invented by Nikolaus V. Dreyse, was a breech-loading, bolt-action rifle adopted by the Prussian army. As the army rearmed with the new 'needle-gun' the old muskets were put into storage. When the U.S. Civil War broke out in 1861, Prussia had thousands of obsolete Model 1809 and Model 1839 muskets on hand. My musket, obsolete and smoothbore, was most likely in storage somewhere in Prussia at that time. The urgent need for arms for the rapidly growning Union army coupled with the surplus weapons available in Prussia leads us to the next part of my musket's story.
During the first two years of the Civil War neither North nor South could manufacture arms fast enough for their needs. Both sides sent agents to Europe to purchase weapons. 'All told the story of our purchases of arms abroad is confusing and little known.' Between 1861 and 1863 there were over 50 different people or firms who offered foreign arms to the United States government.
In July 1861, George L. Schyuler was appointed to purchase arms abroad. Six weeks later Herman Boker was appointed as another agent. Henry S. Sanford, U.S. Minister to Belgium, was granted funds to purchase arms. So, by September 1861, the U.S. had agents buying weapons for their home states. By December 1861 the federal government was able to exclude the state agents. (Confederate agents were also in Europe competing for arms, but there is no record of Confederate purchases of Prussian arms.) Major P.V. Hagner, of the Ordnance Department, was in New York assigned to buy weapons.
Although it does not appear that Schuyler purchased any Prussian arms, Herman Boker did. The Ordnance Department purchased 18,000 Prussian smoothbore muskets from Boker. As late as July 1863 the Boker firm sold 2280 Prussian smoothbore muskets to the Ordnance Department. My musket could have been a Boker purchase. My Suhl musket was not rifled. That, and its large caliber, made it a 3rd class arm. It probably was not issued to front line troops, but rather to militia troops, or kept in storage somewhere. That would explain why it has come down to me in such good condition.
Sadford, U.S. Minister to Belgium, bought 28,634 smoothbore muskets. Sandford was in Belgium so his purchase might have included Prussian arms, but probably did not. Marcellus Hartley, on the hand, did purchase Prussian muskets.
On July 14, 1862 Hartley was appointed to purchase arms in Europe. Edwards described In a letter to Hagner, December 28, 1861, General James W. Ripley, Chief of Ordnance, stated that '...there had been too many purchases of low grade arms in the market and ordered him not to purchase any more of the poor Prussian smoothbore muskets which were arriving in New York and were offered by dealers in large quantities.' By that time Hagner had purchased some 3,000 old Prussian smoothbores for the state of New York and for the United States. Was my musket part of that group? Did it spend the war in storage in New York or in a New York militia unit? Roche states that 'Old Prussian muskets were sent to Indiana to arms the state guard in 1863.' Here is another possibility for my musket.
For a list of individuals or firms that supplied Prussian arms to the Ordnance Department see Firearms from Europe (Noe, Yantz and Whisker, pages 154-158.) In all, the Ordnance Department purchased about 165,000 Prussian arms of which 100,300 are identified as smoothbores. It should be pointed out that Northern merchants made contracts with Suhl gunmakers to produce arms for the Union. The main type produced was the Prussian pattern Model 1839/55. The best I can determine is that my musket was part of the flood of European weapons that swept into the United States in the early part of the Civil War. I don't know, specifically where it was, when it was purchased, and when it came into the United States. I can only have a general idea; some things are just not knowable.
One of the problems we have with researching foreign muskets in the Civil War is that Ordnance Officers were not too careful about identifying specific models in Ordnance Reports. 'Austrian, Belgian and Prussian muskets of .69 to .71 are listed in one group....All foreign muskets tended to be called Austrian or Belgian..... Of course, the Ordnance officers were not thinking about 21st century collectors. They wanted serviceable arms. They wanted each regiment to carry the same caliber weapons, as much as possible, regardless of make or model, so it wouldn't be necessary to supply several types or ammunition to the same regiment.
As noted above, my Model 1809, being a smoothbore .72 caliber musket would have been classified as a 3rd class arm. As I mentioned earlier it is in very good condition. I suspect it may not have been issued or maybe it was issued to a militia unit that did not see hard service. Where it was during the war will probably never be known. The use of Prussian muskets in the war in general, however, can be documented.
The large caliber foreign muskets were not liked by the troops who had to carry them. They made fun of them, giving them such nicknames as 'Pumpkin Slingers' or 'European Stovepipes' (because of the large caliber) or 'Mules' (presumably because of the recoil or 'kick'). The troops had to use what was available until better arms could be supplied. Prussian muskets were carried by some of McClellan's troops in the Peninsula Campaign, 1862.
When I was on a tour of the Peninsula Campaign our group visited an antebellum home. I saw a large musket with part of the forestock missing, standing in a corner. No one there could tell me about it, but when examined it, it turned out to be a Prussian musket with 'Potsdam' stamped on the lockplate. My guess is that it was dropped by a Union soldier during the advance on Richmond in 1862.
Nearly half of the Union troops that fought at Antietam carried English'The shortage of good arms in the East had been definitely overcome early in 1863, and the fact that old and inferior foreign arms were used at Gettysburg shows a large degree maldistribution.... The Battle of Gettysburg marked the virtual disappearance of the foreign shoulder arms from the Union army in the East.' The Eastern Theater was given priority over the West. 'The poorer arms, that is those of Austrian, Belgian, French or Prussian manufacture were sent to the West.' In fact, 'Austrian, British, Belgian, French and Prussian arms were widely used at all the important battles of the West and at times constituted more than one-fourth of the arms employed.'
Among the weapons carried by Grant's men at the Battle of Fort Donelson, in 1862, were Prussian smoothbore muskets caliber .69 and .70. When Vicksburg surrendered to Grant, July, 4th, 1863, Grant commented that the '...small arms of the enemy were far superior to ours. Up to this time our troops at the West had been limited to the old United States flint-lock muskets changed into percussion, or the Belgian muskets imported early in the war.... The enemy had generally new arms which had run the blockade and were of uniform caliber.' Grant had him men exchange their inferior weapons for the superior arms surrendered by the Confederates. Keen in mind, as pointed out above, that Ordnance officers tended to group different foreign muskets together. When Grant referred to 'Belgian' muskets it could include Austrian, French, and Prussian as well as muskets made in Belgium. While I wish Grant had listed specific models I'm sure he had other things on his mind.
A number of Illinois regiments were armed, at least in part, with Prussian shoulder arms. Unfortunately the records do not show which models they had. Ordnance records of Illinois regiments show seven regiments as having been issued Prussian muskets. They may have been more because the records are not complete. Of the seven, five had replaced their Prussian arms with better arms by the end of 1862. One regiment, the 101st Illinois, carried Prussian muskets into battle in January, 1863. 'January 14, 1863, The 101st company (D, G, H, K) were armed with a heavy brass-banded Russian (Prussian) musket, caliber .72, and as the enemy were reported to be near us in force, we loaded.' (Journal of Illinois Historical Society, Volume 28. Quoted in Baumann, page 190). There were a few Prussian muskets in the 101st as late as the first quarter of 1864. Although Ordnance records don't show Prussian muskets for the 103rd Illinois, 'A private collection in Peroria (Illinois) contains an 1831 dated Potsdam Prussian percussion conversion musket that belonged to Philip Reihim of Company A. Clearly, Prussian muskets, like mine, were used in the Civil War.
So, this is the story of my Prussian musket was best as I can understand it. The Model 1809 was created under General Scharnhorst as Prussia began to reform its military after the humiliating defeats by Napoleon at Jena and Auerstadt in 1806. My musket was made in Suhl in 1841, which as after that gun-making city became part of Prussia. It has the characteristics of the Model 1809 flintlock, rather than the Model 1839 that replaced the Model 1809. It was made as a percussion musket early in the percussion era because the Prussian government had determined to replace their flintlocks with percussion muskets and were in a hurry to do so. My musket was part of a large order given by the Prussian government to the consortium of 'Haenel and Triebel' in Suhl to produce muskets for the Prussian army. My musket was intended to help the Prussian army defend Prussian and also to hold down democratic movements at home and abroad. My musket was assigned to a Landwehr regiment (reserves). We adoption of the Dreyse 'needle-gun,' muskets like mine were put into storage. While they sat in storage in Prussia the Civil War began in America and the second phase of my musket's service life began.
Facing an acute shortage of arms the United States sent agents to Europe to buy up whatever muskets they could. The Prussians had the supply and Americans had the demand. I believe my musket was purchased and sent to the United States for war use. It is possible that it came in shortly after the war. I think that is unlikely, because there were so many surplus Civil War arms that there would be no market for another obsolete Prussian musket here. That it came in more recently is also possible, but even today, there is not a great deal of demand for Prussian muskets by collectors. The most likely scenario is that it was purchased in Prussia during our Civil War and brought here for wartime use. I wish I knew who purchased it, when it arrived and where it was during the Civil War. Some things are simply not knowable. It is, however, a good, representative example of the thousands of Prussian muskets that were imported early in the Civil War for use in that conflict.
It is ironic, I suppose, that a musket that began its life of service in Prussia to hold down democratic uprisings would end its life of service here in our country helping to preserve the Union and end slavery. Where it was since the war ended and who owned it can only be guessed at. I will own it for a while and then someone else will take possession and so on into the future. I am just one link in a long chain of ownership that reaches backward and will stretch forward. Those of us who possess old muskets have an obligation both to the past and to the future.
The next time you are at a collectors' show and you see a large musket with strange markings on a dealer's table take a close look. It might be an old pre-U.S. Civil War Model 1809 Prussian musket, made in Potsdam, Neisse, Saarn, Danzig or Suhl, with a fascinating story to tell."

Attached to bayonet = 7125. Variant form of bayonet with blade shortened to 38.5 cm.

*And speaking of Wellington, we have this: "LETTER TO A BUREAUCRAT... The following is from a letter from the Duke of Wellington to the British Foreign Office in August 1812, written while pursuing Napoleon across Spain.
'Gentlemen:
Whilst marching from Portugal to a position which commands the approach in Madrid and the French forces, my officers have been diligently complying with your requests.
We have enumerated our saddles, bridles, tents and tent poles, and all manner of sundry items from which His Majesty's Government holds me accountable. I have dispatched reports on the character, wit, and spleen of every officer. Each item and every farthing has been accounted for, with two regrettable exceptions for which I beg your indulgence.
Unfortunately, the sum of one shilling and nine-pence remains unaccounted for in one infantry battalion's petty cash and there has been a hideous confusion as the number of jars of raspberry jam issued to one cavalry regiment during a sandstorm in western Spain. This reprehensible carelessness may be related to the pressure of circumstances, since we are at war with France, a fact which may come as a bit of a surprise to you gentlemen in Whitehall.
This brings me to my present purpose, which is to request elucidation of my instructions from His Majesty's Government, so that I may better understand why I am dragging an army over these barren plains. I construe that perforce it must be one of two alternative duties, as given below:
1. To train an army of uniformed British clerks in Spain for the benefit of the accountants and copyboys in London, or, perchance,
2. To see to it that the forces of Napoleon are driven out of Spain.
Your most obedient servant,
WELLINGTON."