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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  FRENCH RIFLE MODEL 1859 .71
Maker/Manufacturer:	LONEUX, A. & CH.
Date of Manufacture:	C 1860
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 4646
Measurements:	OL:125.7CM 49 1/2" BL: 86.9CM 34 1/4"

Object Description:

FRENCH RIFLE MODEL 1859 .71
Manufactured by A. & Ch. De Loneux, Liege, Belgium - French Model 1859 single-shot percussion short rifle. Two bands with upper band double-strapped. Weapon fired paper cartridge with pointed Minie ball. M1842 carbine type long range rear sight. Studded for saber bayonet. According to Army records weapon was captured at Gettsyburg. This was rated a 2nd Class Arm by the U.S. Ordnance Department.

Markings:
Lock: A.& CH. DE LONEUX. Crown/DL.
Barrel: E/LG/Star. CF GM M.
Buttplate: Crown/DL.
Barrel band: Crown/DL.
Bayonet lug: 3.
Stock: LK.

1909 Catalog #0535 - "Rifle. Belgian Rifle. Rebel. Captured at Gettysburg, 1863."

Notes: "During the three days of fighting at Gettysburg in early July 1863, for instance, 'an estimated 566 tons of ammunition were expended, amounting to about 24 pounds for every casualty on both sides." - Hentig & Niderost

"The importance of the Enfield to the Confederate Army is illustrated in a report of ordnance captured by the Federal First Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. The First Corps was opposed largely by that of A.P. Hill's Third Corps. Hill's men left a total of 2,958 shoulder arms on the field. Eighty one percent (2,402) of these were Enfield rifle muskets. This suggests the four of every five shoulder arms in Hill's Third Corps were Enfields.
...In American Military Equipage, vol. I, page 151, mention is made of the Liege-made French Short Rifle (or carabine de Vincennes), Model 1859, the celebrated 'Chasseurs de Vincennes rifle.' The example illustrated opposite was made by G. Schopen at Liege. It is certain (by Ordnance markings or serial numbers) that the 'Chasseurs de Vincennes' carbines made by Schopen went North.
H.S. Sanford, U.S. Minister in Belgium, refused several lots of Schopen carbines in the fall of 1861. From Belgian archives we learn Schopen wrote in 1864 that he was in trouble getting no money from his contractors abroad 'who could not receive the guns' (blockage?) and he went finally bankrupt in 1865, just like the Confederate States themselves.
It is absolutely certain that at least 36,000 'Chasseurs de Vincennes' made in Liege found their way to New Orleans (via Cuba) and to Savannah. Northern 'Chasseurs de Vincennes; were made by Guilkers-Maquinay, Vivario-Plomdeur, P.J. Malherbe." - Professor Francis M. Balace, Liege, Belgium

References:
Henig, Gerald S. & Eric Niderost. CIVIL WAR FIRSTS: THE LEGACIES OF AMERICA'S BLOODIEST CONFLICT. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.
Noe, David, Larry W. Yantz & James B. Whisker. FIREARMS FROM EUROPE. Rowe Publications. Rochester, N.Y. 1999.