Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Carbine |
Common Name |
Sharps Carbine |
Catalog Number |
2025.1.5 |
Date |
ca. 1863 |
Material(s) |
Steel/Wood |
Dimensions |
H-6.5 W-39 D-2.5 inches |
Description |
This is a new model 1863 Sharps percussion carbine. This is a single shot breech loading weapon with a percussion nipple and hammer on the right side of the lock. The piece is a single banded gun with a saddle bar and riding ring on the left side. This model has a cartridge ejector. The trigger guard is a lever that actuates the loading mechanism. The trigger guard lock slides to the rear of the trigger guard. There is a hinged patch box on the right side of the stock. There is a fold down rear ladder style sight in front of the breech stamped "LAWRENCE/ PATENTED/ FEB. 13th 1859" and a front sight at the muzzle. Stamped on top of the barrel in front of the breech is "NEW MODEL 1863". Stamped on top of the barrel in front of the rear sight is "SHARPS RIFLE MANUFG Co. HARTFORD, CONN." Three patent dates stamped on the lock plate from 1845, 1852 and 1859. Stamped on the strap behind the trigger is "H07". Stamped on the strap behind the breech is "80778". |
Notes |
The original Sharps rifle was introduced in 1848 by Christian Sharps. It differed from the standard arms of the day because it was loaded at the breech rather than through the weapon's muzzle. It could be loaded and fired much more rapidly than a muzzle loader. By 1863, the Sharps carbine, the shorter version of the rifle, was the most common weapon carried by Union cavalry regiments. Beginning in the 1840s, an area called Merchant's Row was built in Perryville, Kentucky on the banks of the Chaplin River. One of the first stores there was the John Brunt Latimer store. Latimer appears in the 1860 and 1880 Perryville census. By the early 1890s a grocery was being operated there by Jacob "Jack" Austin Carpenter, Sr. (1857-1937). According to family history, returning Civil War soldiers traded military relics to these merchants. In a cash poor economy, much trade was by barter. By the time Carpenter died in 1937, there were bushel baskets of items like these stored in the corners of the store. Willis G. Hankla, Sr. was married to J.A. Carpenter's granddaughter, Elizabeth. He rescued the items from the store when it was sold and later loaned them to the Kentucky Life Museum in Lexington and Perryville Battlefield State Park. |
Collection |
Willis and Elizabeth Hankla Collection |
Event |
American Civil War |
People |
Carpenter, Jacob Austin, 1857-1937 |
Subjects |
Arms & armament Firearms Rifles Weapons Grocery stores |
Search Terms |
American Civil War Perryville (Ky.) Boyle County (Ky.) |