The model 1861 58. caliber rifle musket was adopted by the U.S. Government as the official arm for the infantry in that year. This model superseded the previous rifle musket pattern of 1855, which contained the patented Maynard tape priming system. After the capture of the Federal Armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in April of 1861 by the Confederacy, the machinery and tooling from that Armory was shipped south to Richmond, VA and Fayetteville NC. This left the Northern States with only the Springfield National Armory in Massachusetts to supply the Federal Army and some nearby States. Due to the shortages and availably of this rifle ,early in 1861 the Federal Government contracted with private arms producers and machinery shops in New England, Pennsylvania even in Germany to produce models of 1861 muskets. The rifle-musket available here was manufactured by James T. Hodge &Addison M. Burt at the site of the Trenton Locomotive & Machine Company. Records indicate that contacts for 1861 & 1862, 1863 for a total of 50,000 stands of arms by 1863.

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