Whitney Model 1861 Navy Rifle / SOLD
This is an excellent example of a rifle that usually shows up in lesser condition from shipboard use and navy storage. It is complete and all original, with the correct ramrod and unique rear sight. The Whitney Model 1861 Navy Rifle was the brainchild of John A. Dahlgren, who began testing the idea of a .69 caliber rifle for the U.S. Navy on the 1858 voyage of the USS Plymouth, hence one of the several names applied to this rifle. Dahlgren wanted a large-caliber short rifle for shipboard use and used the French carabine-a-tige as a model. He wanted a heavy barrel to compensate for its recoil and originally had the idea of fitting it with a Bowie-knife style bayonet that would be useful has a hand-held weapon and for other shipboard tasks.
As produced by Whitney for the Navy on a July 1861 contract, the rifle was lighter than Dahlgren envisioned and utilized a saber bayonet supplied by Collins but mounted a 34-inch .69 caliber rifled barrel secured by two bands, with a long French style rear sight graduated to 1,000 yards. Whitney’s contract called for 10,000 rifles with deliveries to start in February 1862, but difficulties in obtaining barrels delayed production and delivery for a year. Five sample rifles were delivered in October 1862 and regular deliveries started in February 1863, with 5,300 delivered that year and the remaining 4,695 in 1864.
The barrel surface is smooth metal with the bayonet lug and both sights in place. The rear sight is original to the rifle and is complete. Barrel and bands are bright. The ramrod is the correct pattern. Both swivels are in place on the lower band and bottom of the buttstock near the buttplate. The nipple is excellent, the breech area has no pitting. As is correct, the bolster is made without clean-out screw. The trigger guard plate has the characteristic finger spur of the rifle. The buttplate exhibits a good bold “U.S.”. The wood has good color, surface, and fit to the metal. The edges of the forestock are sharp to the lower band. The action is very good and the bore is nice, semi-bright, and with good rifling.
The markings are very good throughout. The wood shows the correct “F.C.W.” inspection cartouche on the side flat V/P/eaglehead proof on left flat at breech, below which it has an F.C.W. barrel inspection stamp as well. The top flat has a very crisp 1863 date. The lockplate is also dated 1863 at rear of the plate and bears the early, large Whitney stamp used on these rifles showing under the hammer a large spread-winged American eagle with a big U.S. flag that shows just a little rubbing along the bottom, and U.S. / WHITNEY-VILLE below the bolster.
These rifles were widely issued to navy vessels. McAulay lists the Nansemond, William Bacon, and Eutaw in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as among the first recipients in 1863, and thirty more vessels in 1864, including the Pawnee and Mendota. These saw service in some boat actions, in heavier fighting such as the attack of the Albemarle on the USS Mattabesset, where some were reported damaged, and also in shore actions such as Tulifinny Crossroads in December 1864, where the color-bearer of the 5th Georgia was brought down by a Plymouth rifle in the hands of a sailor assigned to the howitzer section of a mixed force of sailors and marines attempting to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Interestingly, some the Potomac Flotilla actually requested Plymouth rifles to replace their Spencer’s, which they regarded as dangerous because of the rimfire ammunition. This is a very nice example of a very interesting Civil War long arm.
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Inventory Number: RIF 122 / SOLD