The P-1856 Cavalry Carbine is a rarely encountered weapon. As short lived gun in British military service, it was seen as a "stop-gap" gun by the British, who had concluded that the future of cavalry arms would be comprised of breechloaders. Still, the cavalry needed a more modern carbine than the Pattern 1847 "Paget Carbine" that was currently in use when the P56 was adopted. So, the .577 caliber P1856 carbine was adopted and produced for only four years until it was updated to the pattern 1861 with the addition of a long range ladder sight and more traditional ram rod. This short four year production period meant that more commercial guns were made for export to North America during the Civil War, than were ever made for British/colonial use.
Import numbers for these unique cavalry weapons add up to some 10,000 carbines imported by the South during the war. To date, the Confederate marked P-1856 carbines that are known have had locks marked TOWER (Birmingham contractor produced guns), BARNETT, or in extremely rare instances EP BOND and Parker, Field & Sons. While 10,000 cavalry carbines may seem like a significant number to have been imported, it is quite low when compared to the fact that most researchers put the total of all “Enfield” pattern English arms imported by the Confederacy at somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000. Even by the most lenient standards, that puts the importation of P-1856 cavalry carbines at between 3%-4% of all Enfield pattern arms obtained by the Confederacy. Their scarcity on the collector’s market underscores the fact that these guns saw hard use during the war and were used up, or even destroyed, in the field. Extant examples of Confederate marked P-1856 carbines tend to appear in two conditions; heavily used and well-worn, or nearly mint guns from captured Confederate Blockade Runners. In either case, the guns are very scarce and are rarely found available for sale. One reason for their lack of survival comes from the Report of William H. H. Terrell, Adjutant General for the State of Indiana. The report dated December 1865 concerning the Seventh Indiana Cavalry states in part:
"On the 21st of December (1864) the Seventh Cavalry moved from Memphis with a cavalry expedition under General Grierson. On the 28th Forrest's dismounted camp at Vernon, Mississippi, was surprised and captured, and a large quantity of rebel stores destroyed, including sixteen railroad cars, loaded with pontoons for Hood's army, and four thousand new English carbines."
This clearly indicates one clear reason for the scarcity of these guns. When the Federal troops captured them, they destroyed them. As nearly all US cavalry regiments were armed with some form of breech loading carbine at that point in the war, a muzzle-loading carbine was of no real value. However, US troops regularly used captured CS imported Enfield rifle muskets, as they were of use to the infantry.
This particular example is of Birmingham manufacture and is marked "TOWER/1862" on the lock plate. The lock plate bears no royal "VR" cypher underneath the crown stamp, meaning this is a commercial gun; made for export to North America by the BSAT, and not for regular service in the British Army. Additionally, the gun's barrel is marked with Birmingham commercial proof marks, without any of the typical British discharge/colonial acceptance markings found on guns sent to India or the Middle East.
The lock functions well and holds solid on both full and half cock. The lock plate and hammer have a very pleasing patina and fit the mortise well.
The stock is very good and features a dark, heavy patina. The original BSAT "roundel" stamp can be made out on the butt stock; indicating the stock was never sanded or refinished. The stock is very solid with crisp lock moldings and no cracks or damage.
The barrel is full length and includes its original "captured" ram rod. The front and rear sights are both intact and functional. The bore is dark, but the original rifling is present and quite strong.
