The Fenians were an Irish-American group who wanted to put pressure on Great Britain to free Ireland. They conspired to mount an invasion of Canada and occupy some territory in order to force concessions. To that end, the group contracted with the arms firm Alfred Jenks & Son (Bridesburg) in the Fall of 1865, to purchase 7,500 rifle muskets for their cause. Jenks was the only wartime contractor who still had a large supply of rifle-muskets and parts on hand, and could supply a small army like the Fenian Brotherhood. Jenks began delivering the guns immediately with the first thousand muskets delivered in January, 1866.
Upon receiving the muskets, the guns were unpacked and inspected by Fenian arms inspector Maj. William O’Reilly. Gun's that passed muster were stamped with and "IN", for "Irish Nation" on the left counterpane. From here, the guns would be shipped out to Fenian agents, who, in turn, arranged for them to be shipped by rail to mustering points along the Canadian border where the muskets were to be issued to the arriving Fenians - this is where things started to head South for the Fenians.
Most of the Fenians’ weapons were seized by U.S. troops at the mustering points when the Johnson Administration claimed that the actions of the Fenians to be in violation of the Neutrality Act. As a result, the Fenians only had 1000 muskets and a force of 660 when Fenian Col. John O’Neil mounted an offensive over Canadian border on June 2, 1866. O’Neil’s forces met a brigade of Canadian Militia at Limestone Ridge near the hamlet of Ridgeway, and after a stiff, but brief, battle, O’Neil’s Fenians thoroughly routed the Canadians. Realizing support was not forthcoming, O’Neil tried to slip back across the Niagara River, but he and his men were intercepted by the U.S.S. Michigan and arrested.
Surprisingly, the Federal Government opted not to imprison the Fenian fugitives. Fearing that imprisoning the Fenians would disenfranchise the Democratic “Irish Voting Bloc” of Irish immigrants who saw the Fenians as patriots, rather than treasonous rebels, the Johnson Administration opted to simply send the captured Fenians back home; adding their arms to stores of Fenian Bridesburgs already seized by the US government.
Undeterred, the Fenians returned home and began plans for another offensive. The first step was to secure the return of their weapons from the US government. The guns were stored in several federal arsenals and forts and, according to Gen. George G. Meade’s report in October 1866, the guns were not being cared for properly and were rusting badly. The Fenians began petitioning the government for the return of their arms. The Fed initially declined to return the guns, but eventually caved under pressure - again, not wanting to upset the country's large Irish voting base. By the end of 1866, the Fenians had reclaimed nearly all of their confiscated arms.
Upon receiving their guns back from the government, the Fenians now had to address the thousands of rusty arms that had been neglected in government store houses for several months. To that end, a work party was assembled wherein each of the muskets could be taken apart, have its parts cleaned, and then be re-assembled. This is why so many Fenian-owned muskets are observed today with some badly pitted components mounted on otherwise good condition guns - the Fenians dissasembled the guns in large batches, threw the parts in a pile, cleaned them, and because Bridesburg muskets are largely interchangeable, re-assembled the finished guns with no attempt to match parts once the cleaning was finished.
In preparation for another assault on Canada, the Fenians attempted to update their muskets to compete with the breechloading Snider conversion muskets that were being issued to Canadian troops. To that end, the Fenians contracted with Patrick J. Meehan to oversee the conversion of their outdated muzzleloading muskets to modern breech loaders. Meehan formed a company that he called the "Pioneer Arms Works," and arranged to rent a portion of a former locomotive factory in Trenton, N.J., that had been used as a musket factory during the Civil War. Meehan’s operation was underway by 1868, and Alfred Cole was supervising the conversion process, assisted by a young German immigrant gun designer, Hugo Borchardt. Borchardt later gained fame through his work with Sharps rifles, and his basic semi-automatic pistol design proved to be the inspiration for the well-known German Luger pistol. the clandestine Pioneer Arms Works was able to convert about 5,000 of the Fenian's muskets using the "Needham" conversion - a "trapdoor"-style conversion that involved the addition of a breech block on the side of the barrel to allow the gun to fire a self-contained .58 caliber centerfire cartridge.
With their new arms in hand the Fenians launched a second invasion in May of 1870 across the Vermont border. The Canadians were forewarned and the Fenians were defeated. This time, the guns used in the attack were confiscated by the U.S. Army, along with additional guns that had been stored in Trenton. The army subsequently auctioned off the guns, a large number of which were purchased by the surplus dealer Schuyler, Hartley & Graham.
This particular example is in excellent, collector grade condition, and is one of the roughly 2,000 Fenian-owned Bridesburg muskets that wasn't converted into a Needham breechloader. This musket is in wonderful shape and is a great example of a Fenian Bridesburg, right down to the "IN" cartcouche on the stock!
The lock is in great shape with no rust or pitting and great, sharp markings. The hammer holds solid on both full and half cock with a wonderfully crisp action.
The stock is beautiful. The edges are nice and crisp with no damage, and has no inspector's cartouches other than Fenian arms inspector William O'Reilly's "IN" cartouche, which plainly seen.
The barrel is full length with no rust or pitting. The bore is very nice - shiny with very sharp rifling and no rust or pitting.
All the furniture is original. Interestingly, the buttplate is very pitted compared to the rest of the gun - which is obviously a consequence of the poor storage the Fenian guns suffered during their confiscation by the US government, and the subsequent mass disassembly and cleaning that was required after the Fenians reclaimed ownership of the guns in late 1866.
This fine musket is just oozing with interesting and unique history. This extremely rare piece is sure to be the pride and joy of anyone's collection.
