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Tallassee Carbine: The Confederacy's Last-Ditch Effort (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2023-04-10 12:00:01 +0000 UTCIn 1863, the Confederate military decided to design a new standard pattern of cavalry carbine. The designs was put together rather quickly at the Richmond Arsenal; a 25 inch barrel, brass furniture, and Enfield type lock. Before production could begin, however, Richmond was deemed too risky of a location. The CSA went looking for new Arsenal sites deeper within the Confederacy, and farther from the threat of Union raids. One site found was Tallassee Alabama - a large cotton mill complex on a river and only 6 miles from a significant railway. The CSA arranged to take over one of the old mill buildings, and there is set up the Tallassee Arsenal.
It took a long time to get equipment moved to Tallassee, to get the building renovated for use in firearms production, and to source the materials necessary for carbine production. Somewhere between a few hundred and 500 carbines were completed by April 1865, but they never saw service as the Confederacy crumbled. Their ultimate fate is unknown, with various theories suggested including that they were used as reinforcements in the rebuilding of the mill. Today less than a dozen are known to survive, almost all of them in museum collections.
For a more detailed history of the Tallassee Arsenal, I recommend this article from the American Society of Arms Collectors: https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1996-B74-The-Tallassee-Armory.pdf
Comments
Pat Patterson
Interesting to hear my home town of Macon, Bibb County, GA, mentioned in the context of Forgotten Weapons. Following up on items you mention, I discovered Macon played quite a role in the Civil War, something that was somehow never mentioned during my years there (1953-1972).
Dutch Hillenburg
Thanks for that.
Sonny Hughes
Ian, Thanks for the review and some history of the carbine! Tallassee is right down the road from me. On a history related, non-firearm note, the mill complex went back into textile production acter the war and remained in operation until 2005. When it closed it was the oldest continuously operated mill in the United States. Unfortunately most of the remaining buildings were destroyed by a fire in 2016. For anyone interested some additional information can be found here: www.abandonedalabama.com/tallassee-mills
Guido Schriewer
nifty. time spend on reckon is never wasted time. maybe should have question that map.
