Arms, Armor & Militaria

.48 caliber. 35.5" heavy octagon wedge retained barrel with hook breech, 1" across the flats. NSN. Bright finish, brass furniture, German silver decorations and nose cap, checkered walnut half-stock with circular patchbox. Single shot percussion muzzleloading rifle with fixed notch rear sight, dovetailed front sight, double set triggers and pistol gripped triggerguard extension. Lock marked W BAKER/PORT GIBSON and top flat of barrel marked in the same way. The toe of the stock is stamped J.G. NEIL. Wilson Baker was a gunsmith, gun maker and retailer of sewing machines in Port Gibson, MS in the decade prior to the Civil War and after the war as well. Census records indicate that he was born circa 1817 in North Carolina and according to the 1860 Census he was working as a gunsmith in Port Gibson, MS with real estate and a person estate both valued at $8,000, which was certainly a substantial sum at that time. He served in the Confederate Army in Company D of the 2nd Battalion of Mississippi State Troops Infantry. The date of his one year enlistment was May 31, 1862 and his personnel record sheet for the period from September 7, 1862 to December 1, 1862 note that he was detailed to the "CSA" as a "gunsmith". His record sheet from December 1, 1862 to March 31, 1863 list him as "absent without leave", suggesting he may have deserted. The 1870 Census listed his personal estate as valued at only $150 and real estate valued at $2,000, indicating a rather significant reversal of fortune in the post-Civil War period. He was still working as a gunsmith according to the 1880 Census and apparently died prior to the 1890 Census. No records related to J G Neil could be located. Includes a brass tipped wooden ramrod. {ANTIQUE}