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LOT 3264
Historic Civil War Presentation New Haven Arms Company Henry Lever Action Rifle Inscribed for an Identified 3rd Regiment Veteran Volunteer Infantry Soldier Documented in The Historic Henry Rifle by Wiley Sword - Serial no. 7733, 44 Henry RF cal., 24 inch octagon bbl., blue finish, walnut stock. This historic presentation Henry rifle was manufactured in early 1865. It is documented in “Appendix D: Partial List Historically Identified Henry Rifles” in Wiley Sword’s “The Historic Henry Rifle: Oliver Winchester’s Famous Civil War Repeater” on page 82. Only around 14,000 Henrys were manufactured in 1860-1866, and around half of them are believed to have been used by Union soldiers, mostly purchased by the men themselves, some using reenlistment bonuses. This rifle was presented by the city of Philadelphia to a member of Company E, 3rd U.S. Veteran Volunteer Infantry, J.M. Leader. The right side plate is inscribed “Presented from the City/of/PHILADELPHIA/Pa.” The left side plate is inscribed “J.M. Leader/Co. E. 3d Regt. 1st A.C./U.S.V.V.”
The 3rd VVI was organized late in the Civil War to act as elite units composed of veteran soldiers. The VVI regiments were armed with Henry, Sharps and Spencer rifles. As an enlistment bonus, VVI soldiers were authorized to keep their individual weapons when they were discharged from service. The Civil War ended before the VVI regiments saw any action. The U.S. National Park
Service Civil War soldiers and sailors database cites John M. Leader as a private with Company E, 3rd VVI, 1st Army Corps. His military records indicated he was discharged from the U.S. Navy and “sent to Army Division for use with...E 3 U.S.V.V.” Additional period records list Leader as part of the crew of the USS Katahdin. Built during the Civil War the USS Katahdin was a Unadilla- class gunboat assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. This class of ship was known as “90-day gunboats” due to their speedy construction and were very effective in coastal and river operations, most notably in the capture of the port of New Orleans in April 1862. Situated at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans was an enticing target for Union forces. It was the largest and most economically powerful city in the South, and capturing the city crippled the Confederacy’s vital military supply lines and cotton exports. The Katahdin was one of nine Unadilla-class gunboats assembled in the Union fleet of 17 warships dispatched to capture New Orleans. During the bombardment of the two forts that guarded New Orleans, the Katahdin was stuck twice. In May, the Katahdin moved up the river and performed reconnaissance and convoy missions around Vicksburg. Along with three other gunboats, the Katahdin seized some 1,500 Texas longhorns bound for Confederate forces in Louisiana. The beef was so well prized by the Confederates that 3,000 soldiers and nine artillery pieces fired back at the gunboats in an attempt to recapture the cattle. In January 1863, the Katahdin reinforced Union naval operations along the coast of Texas after the Confederacy recaptured Galveston.
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