Connecticut History

Connecticut History isn't a gun shop or range—it's a historical archive documenting one of America's most significant manufacturing stories. During the Civil War, Connecticut became the Union's primary weapons supplier, with state manufacturers producing nearly half of all rifles, revolvers, carbines, and ammunition issued to Union forces.

By war's end, Connecticut had delivered: - 155,000+ regulation rifle muskets plus 75,000 Colt Special Model 1861s - 47% of all percussion military revolvers used by Union forces - Massive quantities of artillery ammunition, powder, and primers - Bayonets and swords produced at scale by Collins & Company

"Connecticut makers had supplied some 43% of the grand total of all rifle muskets, breech loading rifles and carbines, and revolvers bought by the War Department, along with staggering quantities of small arms and artillery ammunition."

Colt Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company (Hartford) led production with the Colt Special Model 1861 rifle musket—over 75,000 delivered. General James W. Ripley, chief of ordnance, endorsed Colt as "probably further advanced in their preparations than any of the other companies." Colt's total war contracts: $4,687,031 (second-highest in the nation).

Whitney Arms Company (New Haven) and Savage Revolving Firearms Company (Middletown) were established armories before the war. But newcomers also pivoted to arms production: - Parker Snow & Company (Meriden) made kitchen utensils and sewing machines before muskets - Connecticut Arms Company (Norfolk) forged wagon axles, then rifles - William Muir & Company (Windsor Locks)—started by a New York dry goods merchant - Norwich Arms, J.D. Mowery, and Eagleville Manufacturing Company (Norwich)—textile manufacturers turned gun makers

Christopher M. Spencer (Manchester) invented the Spencer repeating rifle—a game-changer. His weapon used coil springs to feed rim-fire metallic cartridges, allowing soldiers to fire eight shots in 2-3 seconds. Spencer secured Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles' backing, even arranged a White House test fire with Abraham Lincoln, and eventually established production in Boston. Spencer Arms Company finished the war with $2,078,427 in contracts (8th highest nationally). A soldier wrote: "Having this rifle carries this disadvantage...any delicate and difficult job...is almost sure to bring into requisition our regt."

The Sharps Rifle Company (Hartford) supplied carbines and rifles that armed Berdan's Sharpshooters. Their single-shot .52-caliber percussion breech-loaders were the most common Union cavalry arms. War Department sales: $2,400,100 (5th highest in nation).

Benjamin Tyler Henry and Oliver Winchester's New Haven Arms Company produced the Model 1860 Henry rifle—a .44-caliber repeater that fired 15 shots without reloading. Soldiers loved it. A 1st District of Columbia Cavalry trooper noted: "We can fire fifteen rounds without loading...the rebs hate them sixteen shooters worse than they do the very devil himself." Initial government purchases were only 1,200 units, but commercial demand was substantial.

Benjamin Joslyn's Firearms Company (Stonington) manufactured Models 1862 and 1864 carbines—single-shot breech-loaders using .56-caliber rim-fire cartridges. West Point trials documented 40 shots in five minutes.

Connecticut produced 47% of all domestic percussion military revolvers for the Union.

Colt's Model 1860 Army .44-caliber revolvers dominated. The Ordnance Department demanded: "Deliver weekly, until further orders, as many of your pistols, holsters, new pattern, as you can make." Colt delivered lots of 1,000+ per week through November 1864—until a factory fire in February 1864 halted production. Initial price: $25 each (reduced to $14.50 to compete with Remington).

Savage Repeating Arms Company, Whitney Arms Company, and Joslyn Firearms Company each produced distinctive percussion handguns with military and commercial sales.

Hazard Powder Company (Hazardville, Enfield) provided black powder second only to DuPont. Established 1843, the company supplied massive quantities for Civil War artillery and small arms. But the work was deadly: On July 23, 1863, an explosion destroyed part of the factory, detonating an estimated 40 tons of powder, killing nine workers. Despite the catastrophe, the company's scale meant minimal production delays.

Percussion caps—small copper pieces shaped like tiny top hats—contained mercury fulminate. When struck, they flashed hot flame to ignite the powder charge. Connecticut manufacturers produced enormous quantities.

Hartford Cartridge Works and Colt's manufactured cartridges. The September 11, 1861 Hartford Daily Times reported: "The Hartford Cartridge Works employ[s] from 50 to 70 hands, mostly girls...Cartridges are here made not only for Colts, Savage and other revolving pistols, but for the Enfield, Minie, Sharps and other rifles." The factory required six tons of lead and two tons of powder per week.

However, the Ordnance Department found Colt-made cartridges 2½ times more expensive than government-produced ammunition, so contracts were redirected.

Benjamin Hotchkiss (Sharon) patented rifled artillery projectiles and fuses. His company, Hotchkiss & Sons (NYC offices), cast tons of northwestern Connecticut grey iron into three types: - Solid shot for battering masonry and vessels - Hollow shells to burst with flash and concussion - Case shot packed with lead balls and minimal bursting charge

A soldier described the Hotchkiss shell: "One of the most startling sounds is that of the Hotchkiss shell. It comes like a shriek of a demon...there is a great deal in mere sound to work upon our fears."

The projectiles used lead bands compressed into the cannon's rifled bore for stability. An July 5, 1863 Ordnance Department telegram demanded: "Please send to the Washington arsenal 50,000 3-inch rifle projectiles…make every exertion to turn them out rapidly."

Hotchkiss & Sons ranked 10th among Northern ordnance contractors exceeding $1 million in sales, with US government sales approaching $1.5 million (projectiles priced $1-$2 each).

Collins & Company (Collinsville, Canton) spent three decades making axes, adzes, machetes, and agricultural implements. When Southern markets closed in 1861, owner Samuel Collins pivoted: "We have just commenced the manufacture of swords and bayonets to keep our men employed."

Driving on metallurgy expertise, the company produced officer's swords, presentation blades for custom outfitters, and angular bayonets and sword bayonets for Whitney, Sharps, Colt, and even Springfield Armory—without Ordnance Department involvement.

Producing rifle muskets required extensive retooling. A single armory's machinery inventory included: - Steam engines and boilers - Reamers, lathes, milling machines, grinding machines - Planers, drill presses, polishing frames - Screw machines, drop presses, trip hammers - Heat treating furnaces

Mark Twain visited Colt's Hartford factory in 1868 and described: "on every floor is a dense wilderness of strange iron machines…a tangled forest of rods, bars, pulleys, wheels, and all the imaginable and unimaginable forms of mechanism."

Some companies sidestepped massive tooling costs: Connecticut Arms Company and William Muir & Company assembled arms with subcontracted parts, requiring only workbenches and basic hand tools.

The 1862 Ordnance Manual specified 77 distinct "verifying gauges" for the 50 parts of a rifle musket. Each component was inspected individually, then again as a finished arm. Completed weapons were priced by quality class: - First class: $20 per Model 1861 - Fourth class: $16 per rifle

Whitney estimated his profit at around $3 per gun, or 15%.

Between 1840-1865, Connecticut inventors secured 70 patents for arms and munitions. Key innovators included: - Christopher M. Spencer (repeating rifle) - Benjamin Tyler Henry (Henry rifle) - Benjamin Hotchkiss (artillery projectiles and fuses) - Benjamin Joslyn (breech-loading carbines)

After Appomattox, Connecticut's wartime contractors adapted: - Collins returned to agricultural implements - Parker expanded kitchen hardware and began commercial shotgun manufacture - Spencer and Joslyn sold off machinery - Colt, Whitney, Sharps, and Henry (becoming Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1866) quickly pivoted to self-contained metallic cartridges and dominated American firearms for decades

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• •Learn more: This archive is maintained by Connecticut Explored (formerly Hog River Journal) and the Museum of Connecticut History.