History, as recorded on the butt of a fine English made rifled musket
This Standard P53 Enfield Rifle-Musket, on display in the Springfield Armory National Historic Site Visitor Center, belonged to Sergeant James S. McConnell of the 15th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (Union). Unlike most of the firearms in the Springfield Armory museum collection, McConnell kept an excellent record of his service in the Civil War by scratching and painting the names of battles, including Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, into the stock. McConnell and the 15th Kentucky would be present at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, now Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and the later defeat of Atlanta.
After McConnell’s three-year enlistment ran out with the 15th, he reupped with the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry (probably tired of walking all over the Southeast!) in Dec. 1864, which at that time was near Savannah, and finished the war with that regiment on the North Carolina campaign chasing ole Joe Johnston to the ground four months later. The 2nd Kentuck mustered out in July 1865.
He died an old man in 1915, but his Enfield endures.