Description:

CONFEDERATE AGENT REPORTS ON RIFLES PURCHASED FROM ENGLAND BY THE UNION
A very interesting A.L.S., 1p. 4to., [N.P., poss. New Orleans or London], June 3, 1861, from HORACE S. FULKERSON (1818-1891), a special agent employed by the Confederate government to arrange the purchase of arms and other supplies from European sources, primarily in England. Fulkerson, writing to an unnamed general, reports on an impending deal between the United States government and arms manufacturers in London for the purchase of rifles. In full: ‘My information is positive as to the US having contracted and paid for, at a house in London, some 25,000 stand of arms, to be ready in a few weeks, and of their having engaged the same house to manufacture guns for them for the next 6 mos. All the necessary information as to shipment can be obtained by us in London & one of our Co. is ready to go with the expedition. I have reason to believe that this state [poss. Louisiana] Miss[issippi] & Missouri and perhaps the Confederate Govn't would join in fitting out the expedition upon our laying before them the facts in our possession.' He signs ‘H S Fulkerson' at the conclusion, adding his title ‘Scty [Secretary] of European & Southern Direct Trade Co.' Fulkerson likely refers an order later approved by the U.S. Congress for the purchase of 25,000 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles from the London Arms Co., to supplement the Union's limited supply of Springfield Model 1861 rifles. The London Arms Co. and other private manufacturers would also sell Enfield rifles to the South throughout the war, many of which had been rejected by Union inspectors and shipped back to England. The nature of the expedition to which Fulkerson refers is unknown, and is certainly worthy of further research, as Confederate communications directly conveying important military intelligence such as this are rarely seen. The letter shows folds overall and is raggedly trimmed at the top and bottom edges, otherwise in very good condition. At the outbreak of the war, Horace S. Fulkerson was serving as the New Orleans agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad, but must have had some experience in the arms and armaments trade, as he was almost immediately sent to Europe as a purchasing agent. He returned to New Orleans in late 1861 or early 1862, but after the fall of that city went to Jefferson, Texas to develop a plan to construct gunboats there, to be floated down the River to the Mississippi. The plan was gained the attention of Jefferson Davis and Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, but was shelved until late in the war. Fulkerson, meanwhile served as purchasing agent for the Confederate garrisons at Port Hudson and Vicksburg while besieged by Grant. After the capture of those cities, he acted as a cotton agent in Mississippi but was captured by Union forces late in 1864.

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March 27, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

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