Henry Presentation Rifle
date: label: date made
content: 1862
name: label: recipient
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: maker
content: New Haven Arms Company
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Henry Rifle, serial number 6, .44 caliber, forged steel, wooden stock, engraved gold mounting with floral design and “Lincoln/ President/U.S.A." on right side. Top of barrel is stamped “Henry’s Patent Oct. 16, 1860/Manufactured New Haven Arms Company New Haven, Ct.”
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: This gold-mounted, engraved Henry rifle was presented to Abraham Lincoln in an effort to obtain his influence in their purchase for the war effort. This rifle was awarded the National Rifle Association Collectors Society Gold Medal as an outstanding historical firearm.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: The Henry, the first practical, lever action, repeating rifle, is the immediate forerunner of the famous Winchester rifles. About 14,000 were made between 1860 and 1866 by the New Haven Arms Company. Only about 1,731 Henry rifles were purchased by the Ordnance Department between 1862 and 1865. A number of units in the West purchased them at their own expense. It was especially popular in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana. The 1st Maine and 1st District of Columbia cavalry regiments are known to have been issued Henry rifles. Said one confederate soldier, “It’s a rifle you could load on Sunday and shoot all week long.”
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Connecticut, New Haven
topic: label: Subject
content: Presidents
label: Subject
content: Firearms
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: See more items in
content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Robert Lincoln Beckwith
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.67880M
label: catalog number
content: 67880M
label: accession number
content: 246404
label: serial number
content: 6
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rifle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: gold (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 43 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in; 20.32 cm x 110.49 cm x 3.175 cm