Caleb Huse Caleb Huse ( February 11 , 1831 - March 12 , 1905 ) was a Major in the Confederate States Army , acting primarily as an arms procurement agent and purchasing specialist during the American Civil War . He is most well known for his successful acquisition of weapons contracts with various European nations including the United Kingdom , Austria , and to a lesser extent , France , Prussia , and Bohemia . A majority of the weapons imported to the Confederacy from foreign powers during the war were negotiated for and purchased by Huse . Early life . Huse was born in Newburyport , Massachusetts . Though a Northerner by birth , he was personally commissioned by Jefferson Davis to serve the Confederacy upon the outbreak of hostilities in 1861 . Huse enrolled at the United States Military Academy at the age of 16 and graduated seventh in his class in 1851 . Thereafter he spent many years as an instructor of Chemistry , Mineralogy , and Geology at West Point . At this time , Huse was then actively serving as a First Lieutenant of Artillery for the U . S . Army ; and , as such , was on the rolls of the garrison of Fort Sumter . This same fort would later be fired upon by the Confederacy in the first military engagement of the Civil War . In September 1860 while on extended leave of absence from the U . S . Army , Huse was selected by the University of Alabama to oversee the adoption of the military system of West Point into their own curriculum . Huse accepted the offer and remained at the university until the outbreak of war , officially resigning his commission from the U . S . Army in February 1861 , just months prior to the attack on Fort Sumter . Thereafter he continued his position as Superintendent , Professor of Chemistry , and Commandant of Cadets , which he had begun the previous year while he was still on leave . Huse ' s appointment as Commandant caused some consternation for many of the students at the University , not only due to his strict disciplinary techniques ( for which he had been hired ) , but also because of his origins in Massachusetts and the general Southern sentiments of the time . Despite this , Huse was able to convince the Alabama Legislature to provide funding for the university ' s military program , saving it from certain termination due to lack of money . Civil War years . During the American Civil War , the South lacked sufficient ability to produce weapons in large quantities , due largely to a previous reliance on Northern manufacture . As a result , the South required assistance from foreign powers for building and replenishment of its arsenal . In April 1861 , Huse received a telegram from the Confederate States Secretary of the Navy , Stephen Mallory , requesting him to meet with then Confederate States Secretary of War LeRoy Pope Walker and take a commission on behalf of Jefferson Davis for active service . Davis had designated Huse to go to Europe for the purchase of arms and military supplies for use in the South ' s war effort . Though he had made his decision to accept the offer ten days earlier , Huse officially accepted his commission as Major in the Confederate Army on April 12 , 1861 , the same day Fort Sumter was fired upon . In order to reach Europe , Huse left immediately first for New York , where he acquired financing for his trip from James Welsman of Trenholm Brothers Co . , and then proceeded on to Portland , Maine for departure to Europe . He needed to traverse the Northern States at the risk of being captured , tried for treason , and consequently executed , should his mission be discovered . Huse arrived safely in Liverpool , England on May 10 , 1861 . His first mandate was to purchase 12 , 000 rifles and a battery of field artillery , and to procure one or two guns of larger caliber as models . Huse ' s first contract was with the London Armoury Company , where he identified , outbid , and outmaneuvered Union arms agents such as George Schuyler and Marcellus Hartley to secure the bid . Unlike many of his Union counterparts , Huse possessed a military background and more importantly , he had the ability to make financial decisions without government consent . This would allow him to eventually secure for the Confederacy all of the weapons from London Armoury for the entire length of the war . The Confederacy was now the London Armoury Company ' s principal client and it manufactured and shipped more than 70 , 000 rifles and about 7 , 000 revolvers ( out of a total production run of about 10 , 000 ) to the South . However these weapons had to pass through the Union blockade and the number that actually reached the Confederate army is unknown . Confederates acclaimed the Armoury ' s guns as the best weapons made in Britain . As a result of the contract , London Armoury Company became almost completely dependent on sales to the Confederacy . The company would dissolve in the Spring of 1866 , only a year after the end of the war . While living in Europe , Huse worked closely with a network of Confederate agents and representatives , including William L . Yancey , Walker Fearn , Pierre Adolphe Rost , Ambrose Dudley Mann , L . Q . C . Lamar , Edward C . Anderson , and James D . Bulloch , with money funneled to them from the Confederacy through Fraser , Trenholm & Co . , of Liverpool and its American counterparts . Most of this money was acquired by the sale or direct transfer of cotton which had successfully breached the Union Naval Blockade . During the first years of the Civil War the money for arms purchase was readily available and Huse had little trouble securing large contracts , seldom needing to rely on the traditional use of government credit , which the CSA , as a belligerent nation , did not possess . The purchase of weapons without the use of credit only made European manufactures more eager to do business with the Confederacy , and the leaky Union blockade served as only a minor problem until the final year of the war . Huse served no superiors in Europe and reported directly only to the Secretary of War of the CSA and its senior levels within the Confederate government . He was effectively given " carte blanche " to make whatever transaction he chose as long as it fell within his regularly changing budget . Because of his military experience , Huse primarily sought quality rifles , avoiding the smooth bore muskets that had since become outdated . In particular he sought English - made Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles , and avoided the Prussian and French weapons which were considered inferior at the time . There were relatively few quality arms for sale in Europe , as the various nations were still upgrading their arsenals to the more sophisticated weapons of the age . However , one of Huse ' s larger contracts was with Austria , from whom he purchased 100 , 000 quality rifles of the latest Austrian pattern , and ten six - piece batteries of field artillery , harnessed and ready for service with accompanying ammunition . Austria had decided to switch to gun - cotton , thus making the gunpowder rifles undesirable , and thereby allowing Huse to purchase modernized weapons in mass quantities , something which the South desperately needed . Austria would later overturn its decision to use gun - cotton , but they had since already sold their arsenal to the CSA . This opened one of the greatest arsenals of Europe to the South . During his time in Europe , Huse was constantly under surveillance by agents and detectives employed by the U . S . Government as well as volunteer spies working against the Confederacy . He assisted on many occasions with the transfer of clandestine communications between officials in Europe and those in the Confederacy , including the necessary planning and organization required by blockade runners for breaking the Union lines , as well as the purchasing of vessels to make the runs . The Union was also seeking arms from Europe , leading to a heated procurement race , each side trying to buy all the available inventory as quickly as possible and thereby keep the weapons out of the hands of the enemy . In most cases Huse successfully outmaneuvered his counterparts , forcing the Union to manufacture most of their weapons domestically . After the war . Although the exact figures are not known , it is believed that by the end of the war Huse had procured munitions for the Confederacy whose value exceeded $ 10 million . After the collapse of the Confederacy , he was left nearly penniless and returned to the United States in 1868 . Huse would go on to establish the Highland Falls Academy , also known as " The Rocks " , a military preparatory school designed for young men who planned to attend West Point . General John J . Pershing would attend this school before entering West Point , and then later command the American Expeditionary Force in World War I . Huse died in his home on March 12 , 1905 in Highland Falls , New York from complications related to surgery . Reasons for joining the Confederacy . Huse had close associations with many Southerners prior to the war . While at West Point he served under Robert E . Lee , and moved in high social circles throughout the South . Before the war he received a commission as Colonel by the governor of Alabama , though he was a First Lieutenant in the U . S . Army and only 30 years old . His wife was Southern and this may also have influenced his decision . Instead of accepting a transfer to Washington , D . C . in early 1861 , he resigned his U . S . Army commission to remain a professor at the University of Alabama . He adopted the state as his new family home . Weapons collecting . Many , but not all , of the weapons purchased by Caleb Huse were inspected by him and his contracted buyers . As a result , these weapons often still carry inspection marks that are valuable identifiers for historians and weapons collectors . Huse ' s marking is usually seen as a small circle containing the letters " CH " , and often located on the comb of the stock near the top tang of the buttplate . It is valuable to collectors because it provides proof of Confederate purchase .