The M1841 Mississippi Rifle,In the 1840’s the United States Army decided to revive the rifle r

The M1841 Mississippi Rifle,In the 1840’s the United States Army decided to revive the rifle regiment in American warfare.  The Army had used rifleman in the American Revolution and the War of 1812.  However after the War of 1812 the rifle regiments were phased out and discontinued. While rifleman were very accurate, the could not load their firearms as fast as musket infantry.  In an age where firepower held a higher priority than accuracy, the rifle went by the wayside. To revive the rifle regiment a new rifle was needed, as the US hadn’t produced a common military rifle since 1803.  Instead military production focused almost exclusively on smooth bore muskets.The Model 1841 rifle was produced at the Harper’s Ferry Armory under the direction of Eli Whitney Blake, nephew of the famous Eli Whitney.  The rifle was issued exclusively to the 155th Mississippi Rifles Infantry Regiment, thus the rifle was nicknamed the “Mississippi rifle”.  It was because of the accuracy of the Mississippi rifle that the 155th Regiment, under the command of Col. Jefferson Davis was able to fend of a massive Mexican assault at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican American War.  The rifle itself was special because it was 8 inches shorter than the standard US Military musket.  Often riflemen acted as scouts and skirmishers, thus a shorter and easier to wield firearm was often issued to rifleman.  The Mississippi rifle itself was based on the jaeger rifle concept, which was popular in Europe.  This concept revolved around the use of light infantry armed with rifles acting as specialized reconnaissance and sharpshooter units.  As a result, the M1841 was also often referred to as a “yagar” rifle by those who could not pronounced the Germanic word “jaeger”.After the Mexican American War production of Mississippi rifles continued.  By the 1850’s, all US military muskets were rifled because of the new invention of the minie ball; a conical shaped bullet which allowed the rifle to be loaded as fast as an older smoothbore musket, without compromising accuracy.  Regardless of the advance in technology, M1841 production continued up to 1861.  During the Civil War both the Union and the Confederacy issued the M1841, most of which were converted to fire the new minie ball.  However the Union discontinued use entirely in 1863.  The Confederates, however, made the most use of the old rifle.  It was most famously used by Confederate sharpshooters and scouts who needed a short rifle.  During the Civil War, the M1841 Mississippi rifle was the 2nd most popular firearms with Confederate sharpshooters, next to the British made Whitworth rifle. -- source link

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