30922- HISTORIC CIVIL WAR TOWER ENFIELD PATTERN 1856 CONFEDERATE STATES CONTRACT PERCUSSION SHORT RIFLE DATED 1861 SERIAL NUMBER 3772 WITH CSA GENERAL WILLIAM B. TALIAFERRO (MOVIE “GLORY”) PROVENANCE. 48 ½” overall with 33” round rifled .577 caliber barrel having British commercial proofs at the left breech and a saber bayonet lug mounted on the right side behind the muzzle. Original front sight with rear sight missing. Lock plate stamped behind the hammer with the Queen Victoria “CROWN” and forward of the hammer “1861/TOWER”. Full length walnut stock with brass mounts and sling swivels mounted on the trigger guard and forend. Wrist of stock stamped behind the trigger guard tang with the two inspection stamps of Confederate purchasing agent Sinclair, Hamilton & Co. as well as the Confederate inspection associated “JS/ANCHOR” viewer’s acceptance stamp. Butt plate tang and ramrod authentically engraved with the distinctive Confederate States contract serial number “3772”. Right side of the butt stock painted with a 6” oval portrait panel of a full standing lady surrounded by painted floral scrolls on a black background and a smaller horizontal 3” oval beneath inscribed “FROM/FORT WAGNER/SEP 7, 1863”. Above the painted portrait of the “Lady” is the name “NELL” who is the painter and the lady in the portrait. Nell Taliaferro was General Taliaferro’s niece and she undoubtedly enhanced the rifle for the General with the commemorative portrait. All original and in very good unaltered condition with the painted panels dating to the early post-Civil War era. By descent in the family of General William B. Taliaferro and in situ in the General’s home Dunham Massie in Ware Neck, Virginia into the modern era with accompanying related documentation. General William B. Taliaferro formerly Colonel of the 23rdVirginia Infantry Regiment. Prior to the Civil War he commanded at Harpers Ferry during the hanging of John Brown. He later commanded the Stonewall Division after General Jackson and was Brigadier General commanding at the successful defense of Ft. Wagner during the Union assault on the approaches of Charleston, South Carolina in 1863 as depicted in the movie “GLORY” and resulting in the defeat of the 54thMass. Regiment . Fort Wagner was eventually abandoned on September 7, 1863, the date in the painted panel of the stock. Unquestionably General Taliaferro’s personal memento of his triumphal defense of Fort Wagner. Historic and absolutely genuine with well documented provenance to one of the most important and successful Confederate Generals of the Civil War. Price on request