Burnside Rifle

The Burnside carbine, shown here, was designed by future Union General Ambrose Burnside in 1855. The Burnside was an early model of the breech-loading rifle that would emerge from the Civil War. The ice cream cone shaped bullet was inserted into a rotating breech block and was ignited by a standard percussion cap. This carbine proved popular with the military and was second only to the Sharps and Spencer carbines. General Burnside, while not remembered as a military strategist, orchestrated the Union invasion into East Tennessee in 1863. Burnside's troops marched to Knoxville via Scott County and clashed with General Longstreet's Confederate forces at the Battle of Fort Sanders.

Bonus fact: General Burnside's bushy facial hair proved popular during the Civil War and his name was adapted into the modern term "sideburns".

Information from An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms by Dean S. Thomas and Earl J. Coates

The Burnside carbine was designed by Ambrose Burnside in 1855.

Union General Ambrose Burnside marched through Scott County to reach Knoxville.

This oddly shaped cartridge is standard for the Burnside rifle.