Alexander, Charles William

Name	Street	Town	State	From	To
Alexander, Charles WWilliam		Moorfield, Hardy County	Virginia	1863

Patent	Date	Remarks
20,315	May 25, 1858	view patent
CS Patent no. 163	April 18, 1863	Breech-loading firearm

Contract	for

Product
Became Junior Second Lieutenant on February 1, 1861. Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XVIII. A pattern model of the patented guns has been made at the Confederate States Armory under supercision of Capt. Burton, (Richmond Dispatch February 19, 1862). Burton was at that time in command of the Richmond Armory. The arm was to have been manufactured by Thomas E. McNeill, Macon, Gorgia, who obtained a Confederate contract for 20,000 Alexander pattern carbines, ti be made under Burton's supervision. The carbines never left the experimental stage. In fall 1861 Charles W. Alexander approached Burton with a home-made carbine featuring a patented revolving breech (the Wray collection includes the patent model). Burton believed that the .31 caliber Alexander carbine could be of military service. At the Confederate Armory in Richmond, Burton assigned Alexander the space, tools, and workmen needed to modify his design. The result was a prototype arm with the appropriate gas check in the breech. Burton suggested that 20,000 arms of this design might be produced in the privately-run carbine factory then being proposed in Macon, Georgia by entrepreneur Thomas E. McNeill, who was to pay Burton a share of the profits for his "advice." lmost immediately, Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas chastised Burton for the obvious conflict of interest and McNeill turned out to be an unscrupulous businessman who never got the factory off the ground. A Alexander carbine, very likely the only one having made or surviwed surfaces in 1980 and purchased by George Wray for the Wray Collection. Found in Confederate invention: the story of the Confederate States Patent Ovvice and its inventores. "Charles William Alexander-C. W. Alexander of Moorfield, Virginia, received Confederate States Patent 163 on April 18, 1863, for "Breech Loading Fire Arms." This was Charles William Alexander of Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia, who also received U.S. Patent 20,315 for an "Improvement in Breech-Loading Rifles." on May 25, 1858. It is believed these inventions were different. There was much to sort out about this invention when Alexander applied for a Confederate States patent. It appears Alexander's primary aim was to obtain a contract from the Confederate government for his rifle, something that never came to pass. It is known he showed his design to Lieutenant Colonel James H. Burton, who was in command of the Richmond Armory and who made some significant suggestions on improvements. Burton also helped Alexander develop a prototype, or model, of the rifle at the Richmond Armory, although the cost of this development was to be paid by Alexander. He did not pay this fee, however, and the carbine became Confederate States government property." James Henry Burton was amply qualified to help Alexander. Burton's influence on the manufacture of ordnance in the Confederacy was said to have been second only to that of Chief of Ordnance Colonel Josiah Gorgas. Born in Virginia and apprentieced in a Baltimore machine shop at sixteen. Burton began work at Harpers Ferry Arsenal in 1855, he was employed in England as chief engineer for the Royal small arms factury in Enfiled. He returned in 1860 to Virginia and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Ordnance Department of Virginia and took charge of the Virginia State Armory in September 1861, he became superintendent of armories. After Harpers Ferry was captured by the Confederacy in September 1862 and the musket making machinery was moved to Richmond, he oversaw the manufacture of muskets. Also in 1862 he was ordered to establish a permanent Goernment Armory in the South and he chose Macon, Georgia as its location. The armory was almost finished by the end of the war. He had contacts with many firms that made arms and was an active partner at Spiller & Burr. After the war, Burton returned to England and worked for Greenwood & Bateley. He returned to Virginia in 1873 ad died in 1894. Prior to leaving for England in September 1865 Burton gave one of the Confederate assigness, the local banker increase C. Plant of Macon, Georgia a full power of atorney over property Burton owned in Macon and Bibb counties in Georgia. Plant was to dispose of the property and to use the money at he saw fit to most benefit Burton. Later papers show that all of Burton's property was sold." As for the Confederate patent granted to Alexander, the inventorship was left to Rufus Rhodes to sort out; a letter from Rhodes to Burton, dated January 29, 1863, asked for his thoughts on the origin of this invention: Dear Sir, ...I beg to request you restate in writing that it was on your suggestion that Charles W. Alexander substitute a solid breech in lieu of the breech provided with a chamber to receive the charge which was in the gun he originally submitted to you in the Spring of 1861 and that the Lawrence gas check" was applied to the substituted breech. Please make a full statement on the above and such other material points as occur to you and give the date at which Alexander submitted his gun to you as well as the date at which you suggested the above indicated changes in the construction of the gun as nearly as you can recollect. Take the statement to a magistrate and make oathto its truth and then transmit it to me." Burton's story was that Alexander first came to see him in the spring of 1861 with his rifle, and that Alexander was appreciative of Burton's advice even though Burton thought that Alexander's design was lacking in several ways. Alexander returned to Burton about six to eight months later with a new design. Burton again objected to this design and suggested more improvements. Burton then brought Alexander's work to the attention of Colonel Gorgas, who in turn approved giving Alexander a room and other equipment for making drawings for further modifying his rifle. After the rifle was constructed, Alexander retained possession of the rifle against the orders of Gorgas. Burton clearly thought that all the improvements in the rifle were his. In his response to Rhodes on February 26, 1862, Burton stated: "What I now desire to state for your information, is that Mr. Alexander has had repeated interviews with me, both in my public and private capacities,-on the subject of his breech-loading arm, and that the arm in its present form is the result chiefly of my suggestions, and for which I claim no right to a patent or compensation from the C. S. Govt. in the event of the arm being adopted by the service. A principle and most essential feature of the arm is. . . in the application of a "gas-check" to the movable breech of the barrel, similar to that patented a year or two ago in the U.S. Patent Office by Mr. R. S. Lawrence of Hartford, Conn., as an improvement in "Sharp's" Breech Loading Arms with which arm I have been familiar from the time of its first conception by Mr. Sharp. I claim to have made the suggestion to Mr. Alexander of this application of a 'gas check" to his arm and to have explained to him its advantages." In his response to Rhodes, it appears Burton may have also included a copy of a personal agreement between Alexander and Burton from December 1861 that may have been just a draft because no actual day is included in the agreement and it is not clear the agreement was signed. The agreement stated that Alexander had invented a new breech-loading fire arm and that Burton would assist the introduction of Alexander's invention into the Army of the Confederate States. This agreement further declared that Burton would cause to be made at the expense of the Confederate States government in the shops of the armory in Richmond a model of the firearm and to give it his personal attention with a view to perfecting the invention for use by the War Department. Amazingly, the agreement also stated Burton would "use his influence with the Chief of Ordnance of the C. S. War Dept. to establish the introduction into the military service of the C. States, arms of the pattern of the aforesaid carbine and to secure to the said Alexander a fair and just compensation for the use of his invention and in all aspects to promote the interests of the said Alexander in connection with the said invention, so far as may be consistent with the public obligations of the said Jas. H. Burton." Further, the agreement stipulated that Alexander agreed to divide the profits equally with Burton, and that Alexander assigned one-half right in any patent that was obtained on the invention, with the expenses for obtaining the invention divided equally by Burton and Alexander. This agreement reeked with conflict of interest issues, and it is unclear what other details surrounded this arrangement. One scenario is that Burton included this agreement in his response to Rhodes, and Rhodes immediately saw the conflict and contacted Gorgas, the "Chief of Ordnance" whom Burton was to influence, because included in Burton's papers is a stern letter from Gorgas, indicating that: "Pressure of business has heretofore prevented the notice I intended to have taken of your proposed agreement with Mr. Alexander. ... It is by no means proper that you should make your influence with me enter into the Stipulation of a contract; a Knowledge of this would destroy the confidence which I have to you ... You have in one instance, at my suggestion, been permitted to assist with your well known experience a party who had to contract with this Bureau; this indulgence to you wa given because likely to prove of much advantage to the Dept in the end; the indulgence was an exception and must not be permitted to pass into a rule."

Product

Became Junior Second Lieutenant on February 1, 1861. Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XVIII.

A pattern model of the patented guns has been made at the Confederate States Armory under supercision of Capt. Burton, (Richmond Dispatch February 19, 1862). Burton was at that time in command of the Richmond Armory. The arm was to have been manufactured by Thomas E. McNeill, Macon, Gorgia, who obtained a Confederate contract for 20,000 Alexander pattern carbines, ti be made under Burton's supervision. The carbines never left the experimental stage.

In fall 1861 Charles W. Alexander approached Burton with a home-made carbine featuring a patented revolving breech (the Wray collection includes the patent model). Burton believed that the .31 caliber Alexander carbine could be of military service. At the Confederate Armory in Richmond, Burton assigned Alexander the space, tools, and workmen needed to modify his design. The result was a prototype arm with the appropriate gas check in the breech. Burton suggested that 20,000 arms of this design might be produced in the privately-run carbine factory then being proposed in Macon, Georgia by entrepreneur Thomas E. McNeill, who was to pay Burton a share of the profits for his "advice." lmost immediately, Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas chastised Burton for the obvious conflict of interest and McNeill turned out to be an unscrupulous businessman who never got the factory off the ground. A Alexander carbine, very likely the only one having made or surviwed surfaces in 1980 and purchased by George Wray for the Wray Collection.

Found in Confederate invention: the story of the Confederate States Patent Ovvice and its inventores.
"Charles William Alexander-C. W. Alexander of Moorfield, Virginia, received Confederate States Patent 163 on April 18, 1863, for "Breech Loading Fire Arms." This was Charles William Alexander of Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia, who also received U.S. Patent 20,315 for an "Improvement in Breech-Loading Rifles." on May 25, 1858. It is believed these inventions were different.

There was much to sort out about this invention when Alexander applied for a Confederate States patent. It appears Alexander's primary aim was to obtain a contract from the Confederate government for his rifle, something that never came to pass. It is known he showed his design to Lieutenant Colonel James H. Burton, who was in command of the Richmond Armory and who made some significant suggestions on improvements. Burton also helped Alexander develop a prototype, or model, of the rifle at the Richmond Armory, although the cost of this development was to be paid by Alexander. He did not pay this fee, however, and the carbine became Confederate States government property."
James Henry Burton was amply qualified to help Alexander. Burton's influence on the manufacture of ordnance in the Confederacy was said to have been second only to that of Chief of Ordnance Colonel Josiah Gorgas. Born in Virginia and apprentieced in a Baltimore machine shop at sixteen. Burton began work at Harpers Ferry Arsenal in 1855, he was employed in England as chief engineer for the Royal small arms factury in Enfiled. He returned in 1860 to Virginia and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Ordnance Department of Virginia and took charge of the Virginia State Armory in September 1861, he became superintendent of armories. After Harpers Ferry was captured by the Confederacy in September 1862 and the musket making machinery was moved to Richmond, he oversaw the manufacture of muskets. Also in 1862 he was ordered to establish a permanent Goernment Armory in the South and he chose Macon, Georgia as its location. The armory was almost finished by the end of the war. He had contacts with many firms that made arms and was an active partner at Spiller & Burr.

After the war, Burton returned to England and worked for Greenwood & Bateley. He returned to Virginia in 1873 ad died in 1894. Prior to leaving for England in September 1865 Burton gave one of the Confederate assigness, the local banker increase C. Plant of Macon, Georgia a full power of atorney over property Burton owned in Macon and Bibb counties in Georgia. Plant was to dispose of the property and to use the money at he saw fit to most benefit Burton. Later papers show that all of Burton's property was sold."

As for the Confederate patent granted to Alexander, the inventorship was left to Rufus Rhodes to sort out; a letter from Rhodes to Burton, dated January 29, 1863, asked for his thoughts on the origin of this invention:
Dear Sir,
...I beg to request you restate in writing that it was on your suggestion that Charles W. Alexander substitute a solid breech in lieu of the breech provided with a chamber to receive the charge which was in the gun he originally submitted to you in the Spring of 1861 and that the Lawrence gas check" was applied to the substituted breech.

Please make a full statement on the above and such other material points as occur to you and give the date at which Alexander submitted his gun to you as well as the date at which you suggested the above indicated changes in the construction of the gun as nearly as you can recollect. Take the statement to a magistrate and make oathto its truth and then transmit it to me."

Burton's story was that Alexander first came to see him in the spring of 1861 with his rifle, and that Alexander was appreciative of Burton's advice even though Burton thought that Alexander's design was lacking in several ways. Alexander returned to Burton about six to eight months later with a new design. Burton again objected to this design and suggested more improvements. Burton then brought Alexander's work to the attention of Colonel Gorgas, who in turn approved giving Alexander a room and other equipment for making drawings for further modifying his rifle. After the rifle was constructed, Alexander retained possession of the rifle against the orders of Gorgas. Burton clearly thought that all the improvements in the rifle were his. In his response to Rhodes on February 26, 1862, Burton stated:
"What I now desire to state for your information, is that Mr. Alexander has had repeated interviews with me, both in my public and private capacities,-on the subject of his breech-loading arm, and that the arm in its present form is the result chiefly of my suggestions, and for which I claim no right to a patent or compensation from the C. S. Govt. in the event of the arm being adopted by the service. A principle and most essential feature of the arm is. . . in the application of a "gas-check" to the movable breech of the barrel, similar to that patented a year or two ago in the U.S. Patent Office by Mr. R. S. Lawrence of Hartford, Conn., as an improvement in "Sharp's" Breech Loading Arms with which arm I have been familiar from the time of its first conception by Mr. Sharp. I claim to have made the suggestion to Mr. Alexander of this application of a 'gas check" to his arm and to have explained to him its advantages."

In his response to Rhodes, it appears Burton may have also included a copy of a personal agreement between Alexander and Burton from December 1861 that may have been just a draft because no actual day is included in the agreement and it is not clear the agreement was signed. The agreement stated that Alexander had invented a new breech-loading fire arm and that Burton would assist the introduction of Alexander's invention into the Army of the Confederate States. This agreement further declared that Burton would cause to be made at the expense of the Confederate States government in the shops of the armory in Richmond a model of the firearm and to give it his personal attention with a view to perfecting the invention for use by the War Department. Amazingly, the agreement also stated Burton would "use his influence with the Chief of Ordnance of the C. S. War Dept. to establish the introduction into the military service of the C. States, arms of the pattern of the aforesaid carbine and to secure to the said Alexander a fair and just compensation for the use of his invention and in all aspects to promote the interests of the said Alexander in connection with the said invention, so far as may be consistent with the public obligations of the said Jas. H. Burton."

Further, the agreement stipulated that Alexander agreed to divide the profits equally with Burton, and that Alexander assigned one-half right in any patent that was obtained on the invention, with the expenses for obtaining the invention divided equally by Burton and Alexander. This agreement reeked with conflict of interest issues, and it is unclear what other details surrounded this arrangement. One scenario is that Burton included this agreement in his response to Rhodes, and Rhodes immediately saw the conflict and contacted Gorgas, the "Chief of Ordnance" whom Burton was to influence, because included in Burton's papers is a stern letter from Gorgas, indicating that:
"Pressure of business has heretofore prevented the notice I intended to have taken of your proposed agreement with Mr. Alexander. ...
It is by no means proper that you should make your influence with me enter into the Stipulation of a contract; a Knowledge of this would destroy the confidence which I have to you ...
You have in one instance, at my suggestion, been permitted to assist with your well known experience a party who had to contract with this Bureau; this indulgence to you wa given because likely to prove of much advantage to the Dept in the end; the indulgence was an exception and must not be permitted to pass into a rule."