A VERY RARE US Military 1812-dated War of 1812 dated Richmond Second Model Virginia Manufactory .69 Caliber Flintlock Musket in good to very good condition. Supposedly this was one of a batch that went to Stonewall Jackson's troops in 1861, still in the original flint...possibly Confederate used. These muskets are in a field of their own going for $4000-$5000 each. This U.S. War of 1812-dated Second Model Virginia Manufactory .69 caliber flintlock musket is a highly interesting early American military arm produced by the Virginia Manufactory of Arms in Richmond. Virginia was unique in operating its own state armory for the manufacture of arms for state troops, with production beginning in the early 1800s. These muskets were generally produced as .69 caliber smoothbore flintlocks for militia and state military use. This example is especially notable due to its War of 1812-era date and its reported later association with early Civil War arms shortages in Virginia. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, many Southern units were issued older flintlock, altered, and converted muskets from state arsenals due to the lack of modern arms available at the time. The consignor states the possibility that this musket may have been part of a group of older Virginia Manufactory arms issued to troops under or associated with Stonewall Jackson’s command in 1861. Although the Virginia Manufactory of Arms had ceased original arms production decades before the Civil War, its earlier weapons still played an important role in arming Virginia and Confederate troops in 1861. Rather than manufacturing new muskets at that time, Virginia drew from older state arsenal stock, including flintlock muskets and rifles produced by the Manufactory in the early 1800s. Many of these obsolete arms were issued out of necessity during the early-war weapons shortage, while some were altered from flintlock to percussion ignition to make them more suitable for Civil War service. These older Virginia-made arms helped equip early Confederate units before sufficient modern rifles and imported weapons became available.