This is a very rare example of a Confederate made Sharps carbine with the marking "RICHMOND,VA/1862" at the rear of the barrel which identifies it as one of the Sharp's carbines made by the Confederate government after it took over the Richmond factory of Samuel Robinson, who made the first 1900 of them. Two features that identify the Confederate Sharps, both those made by the government and those made by Robinson are the thin lock plate without the Sharp's pellet priming mechanism and the full length plate for the sling ring on the left side of the stock. Most of these also had a sling swivel on the bottom of the stock near the butt, as is the case with this particular carbine. The top of the barrel is marked "S.C. ROBINSON / ARMS MANUFACTORY" in front of the rear sight, the lock plate is marked "S.C. ROBINSON/ARMS MANUFACTORY/RICHMOND, VA/1862" just behind the hammer and the serial number, "364" is marked at the rear of the lock and on the upper tang. Integral front blade and fixed iron rear sights and mounted with a smooth forearm with iron barrel band and straight grip stock with a brass buttplate and small brass disk on the upper left side marked "499". Attached to the saddle ring is a brass, personal collection tag. Almost all of these carbines were issued to Confederate troops from the day they were made until the end of the Civil War, many seeing very hard field use.