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Historic Engraved New Haven Arms Co. Henry Lever Action Rifle Presentation Inscribed to Henry E. Darby with Documentation - Serial no. 11542, 44 Henry RF cal., 24 1/4 inch octagon bbl., blue/brass finish, walnut stock. This late production rifle was manufactured c. 1865 and is inscribed as being presented on May
6, 1867, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Henry E. Darby (1834-1890) from his friends. As outlined in detail in the included research binder, Henry E. Darby was a private in Company G of the 181st Regiment of Ohio Infantry. Included copies of some of Darby’s government records, including pension records, list him as a veteran of the 124th Indiana and 181st Ohio Infantry and indicate a first enlistment on May 9, 1864, in the former and as discharged from his first enlistment on September 2, 1864. He re-enlisted on September 23, 1864, in the 181st and served until final discharge in Columbus, Ohio, on June 16, 1865. The 181st Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry was organized at Camp Dennison in Ohio in September-October of 1864 to serve for one year. They were ordered to Huntsville, Alabama, on the 24th of October and arrived on the 29th. They operated around Decatur, Alabama, in November and went by rail to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In December, they participated in the defense of Murfreesboro against Confederate General Forest and also engaged with Confederate forces while foraging around Murfreesboro that month. They were assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 23rd Army Corps on Christmas Eve and joined their command at Columbia, Tennessee, on December 29th. On January 2, 1865, they traveled to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where they joined up with Sherman’s forces. In April, they advanced on Raleigh, North Carolina, and they mustered out on July 14, 1865. Private Darby and his family appear to have
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