Record 225/278 Catalog Record Civil War Exhibit Page Home Search Description  Springfield Model 1863 caliber .58 rifled musket, type II: walnut stock with "H" carved on reverse side of butt stock, "W" carved on the obverse side (Walter Houston); steel lock plate with hammer; steel trigger assembly; steel butt plate; three steel barrel bands; steel nose cap; steel ramrod and adjustable steel rear sight. The type II was an improvement on the Model 1861 and Model 1863 with an "S" shaped hammer; altered bolster; and barrel band springs. The Springfield Rifle Musket was the standard weapon carried by US infantry soldiers. Private Walter Houston was born in Ireland in 1817. He was married to Betsey, who was born in New York in 1811. In 1860 they were living near Utica with another family at Fisk's Corners. He enlisted in Company D, 8th Wisconsin Infantry on February 29, 1864 as a recruit. He participated in the Red River Expedition, Battle of Chiot, the Pursuit of Price in Missouri, Battle of Nashville and the Battles around Mobile, Alabama. He mustered out on September 5, 1865. Betsey died Feb. 13, 1885 and Walter remarried to a woman named Ann. She was born in 1847 and died in 1908. He had two children; Mary J. Minckler and George A. Walter Houston is buried with his wives and children in the town of Omro at Minckler Cemetery.

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Last modified on: July 22, 2007