Private Patrick Carroll carried this musket during the Civil War when he served in the 32nd Illinois Infantry Regiment. Carroll, a native of Ireland, was a 26-year-old blacksmith when he mustered into service at Camp Butler on December 31, 1861. He saw action at the battle of Shiloh and the siege of Corinth before being discharged for disability in August 1862. He returned home to Fayette County, married, fathered seven children, and died in 1901 at age 66.

The gun is a U.S. Model 1842, .69 caliber, smoothbore musket manufactured at the Harper’s Ferry Armory in 1843. This was the first small arm to be produced in the United States with fully interchangeable parts and the last smoothbore musket to be produced by the U.S. Government. This musket was widely used during the first two years of the Civil War by both Union and Confederate troops.