I've rcently been going through the papers of Henry S. Sanford, Federal Minister Resident (Ambassador) in Brussels, Belgium, from 1861-68. The following is illustrative of the flail that was going on in Europe as the Federals and Confederates fought to obtain enough arms to outfit their armies:

In a 16 November 1861 letter to Secretary of State Seward, Sanford commented on an offer he had received from the Viceroy of Egypt to sell weapons. On 2 December he also advised Secretary of War Cameron of the offer. The Viceroy offered 47,000 weapons from the arsenal at Cario for immediate delivery. Sanford believed that 14,000 of the weapons were French Chasseur de Vincennes models, which were widely imported during he war. Some of the Viceroy’s guns were trash, and Sanford had telegraphed to ask for further details on what was available. He had instructed Gilead A. Smith, a representative of Böker and Company, not to interphere with the acquisition if the Federals decided they wanted any of the arms. A box of sample weapons had been received in Marsailles, and Sanford was sending inspector George Wright there to examine the samples. If the arms appeared suitable, Sanford proposed to send Wright or another competent person to Alexandria, Egypt, to inspect the weapons there, and supervise packing them. Sanford made inquires about chartering two ships in Marseilles to transport the arms, but due to the growing war feaver over the Trent affair he decided by 10 December not to take the arms until the dispute with the British was resolved. He recalled Wright from Marseilles and advised the Federal Consul in Marsailles that a ship would not be needed.

Böker and Company was interested in the Egyptian arms, and was a major foreign arms supplier to the Federals. The Confederates were frantically trying to obtain arms, although Majors Huse and Anderson claimed that they never purchased any of the "trash" of Europe. How could I question two Southern gentlemen, but if Huse and Anderson didn't, someone else in the Confederacy did purchase the trash of Europe.

So, the question is: Has anyone seen a long arm with demonstrated American Civil War provenance which has markings which might indicate it came out of the middle east?

Regards,
Don Dixon