Confederate Ringtail Sharps Bullet, recovered at the Weikert Farm, Gettysburg (SOLD)

Being offered is a Confederate ringtail Sharps bullet,  used by the Confederate army during the Civil War, specifically designed for the Sharps rifle or carbine. These bullets are characterized by a distinctive ring or raised area at the base, which aided in the attachment of a paper cartridge containing black powder. It was recovered many years ago at the Weikert Farm at Gettysburg.

The George Weikert farm  is one of several Weikert farms in the area at the time of the battle, with three belonging to George’s sons and another to a distant cousin. There is also a George W. Weickert farm, also known as the Timbers farm, south of Brooke Avenue. George Weikert bought the 78 acre farm north of Little Round Top in 1852.

George and his family left the farm during the fighting. Afterwards they returned to scenes of desolation familiar to many Gettysburg residents. The house was a field hospital, with wounded filling the parlor and amputated arms and legs piled outside the windows.

According to family history, six men died just in the parlor, and the yard was filled with graves. When the buried were exhumed to be placed in the National Cemetery, the missing parlor rug was found, cut into strips as the top and bottom layers of the burial trench.

Some of the markings on the bullet also say, “Swisher’s Farm”. I believe this was Jacob Swisher who leased property from Weikert. The bullet comes in the acrylic display case and will come with a Certificate of Authenticity.