James Henry Burton papers

Colonel James H. Burton (1823-1894), after he had been educated at Westchester Academy, Pennsylvania, entered a Baltimore machine shop at the age of sixteen. In 1844, he took employment in the rifle works of the United States armory at Harper's Ferry, was appointed foreman in 1845 and master armorer shortly thereafter. In 1855, he accepted the post of chief engineer of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, near London, and did not return to Virginia until 1861. In June of that year, Burton was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ordinance Department of the Virginia State Militia and placed in charge of the State Armory by Governor John Letcher with instructions to arrange for the removal of all machinery captured at Harper's Ferry and place it in position for use. Within ninety days, Colonel Burton had the machinery at work in Richmond producing rifles of standard United States patterns.

The following September, Burton was appointed superintendent of arms by President Jefferson Davis with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During the summer of 1863, the Confederate Government ordered Burton to Europe on State Department business. He did not return to the United States for three years and only then after having received an amnesty from President Johnson.

As a private citizen, he returned to England in 1871 to take direction of a Leeds firm manufacturing arms for the Russian Government. He returned to Virginia in 1873.