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THBColt Model 1873 Single Action Revolver Carved "Fred"
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveOct 30, 2018
Cowan's is honored to present the Magnificent Sword Collection of William Koch in its two-day firearms, militaria, and American history auction, with a focus on the Civil War. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
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- Lot Description
Colt Model 1873 Single Action Revolver Carved "Fred"
45 caliber, 7.5" barrel, S/N 5031. Early barrel markings, on the bottom of barrel marked with a " P " over an " A " and the serial number 5031 , serial number on the frame, on the triggerguard with an " A ". On the top of the backstrap is an " A " behind the hammer. Frame has US markings with two-line patent markings. Original one-piece walnut grips deeply checkered with the name "Fred" carved in the bottom of the grips. This is the correct serial number range for a revolver issue to the 7th Cavalry. In context, Single Action Army's in the approximate #4000-7000 range were shipped to the Rock Island Arsenal that served as the purveyor of ordnance to the Dakota Territory. Weapons from this block of Colt's were later forwarded and issued to the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th US Cavalry. This gun is close in range to #5147 documented in several sources including Colt records to have been issued to Company L., 7th Cavalry. Three troopers having the given name of "Fred" are found on the rosters of Reno-Benteen companies. Maddeningly, the lack of a surname prohibits further identification but the pistol is still a solid relic of the 7th Cavalry experience on the Little Big Horn, well within accepted parameters of an ironclad serial number range.
While stationed at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, troopers of the 7th Cavalry were issued new M1873 Springfield carbines and Colt Single Action Army revolvers before taking the field for the Black Hills Expedition of 1874. By the time Custer rode to infamy on the Little Bighorn, the 7th Cavalry’s weapons would have been entering their second year of service implying that the guns would have still been relatively new and entirely serviceable, despite the rigors of active campaigning. Upon reaching the Little Bighorn Custer divided his command. A battalion of three companies—D, H, and K—commanded by Captain Frederick Benteen, was detached for a reconnoitering mission “along ridges and ravines of broken terrain without observing anything of interest.” Benteen maintained a leisurely pace under the sweltering afternoon sun before riding into Pvt. John Martin, Custer’s orderly, who hurriedly presented Benteen with Custer’s famous last message: “Come On. Big Village. Be Quick. Bring Packs. W.W. Cooke. P. bring pacs.” Benteen and his battalion now galloped to the sound of guns and slowing at the crest of a ridge, looked down to see Major Reno’s disorganized command crossing the shallow river pursued by “at least 1500 Indian warriors.” In Custer lore the chance linkage of Benteen and Reno’s isolated battalions would come to be known as the “Hilltop Fight."
Captain Benteen arrived on the hilltop above the valley of the Little Bighorn in the midst of a fluid situation with Reno's men having arrived pell-mell from the valley floor confused and panic-stricken. As Benteen and Reno struggled to rush the trooper’s into defensive positions along the ridge of a “saucer-like depression,” Lieutenant Godfrey, commanding Company K, threw out a ragged skirmish line on the open prairie “and did his best to hold back the pursuing Indians” while buying the rest of the companies precious time to entrench. Major Reno sent an order for Godfrey to pull back, but the lieutenant resolved to stay, “otherwise the Indians would make sad havoc in the other companies,” he stated later. Godfrey maintained firm discipline and orchestrated a fighting withdrawal while his men kept up a steady fire of .45 caliber carbine rounds that kept the Indians at bay. With another band of mounted Indians seen racing for a nearby hill, Benteen recalled Godfrey “and after firing one last volley at the Indians, the soldiers of K Company sprinted for the entrenchment without having lost a man.” As these events played out the main body of Custer's 7th Cavalry was now under attack several miles away. Later in the afternoon, Reno and Benteen attempted to join forces with Custer. Unbeknownst to the two officers, Custer and his command had been wiped out at the "Last Stand."
Throughout the night the seven companies of the two battalions remained dispersed in a defensive perimeter along the crest of the hilltop surrounded by at least 2,000 warriors. Sporadic fighting resumed the next day but the Indians never attempted a mass charge that would probably have overwhelmed the parched defenders. Thereafter, the fighting was marked by desultory sniping interspersed with a heroic charge by Captain Benteen and a handful of volunteers who desperately cleared the ravine at the base of the hill of Indians to get water. Near sunset Benteen observed “a column of Sioux and Cheyenne men, women and children marching southwest toward the Bighorn Mountains.” Occasional sniping harassed the troopers during the night, but the Indians had given up the fight. Next morning, June 27th, relief appeared in the form of the Terry-Gibbon column and the grateful survivors of the Hilltop fight - very likely including our unknown trooper "Fred" - learned of Custer’s fate.The entire revolver has been cleaned with a gunmetal gray look and some pitting. Most of the screws have been replaced. Grips were checkered during its period of use and the name "Fred" was carved into the bottom of the grip. Overall good condition for this well used Cavalry revolver.Condition
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