September 5-7, 2023 Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/5/2023
Manufactured 1860. Matching full or partial numbers observed on frame, barrel assembly, trigger guard, butt, rammer, cylinder, cylinder arbor; wedge is mismatched. Archetypal configuration of the 1851 Navy with 7 - 1/2" octagonal barrel, silver-plated brass straps, blued barrel assembly, and case colored frame. So-called "apostrophe" mark, used circa 1854-1861, indicating both engraving and ivory grips, is present on this gun. The work is well cut and is in Gustave Young's scroll with an eagle head motif above left side of rammer screw and a floral on right; iconic wolf's head head. Smooth ivory grips. The backstrap is professionally engraved in script and block letters, “Maj. C.S. Hayes 5th Regt. O.V.C.” Charles S. Hayes was mortally wounded Sunday, April 19, 1863, in a fight near Hernando, Mississippi, when Federal reconnaissance from Corinth detected a large Confederate column on Saturday, April 18. Hayes was in advance of the main scouting force, handled the fighting of the first day and by a bold charge with just 2 companies on the morning of the second day that kept the enemy on the far side of the Coldwater River despite their superior numbers. By 1 report he was, “shot three times through the clothing in the fighting of the first day. On Sunday he met the enemy again, led a brilliant charge, took eighty prisoners, and while in the act of rallying his men, received a wound in the spine, which terminated his life the nest day.” In addition to the prisoners taken, Confederates were said to have suffered 20 killed and 40 wounded as a result of his charge. Another report says he was wounded later in the after the rejoined the main reconnoitering force, whose commander then tried vainly to dislodge the Confederates from the far side of the river. Hayes had been born in Elizabethtown, OH, in 1832, was commissioned Captain of Co. D to date 8/27/61, and less than three months later, 11/17/61, was promoted Major, in command of the regiment’s third battalion. The regiment left the state in February 1862 and in March Hayes’s battalion was posted at Crump’s Landing with Lew Wallace’s division, taking part in an expedition against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, destroying 2 bridges, fighting off Confederate cavalry, and receiving praise in official orders. In April they reached the Shiloh battlefield on the evening of the first day’s fight, saw service the next day in the pursuit of the enemy and in the subsequent campaign and siege of Corinth, with the regiment taking part in numerous expeditions, scouts, etc. In August 1862 Hayes was ordered to Memphis and as the only field officer fit for duty was given command of the regiment. He led the First and Second Battalions in the Battle of The Hatchie, or Hatchie’s Bridge, in October when Union troops under Ord tried to halt Van Dorn’s retreat after the Battle of Corinth. In the winter of 1862-63 the regiment was posted by detachment to different locations in Mississippi and by the time of his death Hayes was back in command of his third battalion. He was eulogized as possessing the 2 qualities essential for a cavalry officer: decision and dash. “As an officer, he was courageous to the verge of recklessness; as a man, generous to the verge of injustice. Of his own person he was reckless; of his men he was careful…Living he had the esteem of a large circle of acquaintances; dead, he will be regretted by all who knew him intimately.” His body was conveyed to Cincinnati by an escort from the regiment. PROVENANCE: From the advanced collection of the esteemed and respected Dr. Jim Watson of Scottsdale, Arizona. CONDITION: Barrel assembly retains trraces of the original blued finish, approximately 10-20% with more retained in protected areas such as under rammer. Rammer with case colors at similar levels, with most retained on inside of rammer, but traces visible on pivot. Frame is essentially dove grey, with some small spots of old patination. Straps with most, approximately 70%, of the silver plate, with losses to high edges, high traffic areas, and when the engraving was added in the period. Mechanically tight, 3 clicks, bore has strong rifling with visible patination and moderate frosting. An excellent pistol carried by a respected officer with an esteemed fighting record.
Caliber/Bore
.36 Percussion