November 15 & 16, 2022 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2022
British P1853 Tower percussion rifled musket manufactured by Joseph Wilson, an English government contractor, and dated 1863. 39" barrel in .577 caliber, nominal 25 bore, with blade front sight and military ladder rear sight graduated to 900 yards. Barrel is Birmingham proof marked on left side above woodline. Marked on lock with "TOWER / 1863" forward of hammer with British Crown behind hammer. 1 piece stock in typically seen configuration with brass nosecap, trigger guard, and buttplate with iron barrel bands. Stock is extremely faintly marked Joseph Wilson on belly of stock with Birmingham Small Arms Trade Roundel on right side, and "(anchor)" / "S" Confederate viewer (inspector) marked near top of buttplate tang. Complete with an early 20th century era Southern Cross of Honor engraved to Thomas T. Davis (likely an inscription error). These medals were given to Confederate veterans by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for their service in the American Civil War. Engraved on the front with "SOUTHERN CROSS OF HONOR" on each arm of the cross with the Confederate motto "DEO VINDICE" (trans: With God as our vindicator) in the center followed by "1861 / 1865". Engraved on the back with "UNITED DAUGHTERS CONFEDERACY TO THE U.C.V." on each arm of the cross with a wreathed Confederate Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flag in the center. Hanging tab is engraved on the front with Davis' name and the maker mark on the back "Charles W. Crankshaw / -Atlanta-". Thomas Davis was born in 1842 and, like many other Marylanders, crossed into Virginia to enlist in the Confederate army, joining Company D of the First Maryland Battalion of Cavalry on Sept. 20, 1862, at Winchester “for three years or the war.” The battalion started with 1 company of Marylanders from the 1st Virginia Cavalry who did not reenlist in that unit in May 1862, but decided to form a specifically Maryland unit. The battalion was officially organized in November 1862 with 4 companies and eventually reached regimental strength. They saw action in smaller raids and fights in the Valley into early 1863, taking part in Jones’s raid into West Virginia in April, then returning to the Valley to move north as scouts and reconnaissance for Ewell’s advance north in the Gettysburg Campaign. During Lee’s retreat to Virginia, Davis had his horse killed and was captured July 4 at Monterey Gap, placing him in a storied encounter when a small group from the regiment, estimated variously at just twenty to fifty men, aided by 1 artillery piece, fought a delaying action that kept Kilpatrick’s Union cavalry away from Ewell’s retreating wagon train for some 5 hours by launching spirited charges in the dark and rain and dismounting to open fire at close range against countercharges. Davis was incarcerated at Fort McHenry and Fort Delaware, was paroled, and exchanged in February 1865. He may have rejoined his unit or another one for the last few days of the war. Records are fragmentary. We know he was in Richmond on March 3 seeking payment for his horse and records have him surrendering May 4 at Ashland and taking the oath of allegiance in June. Hartzler’s notes indicate he was a medical student before the war. He gives his occupation as student to U.S. authorities in late 1865 and he is later identified as “doctor.” We know also that he ran a drugstore and was assistant postmaster in Libertytown before his death by accident in 1920. Paperwork includes a 1965 signed affidavit by B.C. Grabill that he obtained the rifle directly from Davis, who had returned from the war with it. This is presumably Bayard C. Grabill, who was a fellow resident with Davis of Liberty, Frederick County, Maryland in 1920 and died there in 1974. A wonderfully clear postwar copy photo of a wartime image of Davis in gray jacket and trousers, casually seated, and wearing a pair of tall cavalry boots, looking every bit the quintessential southern cavalryman, is also included along with a folder of research regarding Davis’s military service. CONDITION: Good, as heavily cleaned with areas of heavy abrasion around bolster from use and handling marks throughout with a protective layer of varnish added. Brass has been chemically cleaned and now retains a mellow patina. Stock is excellent as sanded and finish added with makers mark on stock belly and inspector mark near buttplate nearly illegible, and no major cracks. Top of wrist near hammer shows significant burnout from use with percussion cartridges. Bottom of stock near buttplate shows significant storage wear. Mechanically fine. Bore is frosted with visible rifling. Medal is a mellow patina with markings crisp.
Paperwork
Information, Photo, UCV medal