November 15 & 16, 2022 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2022
1863 vintage Colt 1860 Army single action revolver, serial number 122220. Standard barrel configuration with German silver blade front sight and hammer notch rear sight. 1 piece plain walnut grips. Matching serial numbers observed on barrel, wedge, cylinder arbor, cylinder, frame, trigger guard, and butt. Martially sub inspected on all major parts with cartouches on either grip panel. Right grip panel is hand-initialed "JWL" near frame, which Hartzler collection notes and accompanying provenance identifies as John W. Lewis. Lewis was born in Frederick, Maryland, in 1836, but was working in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, as a carpenter when the war started. He enlisted there in the 4th (U.S.) Kentucky Infantry on July 17, 1861, receiving a commission as Second Lieutenant of Company C. During his time with the unit, they saw action in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. He transferred in April 1863 to the 12th Kentucky Infantry to become First Lieutenant of Company A, (commissioned, but not mustered,) and in June transferred again to the 4th Kentucky Cavalry to be Captain of Company I. At the Battle of Chickamauga, the regiment marched to Crawfish Springs, where it was fiercely engaged with Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler. In that desperate fighting the regiment lost 4 officers and over 90 men wounded and missing. Lewis was 1 of the 4 officers lost, being captured and interned until mid-1864. A fellow veteran recalled his emaciated condition on his return. The regiment had continued active service in the Atlanta Campaign, fighting at Resaca and elsewhere. In Fall 1864 it was ordered to Nashville to fight under Thomas against Hood. Lewis was honorably discharged in January 1865 and saw subsequent service as a lieutenant in the regular army in the 14th and 23rd US Infantry from July 1866-January 1871, stationed in Arizona, Missouri, and Oregon. In his last years he was in a veteran’s home in Danville, Virginia, where he died May 1913. The folder with paperwork includes a 1967 letter from Lewis’s great-granddaughter, and research from his service including pension records. CONDITION: Very good, with iron assemblies turned a speckled gray-brown patina. Brass trigger guard was lightly cleaned and is now regaining a mellow patina. Grips are very good with cartouches light. Left grip panel has 3 holes drilled in to it at bottom area. Right grip panel has 7 notches. Mechanically fine. Bore is frosted with crisp rifling.
Caliber/Bore
.44 Percussion
Paperwork
Folder of Research