November 15 & 16, 2022 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2022
1861 vintage Colt 1860 Army single action percussion revolver, serial number 4083. Classic 8" .44 caliber barrel with German silver blade front sight and hammer notch rear. Fluted cylinder. 1 piece plain walnut grips. Matching serial numbers include barrel, wedge, cylinder arbor, frame, trigger guard, and butt. The revolver is inscribed on backstrap in script "Frederick Garretson C.S.N.". A native Virginian, Frederick Garretson’s birth name was Van Bibber. He read medicine with an uncle in Baltimore, graduated from the University of Maryland Medical College in 1857, and was commissioned Assistant Surgeon in the US Navy on May 23, 1857, serving at one point on the sloop Vincennes. Apparently anticipating his resignation, the Navy instead dismissed him on May 6, 1861. He then changed his name to Garretson, his mother’s maiden name, and was appointed from Virginia to the CS Navy as Assistant Surgeon on June 10, 1861, passed Assistant Surgeon on September 17, 1862, and passed Assistant Surgeon in the Provisional Navy on June 2, 1864. He served in 1861-62 on the C.S.S. Patrick Henry, one of the supporting vessels in the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, where the Monitor and Merrimac encountered one another. He was assigned to the CSS Florida during 1862-1863, and the CSS Tuscaloosa in 1864, also doing shore duty at Augusta and Richmond according to Hartzler’s notes. The revolver is accompanied by a folder of research regarding Dr. Frederick Garretson's service with the Confederate Navy, notes on configuration, and a photocopy of a page from "A Band of Brothers Photographic Epilogue to Marylanders in the Confederacy" where this revolver is featured. CONDITION: Good, with iron assemblies blended to a blue-brown patina with heavy freckling throughout. Grips are very good with handling marks near butt. Mechanically fine. Bore is lightly frosted with scattered areas of light abrasion and crisp rifling.
Caliber/Bore
.44 Percussion
Paperwork
Folder of Research