I never get tired of looking at these old guys.

At a gun show yesterday I got chatting with a fellow who is involved in Civil War re-enacting.
He had a table at the show.

I found this on their web site today.

http://www.graysandbluesofmontreal.com/

Canadians in the Civil War

It is a lesser known fact that this conflict greatly affected Canadian politics and economics. Also, that between 40,000 and 60,000 Canadian & Quebec men joined to fight in the US/CS conflict, even though they technically broke British & Canadian laws by joining a foreign army. At least 30,000 joined the Northern Union Army & Navy and approximately 10,000 fought in the Southern Confederate Army & Navy. 4 Canadians became Union Generals., and at least 34 Canadians won the “Congressional Medal of Honor” while serving in the Union Army.


Canadian Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. This award is generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress.
As many as 34 Canadians serving for the Union Army were given this highest military award, for personal acts of bravery, above and beyond the call of duty - an honour worth remembering.

Partial List of 3550 British North Americans (Canadians)
Out of over 50,000
Who Served in US Civil War 1861-1865
This list is a partial list of Canadians who served in the Civil War for whom there is some sort of documentation. Unfortunately, much of the relevant materials is not readily available, and therefore this list will never be an accurate reflection of the number of Canadians who served in the war. Nevertheless, we hope that this list will bring more attention to the role that these men played and, hopefully, assist some genealogically-minded people in tracking down a long lost ancestor. Please keep in mind that the list is a "work in progress".


http://www.graysandbluesofmontreal.com/database-of-canadians-who-served-in-civil-war.html
 
A member of the family on my mothers side did a family history a couple yrs ago and through that I discovered I am eligible to be included in all three chapters of the "Sons Of The, Confederacy, Union, and Revolution by the involvement of ancestors from Canada joining into the fray's.

One of the more famous eampes of what you talk of was Ont. resident, Capt. Cooke of the Seventh Cav who was killed at Little Big Horn with Custer. He was Custers Adjutant in the civil war and followed him west (supposedly at Custers request the story goes)...bad move I guess. I and a lot of other admirers held his (lots of provenance with it proving it was his) civil war issue 1860 in our hands before it was sold at auction later that day. It went south and if I remember right it sold for $49,000.

I have an interesting New Model 1858 Rem that has a letter of history with it from the family (it was brought up by a man that the town of Cluny Ab (nothing there now I have been told) was named after). It is rather beat up compared to your Remington but has an interesting aspect to it, It is one of the 300 guns that the Union Army sent back to Remington to have converted to rim fire and chambered for the .46 RF cartridge. Thiss can be roven because it has the Rollin-White patent date on the cylinder, only the first three hundred had the patent date on the cylinder, the rest after that weren't marked as the Govt. of the time refused to pay the patent fees to the patent holder, Smith & Wesson.

As I stated it is rather beat up in spots but works perfectly still...and I would fire it still, if I had a center fire hammer for it and make up a few light BP cartridges.
I spent a most enjoyable hour or so talking with the curator of the Cody gun museum discussing this gun. He stated that most of the 1858's that were issued to regular Union Cavalry forces were beat up from bouncing against other equipment (mainly carbines) for endless miles hanging on a saddle. He claimed that the bulk & length of the guns made them uncomfortable to carry while mounted for any length of time so they were hung by a lanyard on the trigger guard on the same hook that the carbines used.

Very interesting thread, thank you for taking the time.
 
The Spencer at Gettysburg July 1, 2, 3, 1863 in the hands of Federal cavalrymen.
The third day when the ‘Boy General’ Custer (23 years old) led his Michigan Cavalry Brigade in a head-long assault against General J.E.B. Stuart’s famed cavalry.
(Article from April 1973 Gun Report magazine.)














George Custer----no idea what rank he held in this photo.
It looks like the pistol in his lap is an 1860 Colt Army.



 
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I bought this Model 1860 Colt Army on June 24th 2001 in Gettysburg.
I bought it from a dealer from New York City named Frederick R. Wilkens.
After I started recently looking at the Gun Report magazines that I had bought back in approx. 1995 I realized that Fred Wilkens had been the President of the Long Island Antique Arms Collectors Association for 20 years.













I also learned that he died on March 3 2007 at 79 years of age.
Both his wife and his son John were also involved in his business.
His wife was at Gettysburg behind his table when I bought the ’60 Colt Army in 2001.
They operated under the name W&W Traders.

I also learned that the fellow that I bought the Gun Reports from died on July 4th 2015 at the age of 92.

I have been very interested to see in the many years of these Gun Reports that I have looked through what is said (offered for sale) regarding these Remington-Rider D/A New Model fluted cylinder Belt Revolvers.
I have only found two so far. (In many years of magazines.)

I have more years of magazines to still go through.

I bought this book years ago ----it has the most photographs of these revolvers that I have ever seen in one place before. (Far more fancy that mine.)









Mine.





I recently learned this stuff as I never subscribed to Gun Report.

The Gun Report published from June 1955 until sometime in 2011 ----I think.
The end of an era of great printed info regarding gun collecting.
Articles were written by many of the guys that wrote the books that we still read.
Arms Heritage Magazine is digital----a sign of our times.
$19 USD per year.
------------------------------------------
June 3rd 2012
The Demise of Gun Report - Fact versus Fiction
We have become aware of various rumors regarding the demise of Gun Report vis-a-vis the inception of Arms Heritage Magazine. Since these rumors seem to develop a life of their own by word of mouth and internet chat rooms we would like to set the record straight.
One rumor suggests that "the owners of Gun Report shut down the magazine to escape the financial liability of unfulfilled subscriptions and other debts" to "start afresh" by initiating a new magazine. Another attributes the magazines failure to the exodus of "key staff", namely myself and Mike Carrick.

First of all, Gun Report is or was totally owned and totally controlled by Kandi Liggett Harrison. None of the Staff Editors or other masthead personnel held any ownership stake in the magazine.

As the magazine began to founder in year 2009, a number of staff, friends and long term subscribers approached Ms. Harrison, some individually and some jointly, with offers of assistance to revitalize the magazine and re-establish confidence among advertisers, contributors and subscribers. Offers of help included financial, editorial and technical assistance. I am personally aware of more than a dozen such offers. Ms. Harrison, to my knowledge, did not express any interest in receiving such help and in most cases did not acknowledge the offers.

As I started Arms Heritage Magazine, I contacted Ms. Harrison to make her aware of our plans. She made a rare response, wishing us well and asking if Mike Carrick and I would continue to write our regular columns in Gun Report. We both assured her we would, indicating that as long as she would publish the magazine, we would remain columnists and pointing out that she had a multi-issue backlog of columns from each of us.

Gun Report meant a lot to me. I wrote my first article in 1956 and my last article was published in the last issue. I wrote a monthly column for nearly ten years. Gun Report was a part of my life for more than fifty years and like many of you, I miss it.

I'm sure that Ms. Harrison had her own good reasons for closing the magazine down and remaining incommunicado with her subscribers. We wish her well.

#### Salzer

https://armsheritagemagazine.com/
 
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On Friday October 16 2015 I bought a new piece for my Civil War collection---the first one in several years.

On Wednesday October 14th I was in my kitchen minding my own business when the phone rang.

It was a dealer that I know that had tripped over a martially marked Model 1851 Colt Navy----purchased by the U.S. Government for use by the army----these guns are called Colt 1851 Navy-Armies.

Long story even longer----he does not know much about these Civil War guns---not his field of expertise.

I sent him photos of things to look for as I have one of these U.S. marked Colt Navies.

He buys the gun on Wednesday and sells it to me on Friday---pretty sweet fast in fast out exercise.

I wanted to know more about where it came from----this is where the story gets somewhat colourful.

He got the Colt from a fellow that was involved in demolishing an old tavern / hotel and found it in the basement on top of a wood beam lying on its left side.

The gun was manufactured in 1857 and shows a ‘WAT’ Chief Inspector’s cartouche on the right grip for Capt William Anderson Thornton-- one of the well known U.S. Chief Ordnance Inspectors.

William Anderson Thornton




Thornton's 'WAT' initials on this Model 1840 cavalry saber.


There is the outline of a Sub-Inspector’s cartouche on the left grip however his initials are not identifiable.

The photos below will describe this Colt---the left side of the barrel is a bit pitted based on how it was stored. The markings overall are very clear including the cylinder scene.







Sub-Inspector's initials on the frame.


The serial number on the cylinder and U.S. stamp on the left frame.



These U.S. martially marked Colt Navies are not easy to find in Canada.
The one that I already have came from a dealer in Virginia in December 1990---it was also manufactured in 1857. It is shown earlier in this thread.




A commentary regarding these U.S. Martial Navy Army Colts from College Hill Arsenal a Civil War dealer in the U.S.

The majority of the martially marked, pre-Civil War contract M-1851 Navy revolvers are found in the serial number range from about 42,000 to about 80,000 placing their production between early 1855 (which started that year’s production at about #40,000) and late 1857 (which ended that year’s production around #85,000). The majority of the martially marked US Army “Navies” are 3rd Model revolvers with small brass trigger guards, a wide capping cut out in the recoil shield and a narrow lever catch. While the US Navy specifically requested iron backstraps and triggerguards for their M-1851 revolvers, the Army accepted the standard brass backstraps and triggerguards on their guns. Many of the early M-1851 Navies that were delivered to the Army were issued to the newly formed 1st and 2nd Cavalry regiments, who used them to good effect fighting hostile natives on the western plains. Some 7,800 Colt Navy revolvers had been issued for use by troops in the field by the end of fiscal year 1859.

Due to the fact that many of the pre-war purchased guns saw frontier duty before the Civil War, and most saw significant action during the war, it is difficult to find high condition examples of a US martially marked “Navy-Army” revolvers today.
 
Fingers284

I was not planning on purchasing anything on Wednesday October 15th 2015---by Friday October 16th 2015---I had changed my mind when I saw the gun in my kitchen.
She is not a ‘blue eyed blonde’ but very few of these ’51 Colt Navy-Armies were.

A comment from College Hill Arsenal regarding a piece that they were selling.

"If you only have one Colt Navy in your collection, a martially marked US Army issued Navy is a hard one to beat."

https://www.collegehillarsenal.com/shop/product.php?productid=1574
 
I did some looking on the Internet and found this.

Martial '51 Colt Navy-Army revolver sold at RIA in December 2012 for $54,625 USD-----this is probably as good as it gets.

This is an excellent example of a U.S. Contract Colt Model 1851 "Army/Navy" revolver that was manufactured in 1856. This Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver features the small rounded brass trigger guard and beveled loading slot. The barrel and cylinder have the Colt military blue finish and the loading lever, frame and hammer are color casehardened. The revolver has a one-piece oiled walnut grip. The lower right side of the grip is stamped with the script initials of the Ordnance final inspector, "RHWK" (Capt. Robert Henry Kirkwood Whitely) in an oval. The lower left side of the grip is stamped with the three script initials of the Ordnance Sub-Inspector in a rectangle with rounded ends. The cylinder is roll-engraved with the Texas Navy battle scene, "ENGAGED 16 MAY 1843" and "COLT'S PATENT No.". The top of the barrel is roll-stamped "-ADDRESS SAML COLT NEW-YORK CITY-" in one line. "COLTS/PATENT/U.S." is stamped on the left side of the frame in three lines. Small "H" Ordnance sub-inspection marks are stamped on the left grip heel, top of the back strap, bottom of the trigger guard bow, cylinder and top barrel flat. The full serial number, "51879" is stamped on the bottom of the barrel lug, frame, trigger guard, back strap and cylinder. The loading lever is stamped with the partial serial number "1879". All of the visible serial numbers match. The first Colt Model 1851 "Army/Navy" revolvers were issued to the newly formed 1st and 2nd Cavalry regiments in 1858-1859 and subsequently saw hard service on the frontier and in the early part of the Civil War. Other "Army/Navy" revolvers were issued to federal volunteer cavalry regiments at the start of the Civil War. U.S. martial "Army/Navy" revolvers are rarely found with any finish whatsoever.

Condition;
Excellent plus in as issued condition overall. This revolver retains 97% of the original blue and color casehardened finish. Finish loss is limited to some very minor high point wear on the edges of the barrel and lug and minor turn marks on the cylinder. The cylinder retains virtually all of the crisp roll-engraved scene. There is some minor flash pitting on the percussion nipples, sides of the hammer and the inside of the hammer slot. All of the cylinder safety pins remain intact. Takedown marks on the right side of the barrel lug around the wedge slot are minimal. The loading lever and frame retain 95% of the original casehardened finish with vivid case colors. The hammer has 95% of the casehardened finish with darker case colors. The frame, grip and loading lever screws are excellent with most of the niter blue finish. The brass trigger guard and back strap have not been polished and are in excellent condition with minimal handling wear. The grip is also excellent with most of the original oil finish, extremely sharp Ordnance sub-inspection and final inspection marks and minimal handling marks. The Colt and Ordnance sub-inspection marks of the the major components are crisp. This is an outstanding example of a pre-Civil War, U.S. contract Model 1851 "Army/Navy" revolver that would be extremely difficult to upgrade or improve upon. This is one of the very best U.S. Colt Model 1851 Martial Navy revolvers existing.











 
Sold at Julia Auction October 5 -7 2007 for $13,800 USD including buyers premium.
(The grip Inspector's cartouches on this '51 Navy are supurb---these are some of the markings that disappear first.)









MARTIALLY MARKED COLT MODEL 1851 NAVY ARMY REVOLVER. SN 56171. Cal. 36. Fine 3rd model martial ’51 with 7-1/2″ oct bbl, brass cone front sight and 1-line “NEW YORK CITY” address with dashes. It has usual Ormsby naval battle scene on cylinder & “COLT’S PATENT” over a tiny “U.S.” on left side of frame. It has brass grip frame with 1-pc walnut grip having a legible “LCA” cartouche in an oval on left side (the only “LCA” inspector this cataloger could discover was for Lucius C. Allin who was a Colt Dragoon inspector) and an “RHKW” cartouche in an oval on right side for Capt. Robert Henry Kirkwood Whitley. Various parts have small “A” inspector initials (indicating O.W. Ainsworth sub-inspector) including backstrap at top, grip at bottom left side and top of left side, upside down on right shoulder of trigger guard, on bbl lug & cylinder. All six safety pins on cylinder are prominent and cylinder has vice marks on opposite sides.

CONDITION: Fine to very fine, all matching including wedge. Bbl retains a thin blue/brown patina but shows very little wear with a few scattered spots of fine pitting. Rammer pivot has some bright case colors with a spot of pitting on right side. Cylinder retains virtually all of a light restored finish, not having been polished with the aforementioned vice marks. It also retains about 60-70% crisp Ormsby naval battle scene. Frame retains 70-75% faded case colors turning silver with some light surface discoloration. Hammer retains about 50% faded case colors with light pitting around nose. Grip frame is crisp with a medium mustard patina. Grip is extremely fine showing very light wear with a few minor scratches & nicks and retains most of its orig varnish with a crisp cartouche on right side, somewhat thinner cartouche on left side, probably from a light strike. Mechanics are crisp, bright shiny bore with scattered light pitting. 4-31220 JR199 (7,000-11,000)
 
A scarce Colt Model 1851 Navy percussion revolver for the Upper Canada Militia.



IMHO with the U.C. marked holster this is a rather special rig.
An auction at Bonhams in November 2006.

Serial no. 33206, .36 caliber. 7 1/2 inch barrel marked Address Col. Colt London. Blued and casehardened finish with blued iron triggerguard/gripstrap. London proofs. Varnished walnut grips, left side stamped UC/G/38, the right side stamped with a crown over 16. Together with rare black leather flap holster for the Upper Canada Militia, interior of flap marked UC/G/42.

Condition: Fine. Barrel retains 20 percent blue finish, mainly on underside of barrel and on lug, the balance flaked. Cylinder retains 75-80 percent dark blue finish. Lever, hammer and frame retain much vivid casehardening. Triggerguard with 50 percent blue remaining. Gripstrap with smooth grey metal. Grips with 98 percent varnish showing a few scattered dents. Holster scuffed overall but very sound, the flap stud neatly re-attached.
See Illustration.
Footnotes
Note: Approximately 800 Model 1851s were purchased for the Canadian militia. The G on the grip refers to Company G, the Napance Troop, which had a unit strength of 55. See pages 181-185 of '51 Colt Navies by Nathan L. Swayze.

Lot 3134ANTIQUE A scarce Colt Model 1851 Navy percussion revolver for the Upper Canada Militia
Sold for US$ 8,775 (CA$ 11,569) inc. premium.

Auction 14045: Antique Arms and Armour and Modern Sporting Guns
14 Nov 2006 10:00 PST

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14045/lot/3134/

Pages 181-185 out of the '51 Colt Navies book by Nathan L. Swayze.











--Grip marking UC/F/42 on Upper Canada Colt serial number 33387—Sold by RIA In Dec 2010 for $7,475.




--Grip marking LC/D/7 on Lower Canada Colt serial number 28769---Sold by RIA April 2012 for $7,000 plus buyers’ premium $1,356.

 
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Great thread, the information about the Upper and Lower Canada 1851's is of particular interest and has helped authenticate the guns that I have aquired.
Upper Canada ser# 28718 and Lower Canada ser# 28268, the Lower Canada gun has a replacement trigger guard #28896
 
Skinny 1950-

It is great that you have been able to collect both the U.C. and L.C. versions of these London manufactured '51 Colt Navies.

The history.
Prior to 1854 the Canadian Military was supplied arms by the British Gov’t. but at about that point the British Military was so heavily embroiled in the Crimean War that they were hard pressed to maintain their own military forces and therefore asked Canada to become more active in supplying their own arms. Canada accepted and in 1855 a commission was sent to England to purchase arms for the militia. Among other purchases, they bought 800 Colt Model 1851 Navy revolvers with 556 going to Upper Canada, the area of Canada now known as the Province of Ontario and 255 being issued to Lower Canada, the area known today as the Province of Quebec.
 
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