Most sources claim that General Custer used a pair of Webley “British Bulldog” Revolvers at the Little Bighorn (see for instance John Walter “The Guns That Won The West.” 1999). This idea is probably based on a report given by Brigadier-General (then Major) E.S. Godfrey on January 16, 1896 (in Graham p345) that Custer carried “two Bulldog self-cocking, English, white-handled pistols, with a ring in the butt for a lanyard. The problem with this is that the Webley “British Bulldog” was not made until 1878. This was a short-barrelled and double-action revolver that was made in pocket and small belt-sized. The misidentification of guns is common in western history but there is usually some germ of truth in them. It may be that the gun was the earlier 1867 Webley R.I.C. Revolver No 1 (see Figure 4) that the later civilian “British Bulldog” was based upon. (It was called the R.I.C. because the Royal Irish Constabulary adopted it.) These guns typically had short barrels 3.5-4” were loaded via a loading gate and were double-action. It is unlikely that Custer had the latter No 2. Version, as this only came out in 1876. The Webley British Bulldog proved to be a popular gun and the name was later used to promote a number of cheap copies including some made in the US.
R.L. Wilson (The Peacemakers Arms And Adventure In the American West 1992) gives another possibility, he calls the Galand & Sommerville, a Webley-Galand & Sommerville and implies that two of these guns were carried by Custer at the Little Bighorn. These guns had nothing to do with P.Webley and Son and were produced by Braendlin & Sommerville of Birmingham. Galand was a Belgian gun-designer and Sommerville was his co-patentee for the case extracting system. As an English gun it would be quite possible for the gun to acquire the more famous Webley name on the Western frontier. As we know that Custer had been given one of these guns, he may have used it, liked the gun and so acquired another for service use.
Ryan’s (Graham 2000 p 346) description of Custer’s arms is that carried two pistols, “one a .45-caliber Colt, and the other a French Navy”. The Webley Bulldog was the subject of a cheap Belgian copy, so could be described as French. The Galand could also be described as French. Interestingly, the Webley and all its copies were made with a lanyard ring but the Galand & Sommerville never was. As the Webley was small, sized and gate loaded, there would be reason to carry two guns to offset its small size, but why bother to carry two large belt sized revolvers, when the Galand & Sommerville was sold on being quick to load?
