Original One-of-a-Kind Item. .31cal 4-inch Barrel, all matched serial number 79663 places the year of manufacture for this fine pistol at 1854, well before the U.S. Civil War. This fine example with beautiful original walnut grips still has a visible stage coach holdup engraving on the 5 shot cylinder, all matched serial numbered parts, appears to be in perfect functioning condition and is nicely marked in double line across the top of the 4-inch octagonal barrel-

ADDRESS SAM COLT

NEW YORK CITY

However, the thing that really sets this pistol apart is the engraving along the brass grip spine. It reads-

Capt. Richard Anderson, BCy

BCy we believe stands for B Company.

Now, don’t get too excited, while there was a famous Confederate General named Richard Heron Anderson, who fought at Gettysburg and was a captain at one point in his career, we do not believe that this was his gun. We have no evidence whatsoever linking this gun to that General, and as Richard Anderson was, and still is, quite a common name, we believe this is just coincidence. We certainly are not selling it as anything more that a very fine 1849 Colt Pocket pistol that saw military service of some sort. However, it does have loads of research potential.

Specifications- .31cal, S/N# 79633, Year of manufacture 1854, Barrel 4 Octagon, Double line New York barrel Address, all matching numbers, 5 Shot cylinder, blade front sight, and hammer notch rear sight, brass trigger guard with walnut grips.

History of the Colt 1849 Pocket Revolver-

By the late 1840s, Colt had procured sufficient government contracts to begin expansion into other markets. Most cap-and-ball revolvers were heavy dragoon types when Colt introduced its first revolver with civilian buyers in mind. The .31-caliber Baby Dragoon was a downsized version of its larger brothers but lacked the convenience of an integrated loading lever.

Colt introduced an upgraded version in 1849 that had a loading lever and weighed only about 1.5 lbs. - almost a third of what some larger dragoon models weighed. Though far from compact by today's standards, the Colt Model 1849 was groundbreaking at the time because it was the first civilian side arm that could be carried with practicality in a holster, coat pocket or belt.

In spite of lacking serious stopping power, the Colt Model 1849 was wildly popular and became the best-selling Colt revolver of the 19th century. Production began in 1850 and continued until 1873. After 23 years of constant production, nearly 325,000 had been made in various configurations that included five- and six-shot models, and versions with 3", 4", 5" and 6" barrels.

At the onset of hostilities in the Civil War, the Colt Model 1849 saw widespread use by volunteers on both sides. This is thought to be due to the large number of the guns in civilian hands and the ease with which they could be carried. It's also known that the gun was carried by many in the Confederate Partisan Ranger units such as those led by John Singleton Mosby that were effective in tying down Federal forces behind Union lines in northern Virginia in the last two years of the war.