The New Model Series

The 1860 Army was but one of a series of handguns in all calibers, characterized by the creeping lever and usually by a round “streamlined” barrel.
The creeping lever was designed by Elisha Root in 1849, and he applied for a patent on December 3. The patent was withdrawn and Colt for some years after that dallied with inadvertent slips of publicizing the design of his employee, Root, by picturing or suggesting it in patents but never quite saying it. At last in 1855 he allowed Root to take out a patent on a solid frame spur trigger revolver which embodied as its patentable features a system of rotating the cylinder that was not very practical, and on reissue, the creeping loading lever.
The lever as fitted to the Army had six studs which bore in sequence in cavities drilled along the underside of the barrel, a rack and pinion device. At any given moment in the working of the lever maximum thrust was concentrated on one stud. Hardened, these studs

Some Colt’s stayed South. This rusty relic Dragoon was obtained by author because it was such a wreck, and because it was a militia issue pistol from Massachusetts (MS) and because its serial number 10,500 was smack dab in the middle of Dragoon production, approximately 21,000 in all having been made. Gun is regular for type, with Dragoon latch (lever broken) and rectangular cylinder stops. Frozen tight when found in South Carolina, pistol through cleaning using Branson Instruments ultrasonic equipment has been restored to shooting condition;

pressed hard into the steel barrel and sometimes raised dents inside on the rifling.
The Army 1860 weighing two pounds 11 ounces was the production end of a three year search for lighter weight arms for the Dragoons and Cavalry. Originally in 1847-50, the huge .44 caliber Colt Dragoon models were issued for the use of mounted men. But four pounds is heavy for a pistol and the Dragoon revolvers never achieved the popularity of the 2Vi pound Navy Colt Ml851, though the latter was much lighter in caliber, being only a .36. To reduce weight was always a prime object.
Some time late in 1858 or early 1859 Colt had several experimental Dragoon revolvers made up. Their cylinders were fluted full length; forward of the trigger and bolt screws the frames were scalloped or reduced in width, while the barrel lug also was thinned out below the barrel wedge. The barrel breech instead of being octagonal was rounded to a continuation of the ordinary round barrel. The fluting of the cylinder, to reduce weight, seems to have also been an effort to equalize stresses in the chamber walls upon firing. According to Manly Wade Wellman, author of Giant In Gray, the
subject of his biography, General Wade Hampton, CSA, originated this idea: “. . . the pattern of grooves on revolver cylinders, which, as I believe, was first suggested to the Colt factory by Wade Hampton of South Carolina.”
According to Glenn E. Davis, quoted in Butler And His Cavalry in the War of Secession, General Hampton said that before the War he had used a Colt’s revolver frequently in his hunting. The old style of pistol then had smooth cylinders. On one occasion this cylinder burst when Hampton was shooting it. “He saw that if the cylinders were grooved, the pressure when fired would be more equalized and the danger of bursting would be obviated. General Hampton then wrote to Colt, and explained fully his ideas, telling him if he agreed with him he could use the suggestion as his own. Colt patented the invention and sent General Hampton a very fine pistol specially made and thanked him for the idea.”
The Navy frame from the .36 belt pistol was selected for improvement. Using a cylinder of enlarged front diameter, and a tapered inner chamber, it was possible to fit a .44 cylinder to a .36 frame. The fluted “rebated” cylinder first appeared on a model Navy pistol, the barrel of which had been pieced up by silver soldering lumps at the breech, to permit moving the barrel a little forward along a longer -cylinder pin, and give adequate clearance for the .44 bullet loading cut. A Navy hinged rammer was fitted, the .44 cal. 7 Vi-inch barrel being rounded, somewhat resembling the Dragoon barrel. This first experimental pistol proved a .44 was practical with rebated cylinder. Next, a small-guard Navy frame was taken, and cut for the fluted rebated cylinder. The barrel, pardy machined, had been further pieced up with silver-soldered inserts to permit shaping a dirt shroud over the loading lever plunger. The lever, to give a “patent” claim to the arms (for Colt’s other patents had just expired), was the Root patent creeping lever ramrod. The shroud about the lever plunger had a dual purpose: it kept dirt from getting in to jam the plunger, and it also could be tightened up by hitting with a mallet, to tighten the sideplay of the plunger, in factory fitting. It also was a streamlined, esthetic style point, highly distinctive and giving a “new look” to the old Navy frame.
This pistol was marked “M” on barrel, frame, and trigger guard, where numbers ordinarily appear, and was the model for the New Model Army .44. We understand it was “salvaged” during the transfer of Colt’s irreplaceable museum from the Colt factory to the State Library about 1957-8, and is in the hands of a private collector now. The use of the small guard was not important, event though the New Model Army .44 was not made with a small guard. Adequate tools existed for making the correct large guard, and the use of the small guard appears to have been accidental economy in the model room.
On pistol “M,” Nos. 37, and 78, the small Navy handle is fitted. It appears the issue up to perhaps 100 or more had the Navy handles, while Colt was getting

Somewhat superior condition Dragoon, but same Second Model, is this specimen marked on left of barrel flat NEW HAMPSHIRE. Arrayed with piece is special Dragoon powder flask, usual cone wrench and a late iron Colt bullet mould. Instruction sheet is of the period. Grip is marked WAT for inspector Thornton. Wade Hampton is said to have suggested way to reduce weight of big pistol.

tools ready for the increased handle desired by the Dragoons. Barrel length, originally 7 1/2 inches, was also made optional at 8 inches during early production. Of the three pieces cited above, only “M” has the full fluted cylinder; the other two have a round cylinder, on which a naval battle scene is engraved, as is the ordinary New Model Army of later production. Generally, cylinders up to 6,500 were full fluted, and in most cases the flutes were stamped with the serial number in one, and in another, the fine mark PAT. SEPT 10th 1850. At the high end of this range, one pistol, 8-^;nch No. 5891 in the author’s collection, has a round navy scene cylinder, though general experience suggests it should be full fluted. These round cylinders are, we believe, the exception that proved a rule of Colt’s: replace the defective part or the pistol at once, and send the bad one to Hartford for examination and repair, at no charge. Old No. 5891 came from New Mexico, and certainly was one of the first year issue, in late 1860 or early 1861; a “secondary Confederate,” from period and provenance. Perhaps it was one sent out to Texas agents for Colt, H. D. Norton & Brothers, in San Antonio. On March 25, 1861, they informed Hugh Harbison that they had seen a New Model Army “with the cylinder burst. It blew out at the place in the cylinder where the catch enters. Two of the places are entirely out and another one raised. The thinner of the cylinder here has been often urged as an objection to them and if many of them do it they will not sell at all.”
Colt’s endorsement on this letter set factory policy for the time and for a long time to come: “Replace the injured parts at once free of charge and if necessary furnish a new pistol and send the defective parts to us without delay. We are quite sure that this will not prove to be a general or serious difficulty.” By April 16, 1861, Norton had returned 120 of the New Model

First experiment seems to have been using Navy frame with special fluted cylinder and barrel pieced up in manufacture to allow longer .44 bullet cut out. Middle pistol is “perfected” New Model Army .44 which is stamped M for model. Area of barrel which sheathes loading lever plunger has been added by carefully fitting pieces with silver solder. Bottom is test pistol reverting to hinged lever rammer, with 8" barrel but Navy handle which has been pieced up to increase to new Army length. Stop slots on fluted cylinder do not have the guides for stop bolt. While several versions of this hinged lever “Ml860 Army” exist, the type was not placed into production.

cylinders to Hartford for “Mr. Lord’s attention.” It is the author’s opinion that not only cylinders were returned, but complete pistols. In the case of salesman’s samples such as No. 78 might have been, the gun was refinished entirely to extra quality blue and fitted with a cylinder that was actually a replacement. In the case of No. 37, this bears a date of presentation privately, “Capt. L. P. Richmond to Lieut. D. S. Remington Roanoke II, April 8, 1862.” The finish is aged nickel plating, and the gun was almost certainly one “dumped” through Schuyler, Hartley & Graham or another one of the Allies, after the pattern had been changed to the larger Army-size handle. In the light of circumstances, it seems the gun was sold, then turned in with the cylinder burst, fitted with a new Navy cylinder, and then sent out to the Trade. By frame No. 153 an innovation had occurred; the long handle strap was “issue” and the frame had one extra screw in it for a stock recoil stud.
The long handle frame appears to have been pioneered on the hinged lever New Model pistols; at least, one of them in the Wadsworth Athenaeum collection, formerly in Colt’s home, had the front strap lengthened from a Navy-size guard plate to accommodate the new iron backstrap. Not all of the hinged lever special Armies have frames cut for stock; those that do, are four-screw, and all fluted cylinder. Apparently the hinged lever Army was a bypath never followed up, for the creeping lever remained constant on the New Model series. The frame notches in the standing breech were for attaching Colt’s patent “attachable carbine breech,” a pistol-carbine concept of interest to the Dragoons in their training program.
The Dragoon trained as a mounted infantryman, using the horse to get him to the scene of conflict in a hurry (or get away from it if necessary!). He then dismounted and fought on foot as a rifle skirmisher. The buttstock attached to the pistol was a Southern influenced idea. First approved by Jefferson Davis when Secretary of War, for the single shot Springfield pistol carbine, it was later employed by frontier regiments of the Dragoons as an attachment for the Colt revolvers, Dragoon size .44, and later Navy .36, bought for the mounted service. Then in May, 1860, a Trial Board at the Washington Arsenal of frontier-trained officers convened: Brevet Colonel J. E. Johnston and Major W. H. Emory of 1st Cavalry, Captain W. Maynadier of Ordnance, and Captain J. W. Davisson, 1st Dragoons. On the 19th they filed a report of their tests between the 7 Vi-inch barrel New Model Army .44, one with an 8-inch barrel weighing but a half ounce more, in competition with a 3d model Dragoon. The 8-inch barrel New Model pattern won out. Among tests was one often repeated, but never enough for the facts to sink in to the brains of the hoi polloi: an attempt was made to cause multiple discharge: “The arms were loaded and capped, and then loose powder was scattered around the percussion caps, and also around the balls, when they were so fired without producing any
premature discharge, or communication of fire from one chamber to another.”
The author once tried an even more severe test, loading a Colt .56 revolving rifle cylinder with full charges of FFg Black powder and the Government .58 minie ball, rammed down unlubricated. Caps were put on the cones. The cylinder was placed on the roof, and gunpowder poured over the cylinder face until all chambers were completely obscured; then fired with a long match. The powder “whooshed” up, but all bullets remained in place. A Colt’s revolver, loaded with proper bullets rammed home, is as safe from accidental discharge or communication of fire from one chamber to another, as is an ordinary metallic cartridge .38 Police Positive Special. In cases where multiple discharges do occur, other causes must be found, such as corrosion pitting joining two chambers, or sympathetic detonation across two adjoining caps. Excess cylinder slap with possibility of shock from the standing breech setting off a cap is another cause; all mechanical defects which condemn the maintenance, not the design.

“There are a few minor points requiring modification, to which the manufacturer’s notice has been called, and to which he should be required to attend in any arms he may furnish for the Government use. With these modifications, the Board are satisfied that the New Model Revolver, with the 8-inch barrel, will make the most superior cavalry arm we have ever had, and they recommend the adoption of this New Model, and its issue to all the mounted troops.”

We think these minor points requiring modification embraced the Board’s study of the fluted Navy handled 7 1/2-inch barrel pistol, and the 8-inch experimental hinged rammer pistol, some of which were adapted for shoulder stock use, and one of which had a rear sight raised in a lump on the barrel rear.
After the trial, Colt adjourned with Secretary of War John B. Floyd to the Old Soldiers Home. There the Secretary tried a few volleys, and approved the arm with the changes. On June 9, 1860, Colt informed Floyd:

I shall send to Col. May a specimen of this new arm so soon as it can possibly be got ready, that he may learn the changes which have been made which you so highly approve, which I hope will reach him for trial by the Mounted Men of the frontier before his official report is made to you.
I shall have the perfected model embracing the suggestions made by the board officers & approved by you ready in a very short time, & will send or bring it to you for your approval to govern me in manufacturing to meet the wants of Government.

These improvements seem to include: fitting four screws and lengthening stock for attachable carbine breech; grooving the capping cut-out to help guide the caps easily onto the cones when mounted and trying to reload; 8-inch barrel. The creeping lever was acceptable and in production for commercial reasons, and it was this model that General Ripley ordered.
In 1857 and 1858, Colt produced a slight surplus of arms, 39,164 in ’57 and 39,059 in ’58. In 1859 in
spite of the state militia anxiety, the competition of Manhattan, Volcanic, and Massachusetts Arms all cut into business; only 37,616 pistols were made. In 1860 the total dropped in production, but in that period Colt managed to sell surplus arms from prior production. For 1860, only 27,374 pistols were produced. Colt also was readying the tools for the New Model series, and with the manufacture of the great .44, production jumped way up: 69,655 pistols fabricated in 1861, of which 14,000 were the New Model Army, variously called “Colt’s dragoon pistol, new pattern,” and “new model army pistol,” delivered to the U. S. directly by Colonel Colt. Less than 1,000 of the NMA had been made, bearing the address col colt Hartford ct barrel stamping when Hartley wrote his warning letter of 18 November, 1860, cautioning about use of the Hartford stamp on guns destined for Southern purchasers (see page 331). The die was changed to read ADDRESS COL SAML COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA, but the exact break from the “Hartford” stamp is not pinned down; also, 71/2-inch barrels alternate with 8-inch barrels in the second thousand series, and possibly before, though all the Hartford-stamped barrels seen were 7 1/2 inches. Neither the Type One stamp of Hartford nor the Type Two stamp of New York have the customary dashes at ends. This second type name stamp is about 2 1/2 inches long. No. 2948, for example, is regular in all details, fluted cylinder with “2948” reading from front in one flute, 7 Vi-inch barrel of early side shaping, small New York name, no end bars, measuring 2V2 inches in length, and 4-screw frame, fitted with cap screws. No. 3947 is also 4-screw, with date stamp patd sept 10, 1850 in one flute as was customarily found, early barrel, but the third name stamp:

  -ADDRESS COL. SAML COLT NEW-YORK US AMERICA-

about 3-9/16 inches in length with dash terminals.

No. 3712 is a fluted cylinder gun, lightly scroll engraved, and suspect as it has a 3-screw frame. The barrel is of the second type streamline profile, and 8 inches. The backstrap has been inspected by a Government inspector and bears the T mark—so the pistol is doubly suspect with its light engraving.
No. 6144 has a number only on the frame, other marks erased, round cylinder with a once obviously Navy scene engraved. The fourth frame hole is fitted with cap screws, not studs for stock. The majority of all four screw guns were supplied alone, not with stocks attached.
No. 12120 is a Government pistol, 4-screw, 8-inch butt with early barrel side.
No. 17678 over “o”, once was fitted with a stock, the grips showing the marks, and the studs being old. The pistol has been reblued but appears to be first type barrel side, 8-inch. Name is type 3, 3-9/16 inches long, as commonly found on most specimens.
No. 17704 over “o” (an actual “o”, not a zero as in the serial) had cap screws in 4-screw frame, early 8-inch barrel side. The round cylinder is mis-matched, but stamped with the full number, 21192. The first “2” interferes with the “o” in the colt’s patent no marking. Somewhat above this number the practice of stamping the last four digits of the serial became customary, and in some instances at the last, only three digits. Approaching 30,000 serial, the fourth stock screw was omitted. The extra labor of drilling, tapping, and assembling the two additional parts cost Colt’s money. They were confronted with competition. They paid workmen more than Remington, but were being undersold by Remington, who complained that their gun was refused at $15, while Colt’s were getting $25 for all they could make. At once Colt’s negotiated a contract for $14.50. Chronologically, the time is about when Root would have made these minor economies to shave pennies off cost. They still made money, but not so much as before!
Thenceforth the regular New Model Army had an 8-inch barrel, frame cuts (for the stock if any commanders should insist upon it, but no stock studs as they were not essential,) and a plain Navy-scene round cylinder. The stock studs took up recoil of the pistol in the stock, preventing bending of the backstrap; as well, preventing bending if the gun should be accidentally dropped upon the butt stock. But the growing supply of a bewildering variety of carbines by Starr, Sharps, Cosmopolitan, Spencer, Jenks, Burnside, Greene, etc., caused the combination pistol-carbine, once thought so

Production specimen New Model Army was cut for stock, fluted cylinder with fourth screw in frame for stock recoil. Serial No. 893 is typical of pistols made up to about 6500, though barrels 8" long predominated after first 1000. Barrel markings varied, Hartford stamp being abandoned early. Cased set shows same gun with stock, regular Army-size flask and “bowlegged” iron mould usually stamped 44H on side. Cartridge packet was invention of Roots but Colt invented opening string like red tape on cigarette package used today.

Several thousand 4-screw round cylinder pistols were bought by U.S. and by Kentucky with attachable stocks but majority made up to about 30,000 serial number were supplied with cap screws in fourth hole.

Regular New Model Army shown is G.I. with inspection stamp IT on stock. Dull finish replaced high blue polish in later production as Colt cut costs to compete with $15 Remingtons.

highly of in Jeff Davis’ tenure as War Secretary, to decline in popularity. Two pistols in the belt and two at the saddle bow was about all the rough and ready riders of the fighting forces could handle; a carbine buttstock was just in the way!
First and foremost a cavalryman’s pistol, the New Model .44 was the subject of early printed instructions on loading and shooting. As the “Cavalry Manual” for
1863 noted:

The trooper having been well instructed in the manual on foot, should be made to repeat it mounted, first at a halt and afterwards at the different gaits, but the progress of instruction should be slow. Every trooper should be made to execute all the motions well (i.e., loading and firing) at each gait before passing to a more rapid gait.
Aiming, and especially at right gaits, requires some remark. Aiming should be practiced to the right, left, front, and rear. In aiming to the right, left, or front at a gallop, or at speed, the trooper should rise a little in the stirrups and incline the body a little to the front; the arm should be half extended, and the body turned in the direction of the object aimed at. In aiming to the rear, the right shoulder should be well thrown back and the right arm extended to its full length.
Firing should, at first, be executed with the greatest care and deliberation. The target should be 8 feet high and 3 feet wide, with a vertical and horizontal line, each an inch wide, intersecting at the height of five feet. The vertical line should pass through the center of the target. The troopers should be formed in front of, facing, and at a distance of 100 paces from the target. The firing should, at first, be executed at a distance of ten paces, but the distance should be gradually increased to 40 paces. A peg in front of the target will mark the point from which the trooper is to fire.
To commence firing, the instructor will cause the trooper on the right to move five paces to the front, turn to the right, move 30 paces to the front, turn to the left, move to the front until he arrives abreast of the peg in front of the target, turn towards it, cock the pistol, aim and fire deliberately; then turn to the left, move 30 paces to the front, turn to the left again, and pass to the rear of the troop, reload and take his place on the left of the rank.
To fire to the right the trooper executes what he did in firing to the front, except that he does not turn towards the target when he comes in front of it. To fire to the left the instructor causes the trooper on the left to execute, inversely, what the trooper on the right executed in firing to the right. To fire to the rear, the trooper on the right executes what he did in firing to the front, except that he turned from the target instead of towards it, and aims to the rear. The points where the troopers are required to turn in the exercise will be marked by pegs.
At first but one chamber of the pistol should be discharged
by each trooper, and great care should be taken to guard against frightening the horses. The troopers should be cautioned to be gentle with them, and soothe them when excited. When a young horse is very timid, he should be accompanied by one which has courage. When the troopers are sufficiently instructed in the exercise, and control their horses well, three or more targets should be used. They should at first be placed on the same line, and 100 paces apart; but the distance should be gradually reduced to 50 paces.

Regular deliveries of the New Model Army to the Army commenced with Colt’s offer of 500 finished pistols early in May, 1861. On May 4, Lieutenant Colonel Ripley ordered Lt. Col. Sam to deliver the pistols to Major William A. Thornton at New York Arsenal. The inference is, that as old “Wat” was assigned as Inspector of Contract Arms, these guns were accepted in the finished state and bear only Thornton’s famous initials on the wood handle; not the detail inspection stamps on each piece of subinspectors. Within two weeks, Colt had finished 500 more New Model Armys, and again offered them to Ripley. Major Hagner was ordered to inspect them, as he was nearby at Hazardville, doubtless conferring with Colonel Hazard about gunpowder and ammunition. Hazard’s Powder Mills fabricated pre-loaded percussion ammunition of the “fixed” variety, bullet attached to envelope of gold-beater’s skin or other combustible envelope, containing the powder. A steady supplier to Colt’s, for assembling into the ammunition which the girls put up in the fancy printed packages in the tiny Colt’s ammunition works, Hazard also made cartridges on their own for many types of small arms. Hagner was ordered to inspect the 500 at Colt’s, and Colt was

Moulds for Civil War arms include big .56 Colt rifle mould with wood handles and next to it double cavity Navy size iron mould from factory fire scrap heap. Mould casting two split bullets is evidently for Walch or Lindsay type, probably .31 pocket revolver; next is pepperbox mould casting one round and an odd oval bullet, and left in center a tiny brass Colt-type mould for .28 pocket revolver, make unknown. Left end mould is French for Light Minie .577 rifle. Opened and closed in front are round ball moulds for American sporting rifles.

directed to make 500 more, and Hagner would inspect them also, or as many as Colt had ready. Actually, Hagner inspected the lot of 500, plus only 300 more, which Colt delivered June 4, at $25.
The price was the old price fixed in Walker Colt days when Sam was planning to make only 1,000 pistols, and calculated his costs accordingly. There is reason to believe the Walker pistols cost only $11 each to make, leaving a fair profit to say the least. With the increase in capital, mechanization, and skills, the .44 New Model Army can hardly have cost as much as $8 —pocket model Colts representing a fair amount of machine work and finishing retailed at $9 and $10 in
1860, so the comparison is not out of line. There are those who marvel that Colt made so much money in so short a time, once he got going. There is little to wonder at—with his profit picture, selling $10 pistols for $25, it was better than stealing.
The requisitions from the field were piling up, and June 12, 1861, Ripley ordered 5,000 Colt’s revolvers “of the latest pattern. The pistols are to undergo inspections and the price will be the same as allowed for the same kind of pistols recently furnished by you.”
Between these and a purchase in March, 1862, exactly 23,300 New Model Armys had been delivered to Ordnance under several orders and contracts. Recently discovered shipping ledgers that were recovered from a dusty corner of Colt’s by an employee of the “new regimen,” Louis Hafner, who immediately recognized their great worth, shed new light on the Civil War orders. Summed up by John E. Parsons in “New Light On Old Colts,” The Texas Gun Collector, No. 57, March 1955, it appears that in spite of charges against Colt of favoring the South, he sided with the North at the instant the lines were drawn. Shipments south of the Mason and Dixon line were halted with
a final dispatch of 500 NMA’s to Peter Williams & Co. of Richmond, Virginia, April 15, the day Lincoln called for volunteers and four days after the bombardment of Sumter began. However, prior bulk shipments of the New Model Army to Southern merchants included:
300 New Model Army shipped December 27, 1860 to Georgia 50    “    “    “    “    January 15, 1861 William M.
Sage of Charleston, South Carolina
160    “    “    “    “    (with 80 stocks) January 17,
1861 William T. Martin, Natchez, Mississippi
BSKBSSEgX,
CARTRIDGES,

REVOLVING SHOT GUN,

Cartridges for Colt’s included tailed rolled government style loads for .36 but most .44’s and larger calibers used pre-fabricated ammo of Colt patent made usually by Hazard’s Powder Works or in Colt’s own cartridge works. Shotguns had charge in two increments, shot wrapped separately. Commercial New Model Army ammo came in fancy package with pistols stamped in corners, but government contractors made plainly labeled packets showing different arms the loads were adapted for.

Pistols attributed to ownership of celebrated Connecticut soldier and governor, Joseph R. Hawley, are magnificently engraved pair of New Model Armys. Double casing shown is “standard,” if such a collector’s prize may be called standard.

120
1100
500
(prior to April 16, 1861) H. D.
Norton & Brother, San Antonio, Texas (up to) April 9, 1861 Kittredge & Folsom, New Orleans April 15,    1861    to    Peter
Williams & Company, Richmond, Virginia
A total of 2230 New Model Armys shipped up to April 15, 1861, in bulk orders South, as recorded.
More may have been so shipped, while numerous standard orders were shipped in case lots or assorted sizes to. the “Allies.” While the number of “Allies,” that is, jobbers who signed Colt’s agreements to handle Colt’s arms primarily or exclusively, varied slightly, in 1861 they were: Joseph C. Grubb & Company of Philadelphia, Ben Kittredge & Company of Cincinnati, A. W. Spies & Company, Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, Cooper & Pond and Smith, Crane and Company, all of New York. There was of course John P. Moore’s Sons of New York who aparently were Colt’s New York customs brokers and import agents, and in Boston, William Read & Sons. Not previously recognized but shown in the dusted-off shipping ledgers was F. B. Loney & Company of Baltimore, and Child, Pratt & Fox of St. Louis. Cincinnati, Baltimore, and St. Louis shipments undoubtedly helped arm the South. The majority of these guns are in the “fluted cylinder series” of first production of the NMA, justifying the belief they rate as a “secondary Confederate martial pistol”; that is, not of C.S.A. manufacture but still widely used in the South. One of these pistols, unfortunately, has lost its identity since it was not offered by serial number listing; but about 1900 the catalog of the Great Western Arms Company of Pittsburgh offered for sale the Colt’s Army revolver that killed General Zollicoffer. That it was an early 8-inch fluted 4-screw Army is listed, and the tale has its odd quirk of fate, for Congressman Felix Zollicoffer in 1859 had opposed Sam Colt’s pleas for an extension of his basic patent.
In a petition to Congress, during consideration of which Colt stated privately that he would pay $50,000 to gain the extension and that it must be equally divided between the members of the House and Senate, Zollicoffer stood to block his way. Ultimately Colt was compelled to employ the Creeping Lever Ramrod in order to justify the claim of a patent, and to mark the revolver cylinder with a not terribly important patent, the September 10, 1850 protection (almost nearing expiration) concerning the rectangular stop slots and the small lead grooves into the slot itself. Zollicoffer resisted granting the extension of the mechanicallyturning-the-cylinder basic claims of Colt’s already onceextended patent, and the matter fell through. In the fall of 1861 the Kentucky State Guard split, many of the Confederates rallying around their general Simon Bolivar Buckner at Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Union men joined up with General William Nelson, reorganizing the Home Guard at Camp Dick Robinson, near Lexington. It was presumably at Lexington that the Ballard “Kentucky” carbines were issued, while to Frankfort in the next year a shipment of 1,000 Colt’s New Model Armys with 500 shoulder stocks was sent August 25, 1862, to the Quartermaster General of the Union state forces.
But it was one of the early Colts that brought about the death of Zollicoffer, in an incident typifying the confusion of the period when uniforms were all of the “cadet gray” type and the efforts to issue distinctive field dress had not yet been successful. On October 21, 1861, Zollicoffer, now a Confederate general in command of Rebel Kentucky troops and Tennesseans, was defeated at Wild Cat Mountain. By the middle of January, Zollicoffer remained the only Southern resistance opposing Buell, and the drive was on. At Mill Springs on the Cumberland River in Eastern Kentucky on January 18, 1862, Zollicoffer was in command of four regiments, including the Ninth Tennessee. At the rear of this unit which was opposing the Fourth Kentucky (Union) with a brisk fire, Zollicoffer became convinced the Kentucky regiment was a Southern outfit and ordered the Tennesseans to hold their fire. He then rode to the front, where he met Colonel Fry, the commander of the 4th Kentucky. Zollicoffer stated to Fry that both commands belonged “to the same side” and that firing should stop. Fry assented and was about to order the 4th Kentucky to cease fire when one of Zollicoffer’s aides rode up and, seeing that Fry was a Federal officer, opened fire, wounding Fry’s horse. Fry returned the fire, shooting Zollicoffer in the heart. Whether Fry’s revolver was one bought in the East, or from Kittredge in Cincinnati, or an issue from the Home Guards, the records do not reveal.
When Ripley ordered that the 5,000 pistols undergo inspection, the Ordnance Officer in New York by direction of Major Hagner and Captain Whiteley detailed individual workmen to act as sub-inspectors at Colt’s Armory. A system of gauges to judge the critical surfaces and locating points, size of chambers, and align-

Angle screwdrivers were typical Colt accessory, round one having cone wrench for Army size and flattened one being for sidehammer pistols with cones integral with cylinder. Leggy job in center is almost unique Colt Revolving Rifle tool; end has been notched for later use in removing common rifle guard nuts.

ment with bore, indexing, lit and finish, almost certainly was set up. Similar gauges exist from the production of the Ml873 Frontier Army revolver, and the Springfield Armory system of gauging involved such operations. The individual major pieces of the New Model Army bear sub-inspector’s marks on the parts, but no gauges now seem to exist for this pistol, though other arms’ gauges are owned by collectors, for the Mississippi Rifle, the Ml842 Holster Pistol, and the Ml855 Harpers Ferry Rifle. By March 1, 1862, 23,300 Armyordered New Model ,44’s had been gauged; while on May 9, 1861, the New York Navy Yard was shipped 250 NMA’s, presumably with fluted cylinders but not absolutely known; and to the Boston Navy Yard shipments totaled 250 on May 22, 1861, and 250 on June 8, 1861. On June 14, 1861, Ohio Governor William Dennison finally received 500 NMA’s ordered in November of 1860. On March 1, 1,000 “Colt’s dragoon pistol carbines, new model, each $31” were purchased. The listing describes the 4-screw Army with shoulder stock, $6 extra; serials were between 16,000 and 22,000.The 1,000 with 500 stocks shipped to Quartermaster General of Kentucky at Frankfort August 25, 1862, list serials between 16,000 to 60,000. It is presumed numbers above 30,000 were not stock-stud 4-screw guns, though the stock itself could be hooked to either pistol. A last order to Kentucky, sent September 10, 1862, was for 100 pairs of pistols, fifty pairs (100 guns) having solid stocks, and 50 pairs having stocks with canteens. Colt had made some stocks with a tin lining, the spout with a screw cap (secured by a chain) issuing from the point of the comb. With a little untaxed bourbon mellowing in the canteen a Federal Kentucky trooper was a formidable opponent in a fire-fight.
Parsons has made an estimate of total New Model Army with stock orders, totalling 2,600 pistols of

Pocket model 1849 cal. .31" continued to be produced during the War and was quite popular as secondary sidearm for officers and enlisted men North and South. Blue and casehardened pistol, bottom, is contemporaneously engraved (1862) on buttstrap, W. Edwards; was present to author from Navy Arms Co. owner Val Forgett who found it in South Carolina collection in 1960. Serial is 141896. Author also obtained recently full nickle plated ’49-er No. 140512, made same month about 1862. Whether nickle is original at time of fabrication or redone for post-War sale has long been puzzle to collectors. Author believes this specimen is wartime nickle, but such finish is very rare.

which 1,900 had stocks attached (80 of these with canteens). Fifteen hundred were accounted for by the U.S. Ordnance and Kentucky State orders. Stocked Armys from December 1861 to August 1862 ranged 16,000-25,000, and 49,000-50,000. In 1863, 30 New Model Armys were put up for the London Agency, with stocks, in the 94,000 serial range, while 150 listed after 1866 were grouped in the 156,000’s, 157,000’s, 163,000’s and 168,000’s. Among great rarities in New Model .44 variations are 12 with six-inch barrels tabulated in the 46,600 range May, 1862. An earlier 6-inch N.M.A. pistol was presented by Colt about March 15,
1861,    engraved “To Lieut. Nelson U. S. Navy from Col. Colt.”
A hiatus in New Model deliveries occurred after
32,500 “dragoon pistols” had been delivered to Ordnance by April 15, 1862. Thereafter the works force was busy on Harpers Ferry rifles, remodeling, re-rifling, and fitting sword bayonets. Between February and June,
1862,    exactly 9,900 of the .58 rifles had been okayed by the Ordnance team of Marcy, Thornton, and Rodman. May 31 and June 4 deliveries were 300 and 200 of the same, but without designation of caliber, suggesting they were unaltered .54’s, all at $18.50. The sword bayonets fitted had a value of from $2.50 to $4; rifling of Hall carbines was done for 75^ so Colt’s could have done the Harpers Ferry rifles for about twice that, double the length of bore to cut. Base cost of $10 still leaves a profit of possibly $5—up to Colt’s usual figuring. Then Root turned his eye once again to the New Model series. It appears that during this time sales of the 4-screw framed Army as a regular pistol were being made to commercial outlets; sometime prior to

June 6, 1862, Root altered the model omitting the fourth screw and got the okay of the inspectors to this change.
On June 6, Root and Ripley signed a contract for Colt’s to deliver 15,000 Army revolvers caliber .44, “to be identical in all respects to a pattern to be deposited and approved by the Chief of Ordnance.” The pattern was rapidly deposited and Root, racing to make delivery under the 10-day period allowed by the contract, shoved a whole 1,000 pistols at the inspectors who accepted them June 9. A new price had been negotiated, and it is thought that the reduction to $14.50 was not only because of the influence of Remington, competitively, but partly through reducing the machining on the frame and allowing a little less brilliant finish over all. The degree of polish on new-condition New Model 3-screw pistols of this issue is almost exactly like that of the Model 1917 Colt issued in vast numbers during a later War. Apparendy the extra polish cost more and could be omitted to help eke out the $14.50 price Root agreed to, in cutting Remington’s price half a buck. These, believed to be first of the 3-screw, were “holster pistols, new model.” A second major contract was agreed to for 30,000 revolvers on August 14, 1862, at only $14. The last 1,000 of the $14.50 pistols was received August 15; the first 1,000 of the $14 pistols was delivered August 21. Though a pattern pistol was called for on this order as well, it is not believed there was any change in manufacturing to Warrant the lower price, just the tremendous steamroller of mass production that Elisha King Root, who was bending 100 per cent of his will to the task, was building up.
When Sam Colt died, the local poet laureate and belle of Hartford society, Mrs. Lydia Huntley Sigourney, penned a wistful epitaph, ending “The like of
him we lose today, we may not see again.” She was to see Colt’s like again, in the driving energy, the determination, of Elisha Root. That he was a more taciturn, self-effacing fellow, made him unlike Colt in some personal characteristics. In drive to get the job done and determination to stick to it, they were as brothers. A total of 24,800 were delivered under the 30,000 pistol contract, and Root applied for a further order, January 30, 1863. For 30,000 more pistols, this contract referred to the guns delivered under the contract August 14, 1862, and used for the first time in a Colt revolver contract, the terms, “They are to interchange in all their parts.” The only prior Colt revolver contract referring to degree of interchangeability was that negotiated by Sam Colt in 1847 on the Walker pistol. These big guns, predecessor of the Dragoon .44 series, were “to interchange with slight or no fitting.” The labors of Root at the big Old Armory along the dyke were best summed up in this unequivocating contract clause. All 30,000 were delivered.
The succeeding contract for the first time specifies what had been noted as “with the regular appendages” in the earlier documents. These were, “one extra cone, and one screw-driver and cone wrench to each revolver, and one bullet mould casting two balls to every two revolvers, and one bullet mould casting two balls to every two revolvers, and one bullet mould casting six balls to every fifty revolvers,” as enumerated in the contract of May 25, 1863, for 20,000 Army-size revolvers. The last of the 20,000 was delivered to Major Hagner November 10, 1863; immediately thereafter, Root petitioned to be allowed to deliver a few more pistols. Hagner replied:

Office of Inspector of Contract Arms 

No. 77 East 14th Street, New York 

November 14, 1863

Sirs: You will please furnish 155 revolvers in excess of your contract, so as to fill order for supplies No. 8738, at same price (given verbally in Hartford).

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

P. V. Hagner Lieutenant Colonel of Ordnance, Inspector

These 155 pistols at the special price of $13.73, 52^ being allowed on each brace since no moulds were supplied, were received by Hagner November 10, with the last 1,000 on the contract, and the letter of the 14th was to regularize the purchase and set forth authorization for payment which apparently accompanied the letter to Colt’s. From November 14 to the fire in February, no more New Model Armys were delivered.