Arms, Armor & Militaria

.36 caliber. 6.5" round barrel. SN: 756 (Mfg. ca.1861). Blued and color casehardened finish, one-piece varnished walnut grip. Early production with iron backstrap and triggerguard, single action percussion revolver with five-chambered fluted cylinder and creeping loading lever. Barrel with one-line Hartford address partially obscured by a dovetail for a rear sight that is no missing. Weak COLT'S/PATENT marking on lower left side of frame. Matching serial numbers throughout, including the wedge and grip, with the exception of the butt, which has no serial number present. Cylinder with PATENT SEPT 10TH 1850 in one of the flutes and the serial number in another flute. Added dovetailed rear sight is missing, added dovetailed front sight is present but askew. The bottom of the grip has been drilled with two holes at an angle to allow the attachment of a lanyard loop. The backstrap is engraved A.W. TEBBETTS From the BOSTON PRINTERS.

Albion W. Tebbetts (1836-1915) was a 25 year old type setter from Boston who enlisted in Company K of the 5th Massachusetts Infantry on May 1, 1861 and as it was a 90-day regiment was mustered out on July 31 of the same year. On July 2, 1862 he was commissioned into the Field and Staff of the 33rd Massachusetts Infantry as a 1st lieutenant and as the regimental adjutant. Subsequent promotions elevated him to captain on November 29, 1862, major on September 18, 1864 and lieutenant colonel on November 3, 1864, although he was never officially mustered at that final rank.

The 33rd Mass served with the Army of the Potomac from October 1862 to September 1863, before being transferred to serve with the Army of the Cumberland for the balance of the war. While with the Army of the Potomac, the regiment fought at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg, where it took a prominent position in the defense of Cemetery Hill on the later afternoon of July 1. At this time Tebbetts, along with fellow captain and later regimental colonel Elisha Doane, used their personal presentation weapons in defense of the position. A detailed article by Wiley Sword in Issue #19 of Gettysburg Magazine details the actions of these two men and discusses and pictures this revolver, as it was part of Sword's collection at that time. After Gettysburg Tebbetts and his regiment were moved as part of the transfer of the XI and XII Corps to the western theater, where they saw service during the Atlanta Campaign and during Sherman's March to the Sea, ending their fighting for the war at Bentonville, NC.

Tebbets remained in the service the entire time, despite being partially disabled from being thrown by his horse in August of 1864. In addition to his regimental service he also did service on the staff of General Dan Butterfield. He was mustered out June 11, 1865 and returned to his life as a printer in Lowell, MA. Eventually he moved to the Washington, D.C. area and then spent his golden years in the Soldier's Homes in Johnson City, TN and Hampton, VA before dying in 1915 at the age of 80. Tebbets was subsequently buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The presentation of this revolver to Tebbetts by the Printers Association is documented in the April 20, 1861 Boston Daily Evening Transcript and reads in part: "The printers of this city presented Charles F, Richards and A.W. Tebbetts, compositors in the Journal office, each of them, with a six barreled Colt's revolver. As nearly all of the craft know how to use 'shooting sticks,' southern traitors had better beware." This revolver was originally purchased by Wiley Sword from Norm Flayderman from Catalog #106 and was subsequently sold at the 1999 auction of Sword's collection, at which time it was obtained by Dr. Oldenbourg.

The revolver is accompanied by a large binder of information about Tebbets and his regiment, which also includes relevant portions of the original Flayderman catalog, correspondence between Flayderman and Sword, correspondence between Sword and Oldenbourg and a copy of the Gettysburg Magazine article about the man and his gun. While both Flayderman and Sword hypothesize that the two holes in the butt of the gun are for the attachment of some sort of shoulder stock, this seems unlikely. There does not appear to be any secure way to attach such a stock with those holes only. Their theory was based upon the addition of the larger sights, but this is circumstantial at best and grips modified to accept a lanyard were far from uncommon during the period.