Arms, Armor & Militaria

.31 caliber. 6" octagonal barrel. SN: 229494 (mfg. ca1863). Blued and color casehardened finish, silver plated brass backstrap and triggerguard, varnished one-piece walnut grip. Single action percussion revolver with six chambered smooth round cylinder. One line New York barrel address reads COL SAML COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA. Lower left of frame with COLT'S/PATENT mark and cylinder with standard "Stagecoach Hold Up" scene and marked COLT'S PATENT/No 20494. Matching serial numbers throughout including the wedge, with the grip unnumbered. Standard hammer nose notch rear sight and brass post front sight. Backstrap engraved: To Wm. O. Osgood Lieut. and Provost Marshall,/ - Staff General Commanding - /From Col. Wm. Trousdale Chief of Army Police/Nashville, TN Feb 1st, 1863. Based upon the accompanying research it appears that the engraver misspelled the name of the Army of the Cumberland's Chief of Police, as it was William Truesdail, not "Trousedale". However, in a time when literacy was not quite what it is today, and many names were written phonetically, errors like this occurred on presentation pieces from time to time. The revolver is contained in a mahogany veneered compartmentalized wood case with an olive green velvet lining and pillow. The case contains an unopened tin of UMC percussion caps, a brass COLT'S/PATENT marked dual cavity mold, a Colt L-shaped cone wrench that is the wrong size for this revolver, an unmarked Eagle-motif flask, some lead balls and a key for the case. 

The only William O. Osgood listed in the Historical Data Systems database (civilwardata.com) was the adjutant of the 7th Kansas Cavalry who served from May 27, 1862 to July 29, 1862. The regiment spent most of their service in the Western Theater, primarily involved in operations in Mississippi, west Tennessee, and Alabama. In 1862 their assignment was to the Department of Tennessee, so it is reasonable to assume that at some point in time Osgood interacted with the Provost Guard for that department and may have found an opportunity to secure more interesting and somewhat less dangerous duty working for the Provost Marshal in Nashville. The December 12, 1862 Nashville Daily Union notes that Brigadier General Robert B Mitchell had taken command of the post of Nashville and it lists his four staff officers, among them is Lt. W.O. Osgood who is listed as "A.D.C." or aide-de-camp. The March 18th 1863 Nashville Daily Union ran a story confirming that Osgood was indeed serving as the Provost Marshal in Nashville at that time, as it described his receipt of a presentation sword.

The story entitled "An Elegant Gift" reads in part, "One of the most beautiful swords we have ever seen is one recently presented to Lieut. Osgood, Post Provost Marshall of this place, by a number of his Union friends of this place.....Lieut. Osgood may well congratulate himself that in discharging the duties of the most irksome and thankless of all military positions, he has been so fortunate as to secure so superb a token of approbation." The story goes on to mention that the sword also came with a personal note from the Mayor of Nashville to Osgood. The paper also published Osgood's personal reply to the Mayor, thanking him and the others for the sword, belt and sash. A July 17, 1863 story from the same paper notes that the "Pass Office upon Cherry Street, formerly under the superintendence of Lieut. Osgood, is recommend to the office of the Provost Marshal, at the Capitol."  Despite the references in the papers and the limited military records available regarding Lt. Osgood, little else is known of him.

The presenter of the gun, William Truesdail (misspelled "Trousdale" on the gun) is much better documented. A civilian with the rank of "colonel," he served as part of General Rosecrans staff for the Army of the Cumberland and spent as much time working on intelligence collection as he did serving as the Chief of Police of the Fourteenth Army Corps, Department of the Cumberland. He operated a spy network to gather intelligence within Nashville and the surrounding area and among his spies was the legendary Pauline Cushman. It appears that Osgood was also involved with Trusedail's intelligence gathering operations as well, and the accompanying research surmises that both the sword mentioned above and this pistol were given in appreciation of Osgood's service to the Union cause.

The revolver is accompanied by a large binder of research, primarily about Trusedail, with copies of period correspondence from him, and additional information regarding circumstances and events which the men were involved in during 1862-1863 in Nashville.