Colt Model 1849 Pocket Revolver Inscribed to Captain Andrew Willson 17th NY - Mortally Wounded at Second Manassas

American Civil War

.31 caliber. 6" octagonal barrel. SN: 181516 (mfg. ca1860-61). Blued and color casehardened finish, silver plated brass triggerguard and backstrap, one-piece varnished smooth walnut grip. Single action percussion revolver with five-shot smooth round cylinder. Barrel marked in a single line: - ADDRESS COL. SAML COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA -. Lower left of frame with two-line COLT'S / PATENT marking. Matching serial numbers throughout, including the grip, with the exception of the wedge and loading lever which are not numbered. The backstrap is engraved in a single script line: Capt. Willson 17th Regt N.Y.V.

Andrew Willson was a 24 year old attorney when he joined the 17th New York Volunteer Infantry on May 10, 1861 in Newark, NY along the Erie Canal. He was commissioned as a captain and given command of Company I on May 22, 1861. The regiment fought during the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Campaign in 1862 and was assigned to the Fifth Corps. The regiment lost one man wounded at Gaines' Mill. The regiment was heavily engaged at Second Manassas (Second Bull Run) on August 29-30 of 1862 with 26 killed, 79 wounded, 36 lost as prisoners of war and 2 men missing. Captain Willson was initially listed among the wounded but died of his wounds later in the day on the 30th. He was wounded by an artillery fragment in the head while leading his company in a charge against a Confederate position.

The revolver is accompanied by a binder of research and information about him and his regiment and includes an article from Civil War Times Illustrated about Willson that prints three letters of his that survive. A lovely Colt Pocket that belonged to a young Union officer who was unafraid to lay down his life for freedom.

From the Collection of George Oldenbourg