Guns International #: 102797310
Seller's Inventory #: 244029

Category - Civil War Revolvers - Colt Revolvers - Antique Percussion

Category
Civil War Revolvers
Colt Revolvers - Antique Percussion

CIVIL WAR SURGEON NY 47th & 44th Antique U.S. COLT Model 1860 ARMY Revolver Dr. Morris Wellington Townsend of Bergen, NY

Description:
CIVIL WAR SURGEON NY 47th & 44th Antique U.S. COLT Model 1860 ARMY Revolver

Dr. Morris Wellington Townsend of Bergen, NY

Here we present an antique Civil War Colt U.S. Model 1860 Army Percussion Revolver, made in 1863 in Hartford, Connecticut. This historic revolver’s back strap features a punch dot inscription: “Dr. M.W. TOWNSEND, Bergen, N.Y.” Dr. Morris Wellington Townsend (1827-1902) was born in Mendon, Monroe County, New York. He attended Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1853. He settled in the village of Bergen, Genesee County, New York circa 1858, which is not far from his childhood home, where he would practice medicine for the next 44 years until his death.

Early in the American Civil War, Townsend enlisted as a surgeon with the 47th Regiment, New York State Volunteers. He served in this capacity from December 1861 to June 1862 and was resigned due to ill health for a period of about 6 months before reenlisting and served as a surgeon with the 44th Regiment, New York State Volunteers from December 1862 to October 1864. According to Dr. Townsend's memoriam, “He participated in twelve battles, including Chancellorsville, the Wilderness (in which he was engaged in performing amputations for thirty-six hours continuously), Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor.” When at Spotsylvania, Dr. Townsend saw an exhausted General Ulysses S. Grant, the doctor ordered him to retire, which advice the general obeyed. Townsend and another doctor named Abner Shaw were the two doctors credited for saving the life of Col. Joshua Chamberlain from what were considered to be certainly fatal wounds caused by a Minié ball obtained during the Battle of Petersburg, when Chamberlain was leading the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade in a charge.

After the war, he again settled down to being a peacetime doctor in Bergen. One small memorial in Bergen, placed by the New York Folklore Society in 2015, recalls the time in 1885 that Dr. Townsend saved the life of Adelaid Richmond when she needed an emergency appendectomy. The placard says that he drove his horses so hard to get there in time that one died on the way. Many articles and stories (too many to include here) can be found in the Democrat & Chronicle, a newspaper out of nearby Rochester, NY. One story in particular is the doctor’s testimony in a murder case, in which the dying woman told Townsend that the murderer was her husband. Another story tells about another murdered woman’s autopsy, which he performed, indicating she had been poisoned with prussic acid. In another story from 1898, a group of Civil War veterans hauled an old canon to the town cemetery, intending to fire it in honor of one of the buried soldiers. Concerned for their safety, Townsend sneaked into the cemetery by night and jammed the gun to prevent its being fired. The doctor certainly lived a colorful life. When he passed away in 1902 he was survived by one son and one daughter.

This revolver represented unprecedented firepower from a handgun in the field at the time and was especially suited to Cavalry. The Confederacy, lacking in manufacturing capabilities though they were, managed to produce limited numbers of copies, and battlefield pickups of the 1860 Army were highly coveted. The 1860 Army went on to serve the U.S. military even after the Civil War and into the Indian Wars, until production of Colt’s 1873 Single Action Army created new waves in the revolver market, and again achieved great success in the military and commercial markets.

The overall condition is very good. Patina throughout. Strong Battle of Campeche cylinder scene. The action is excellent. The bore is in very good condition with sharp rifling. The grip is solid and shows a cartouche on either side. Other inspection marks visible throughout. Numbers match throughout with the exception of the barrel wedge, which is 847 numbers different which was most likely swapped in the field.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 8 inches.

Caliber: .44 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$11,000

#244029
 

Price: $11,000.00                     Buy Now

Antique: Yes