This stunning Colt Model 1860 Army revolver is one of only an estimated 2,000 Model 1860 Army revolvers completed in 1864 due to the Colt factory fire that February and features the stunning factory “late percussion vine scroll” engraving patterns used by Colt’s factory engravers in the latter part of the percussion era. Herbert Houze attributes the engraving of other examples in this period, including examples discussed below, to German-American engraver Georg H. Sterzing in “Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century.” The engraving includes complex entwining floral scroll engraving inhabited by a fox head on the left above the wedge and an eagle head on the right side above the wedge along with floral bloom accents, “COLT’S/PATENT” inscribed rather than stamped on the left side of the frame, and the classic dog/wolf head motif on the hammer. The revolver also features the classic Colt combination of deep blued finish on the barrel and cylinder, casehardening on the frame as well as the loading lever and hammer, niter blued small parts, and silver plated grip frame. It is fitted with an extremely scarce factory ebony grip. The barrel has a German silver blade front sight and is marked with “-ADDRESS COL. SAML COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA-“ on top. The cylinder features the classic Naval Battle of Campeche roll scene. The left side of the trigger guard has the “44 CAL” marking. The factory “I.E.” marking designating special grips and engraving is marked above or below the serial numbers on the barrel, frame, trigger guard, and back strap. All of the visible serial numbers match. It comes in a mahogany presentation case with dark green velvet lining, an Eley Bros. cap tin, Colt’s patent powder flask with a stand of arms design on one side and slanted charger, blued “44 H” marked ball/bullet mold, L-shaped combination tool, key, and several lead balls and bullets. The revolver is part of a historic group of several deluxe revolvers manufactured in 1864 that feature the classic late percussion vine scroll engraving and ebony grips. The best known of the special 1864 series was the revolver believed to have been presented to Ulysses S. Grant (151718). On pages 286-288 of "The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver" by Charles W. Pate, the author provides details on the 2,000 1864 produced Model 1860 Army revolvers. He indicates 250 were "special in some way by the time they were eventually sold." That means 12.5% of the Model 1860 Army revolvers that year wear embellished. Given the limited production of revolvers that year, the factory likely wanted to make sure they had some on hand when needed, but it is also clear they were experimenting with different deluxe options given the shift in engraving style and use of ebony grips. Pate also notes, "The completion of six NMA revolvers in 1864 was recorded in Colt's financial ledgers. One pair was charged to the Presentation Account along with four individual pistols, two of which were also charged to that account. The other two revolvers were also presentations, but they were paid for by Mr. Jarvis. To the author's knowledge, none of these pistols have been found." Six revolvers from 1864 with the "IE" or "I.E." markings are noted in his survey of 153 revolvers in the 146000-154000 range, and he indicates they were all engraved and two had ebony grips. The consecutive pair 151388 and 151389 just following this revolver are pictured on page 262 of "The Colt Engraving Book Volume 1" by R.L. Wilson and page 99 of "Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century" by Houze and were contributed by Secretary Thomas J. Fales for fundraising for a soldiers' home in Hartford in 1865 and were awarded to Major General Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut. The nearly consecutive 151387 is also known and was inscribed to Major George W. Bruen of the 10th Army Corps and has the same style of engraving and an ebony grip (sold by RIAC on September 11, 2021). Given this, it is highly likely that 151386 was also part of this group of factory engraved revolvers with ebony grips. As with the other known examples, this revolver was owned by an officer in the Civil War. It was passed down through the influential Wolcott family of Massachusetts until 2000. The family's records indicate the revolver and the accompanying sash belonged to Second Lieutenant Huntington Frothingham Wolcott (1846-1865). This identification is documented in an included copy of a bill of sale from Susan Wolcott Dexter (1929-2015), a descendant of Wolcott's younger brother, and also in “Family Jottings” by Lt. Wolcott’s nephew, Roger Wolcott Jr., in 1939. The revolver was owned by Wolcott but not actually carried during the war. As a Union cavalryman, he likely carried a standard issue Colt Model 1860 Army on the battlefield. Some of the ornate Colt revolvers made during the latter part of the war were used to raise funds to support sick and wounded soldiers, including through the United States Sanitary Commission. Pate's Appendix B lists one revolver as sent to the "New York Sanitary Fair" (Metropolitan Fair) and as charged to the presentation account. It is noted as cased and engraved, but the serial number was not recorded. Huntington Frothingham Wolcott was the eldest son of Joshua Huntington Wolcott (1804-1891) and Cornelia Frothingham (1824-1850). His mother died when he was a boy, and his father married her elder sister, Harriet Frothingham (1813-1899) a year later. Prior to the Civil War, the young Wolcott was deeply interested in the natural world and science. His father was a successful businessman associated with A. & A. Lawrence & Co. and served as the treasurer of the Boston branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and thus may have acquired this revolver for the young officer through that connection. The Wolcott family had long been civic leaders in the colonies and United States. Their ancestors included Connecticut Colonial Governor Roger Wolcott (1679-1767) and Declaration of Independence signer Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797) of Hartford County, Connecticut. The latter commanded troops during the Revolutionary War, including in the defense of New York City in 1776 and Battle of Saratoga and went on to serve in the Congress of the Confederation and as the governor of Connecticut like his father before him. Other members served in various positions within the government in the early national period, and other relations fought for the Union during the Civil War. With such family roots, it is no surprise that Huntington Frothingham Wolcott wanted to volunteer to fight to preserve the Union. He was too young to join early in the Civil War, and the family no doubt anxious to keep their son safe at home. He turned 19 years old on February 4, 1865, on the anniversary of the Colt factory fire. Less than a month later, he commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry on March 2, 1865. The 2nd Massachusetts was originally formed in late 1862 and included the famous California Hundred that arrived from California at Camp Meigs in Massachusetts to fight for the Union on January 4, 1864, and was later bolstered by another 400 Californians along with local men from Massachusetts. By early 1865, they were a seasoned unit and had fought in Virginia under Sheridan against Confederate cavalry and guerrillas led by John Mosby, and they formed part of the II Corps cavalry during the Siege of Petersburg. When he enlisted in early March of 1865, the Confederacy was crumbling, and the final campaign of the war was about to begin. Like many young men, Wolcott no doubt wanted to serve his country before the war came to an end. Per “Memorial of Henry Wolcott” on page 397, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned as an aide-de-camp for General Alfred Gibbs (1823-1969). Gibbs was a family relation via his mother, Laura Wolcott (1794-1870), which likely gave his parents some comfort. Thanks to the prominence of the family and his relation to Gibbs, we have more details of Wolcott’s service. Letters written by Gibbs are quoted in “Memorial of Henry Wolcott, One of the First Settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, and of Some of His Descendants.” Gibbs wrote to Lieutenant Wolcott’s father on March 24, 1865: “Lieutenant Wolcott joined me this morning. He comes just in time before we start on another of Sheridan’s raids. He will have plenty of opportunities of showing the stuff the Wolcotts are made of, and distinguishing himself.” Indeed, he joined in time to fight at the historic Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, where Union forces directed by General Ulysses S. Grant and led by General Philip Sheridan defeated the entrenched but outnumbered Confederates under General George Pickett. Gibbs wrote of the young officer again: “Huntington Wolcott, who was acting on my staff, behaved nobly, -like a Wolcott,- and went into the thick of the fight and brought down a lot of prisoners. He is just as earnest and ardent as ever, in action as well in expression.” The Union victory helped force General Robert E. Lee to abandon Petersburg and the nearby Confederate capital of Richmond, and Wolcott and the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry then participated in the pursuit of Lee's forces during the Appomattox Campaign, including in stopping James Longstreet and Richard Anderson’s columns. On May 9, 1865, Gibbs wrote of the young officer again, “I consider his pluck as most extraordinary, and he has been so fortunate as to have joined us in the most eventful campaign of the war, - the one that sealed the fate of the hated confederacy. He has passed through it unscratched. From frequent and close observation of his conduct, I have noticed particularly his gallantry at Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks, ‘Clover Hill,’ ‘April 9th,’ and on various other occasions, and have often refused him permission to ‘go in,’ when duty did not require him to do so. He has had a terribly tough baptism in military service, but has come out of it with increased vigor and vitality of both body and mind.” Tragically, that was soon about to change. After Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Wolcott was among the thousands of victorious Union soldiers who proudly marched in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C., on May 23-24, 1865. The war was over, and the young 19 year old officer likely looked forward to returning home as a hero, but he grew seriously ill and feverish and was sent home in hopes that he might recover. Instead, he continued to decline and died on June 9th. Some other sources list the cause of death "camp fever" a blanket term that included typhoid or yellow fever. The "treatments" he may have received would have likely worsened his condition as the "medicines" used often amounted to poison and included lead acetate, mercury, opium, and other toxic chemicals. His death was reported in several newspapers, including on June 29, 1865, in the Litchfield Enquirer which stated: "Lieutenant Huntington Frothingham Wolcott died at the country seat of his father, J. Huntington Wolcott, Blue Hill, Milton, on the 9th inst. There is something unusually mournful in the death of this young officer. He had, as it were, but just left school, and it was not easy to realize, when he girded on the sword, that he was not still the beautiful boy, fondly cherished by all who knew him. A few months since, he was commissioned in the 2d Mass. cavalry. His pure and earnest soul had long been devoted to the service of his country, and he had not touched the edge of manhood when his appeals to join the army became irresistible. It would have been almost a cruelty to have thwarted his fine impulse. He was assigned to the staff of General Gibbs and took his part in the brilliant closing campaigns of Sheridan, especially distinguishing himself with coolness and gallantry at the battle of Five Forks...His strength yielded to the hardships and struggles of the march and the battle; and after the review of Washington he was stricken down with malarious fever. The hope that he might be saved by breathing his native air, was not fulfilled." Wolcott was one of the estimated 440,000+ soldiers that died from disease during the Civil War. His death was no doubt made even more poignant for his family by the fact that he was just 19 years old and had served at the tail end of the war and nearly made it home safe. Unfortunately, the crowding of soldiers in camps, poor sanitation, little understanding of disease, and lack of proper medical treatment led to the spread of deadly diseases throughout the war. Of the 231 men the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry lost, 143 were to disease. His family and community naturally sought to commemorate the young soldier. An excellent portrait of 2nd Lieut. Wolcott painted by William Morris Hunt was owned by parents and hung prominently in their home and was passed down through the family until it was gifted to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston (coincidentally happens to be on Huntington Avenue). A marble bust of 2nd Lieut. Wolcott by Richard S. Greenough in 1867 is also in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The bust was commissioned by his step-mother, and the pedestal reads: "Dear Mamma you must let me go I feel so about it I think it would be sweet to die for my country," a passage from a letter he had written to her, itself a reference to a passage from Horace’s Odes: “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (It is sweet and proper to die for one’s country). In addition to the works of art, other tributes to the young officer include: the Huntington Frothingham Wolcott Fund at Harvard started with $10,000 from his father’s estate in 1891 for the use of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology, the Grand Army of the Republic's Huntington Frothingham Wolcott Post 102 in Milton, Mass., and the poem "Not All is Lost" in memory of Wolcott by Chaplain Charles A. Humphreys and dedicated to Wolcott's parents. His ornate gravestone in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., reads: "Lieutenant Huntington Frothingham Wolcott, 2nd Mass. Vol. Cavalry. Aged 19 Years 4 Mos." over a rendition of a sword and "He died for his country." After his son's death from disease at the end of the war, J. Huntington Wolcott remained with the Sanitary Commission to continue to aid other veterans. Given his personal loss and potential direct involvement in his son receiving revolver, it is easy to imagine him peering into the case overwhelmed with a father’s grief after losing his eldest son but also feeling a sense of pride in his son’s courage and dedication to his country. Like the other works of art commemorating this brave young officer, this revolver remains a beautiful artifact that serves as a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of men that died to preserve the Union during the Civil War, including approximately 224,580 lost to disease.

Exceptionally fine. The engraving remains crisp throughout. The barrel and cylinder retain 85% plus of the original blue finish with some minor flaking and oxidation. The cylinder scene remains distinct, and the safety pins remain in place with minor wear. The loading lever retains virtually all of the vibrant original case colors. The frame and hammer also retain the majority of their bright original case colors with some minor fading mainly on the left side. The grip frame retains mostly original silver plating around the trigger guard and some mild oxidation along the back strap. The grip is fine and has mostly smooth surfaces aside from chips at the heel on the right and toe on the left. Mechanically excellent. The case and accessories are also very fine with minor age and storage related wear including some minor cracks in the underside of the case and contact wear from revolver. The sash is good with moderate age and storage related wear including some fraying and holes. This is an incredible set along with other works of fine 19th century art were kept by the family for generations in remembrance of Lieutenant Huntington F. Wolcott, a gallant young cavalry officer who fought in the latter part of the Civil War with distinction.