.44 caliber. 8 in. barrel. SN: 94092 (mfg. ca. 1863). Originally blued and color casehardened finish, brass triggerguard and two-piece smooth walnut grips. Single action percussion revolver with six-chambered unfluted rebated cylinder, creeping loading lever, hammer nose notch rear sight and German silver blade front sight. Matching serial numbers on barrel, frame, triggerguard and butt. No other markings are legible. No visible cylinder scene or serial number is present. No visible cartouches on the grips.

This gun is identified by its serial number 94092 in Volume II of the Springfield Research Service Serial Number books on page 163 as being issued to Company I of the 1st Maryland Cavalry (US) and was in their possession as of April 12, 1863. Further research reveals that it was issued to Corporal Robert M. Sands (1823-1892) per the April 1863 Company Order Book of Company I, 1st Maryland Cavalry. It is categorized therein as a "Colt's New Dragoon". The Irish-born Sands enlisted with the Union and mustered into the regiment as a private on 3 September 1861. Throughout his enlistment, he was occasionally detailed as a blacksmith or served with the Quartermaster's Department. He was promoted to Corporal in late 1861. Copies of the documentation accompany the lot.

On 9 June 1863, as the 1st Maryland distinguished themselves in the largest predominantly cavalry engagement to have ever taken place on the North American continent, Sands was taken Prisoner of War at the Battle of Brandy Station. Considering the springtime date of the relevant order book, it's very likely that this revolver was on Sands' person at the time of his capture. The overall wear suggests that it may have seen continued use after falling into Confederate hands.

Sands was paroled on 13 June after a brief confinement in Richmond, Virginia, and returned to the 1st Maryland at the reduced rank of private. At the Second Battle of Deep Bottom before Petersburg, VA on August 16th, 1864, Private Sands was wounded in the head by “a conoidal musket ball which caused a contusion of the skull,” to quote his 28 September discharge.

This would not be Sands' last brush with death, as, less than a year and a half later in January 1866, he would find himself working as a police officer in Hagerstown, Maryland, during the political riots spurned by Andrew Johnson's campaigning in the city. Sands was pinned down by an angry mob and stabbed through the breast with a butcher's knife, perforating his lung. Against all odds and after being carried home for dead, he made a full recovery, and was involved in local temperance and veteran organizations in his later years, including his local G.A.R. post. 

A solid Civil War revolver with good provenance. {ANTIQUE}

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Guns, Firearms, Revolvers, Rifles, Longarms, Handguns, Arms & Armor]

Good. Bore good, moderately oxidized and pitted with visible rifling. Metal with no original finish remaining, and retaining some strong traces of an old applied blue that was added after the gun was cleaned, removing most of the markings. Mechanically functional action. Grip with moderate wear, ding, dents and mars.