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Historic lot of an original Civil War-era Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver and two ALSs from Confederate Colonel Benjamin McCulloch sent to storied Connecticut arms maker Samuel Colt on the procurement of weapons for Texas forces.
A singular offering: the finest known McCulloch Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver, accompanied by the original 1861 contract amendment—executed by the hands of both Ben McCulloch and Samuel Colt—authorizing the release of 1,000 revolvers to Texas on the brink of the Civil War.
Also included is McCulloch’s follow-up letter—not a simple thanks, but an expression of gratitude as big as Texas. A unique convergence of an historic firearm, a revised contract, and a gentleman's acknowledgement, business, friendship, and wartime delivery.
Historical Context:
On February 1, 1861, Texas seceded from the Union. A Committee of Public Safety attempted to persuade Brevet Maj. Gen. David Twiggs to surrender the federal arsenal at San Antonio. When negotiations failed, the Committee turned to Ben McCulloch, now a Major of Texas Cavalry, who forced Twiggs’s surrender and secured the frontier posts.
With war looming and the Rangers bearing responsibility for frontier defense, the Texas legislature authorized McCulloch to purchase 1,000 Colt 1860 Army revolvers on credit, payment to be made in August. McCulloch struck a deal with his friend and occasional business partner, Samuel Colt, for purchase of the guns, payment not as authorized by the legislature, but on delivery. Colt shipped the guns to his New Orleans agents, Kittredge & Folsom, with instructions to deliver the guns to McCulloch upon receipt of payment. Shipments were made in two batches: 250 revolvers first, followed by 750 more on April 9, 1861.
The Documents:
Letter from McCulloch to Colt, April 2, 1861 with Colt’s initialized assent at the top:
"If consistent with your views & interest you will confer a favour on the Rangers of my state by telegraphing your agent in N Orleans to close the contract on the conditions of the ordinance of the convention [payment in August], in the event of my not being able to otherwise raise the funds to pay for the Pistols. The Rangers will take the field immediately & cannot do well without them. I leave in the morning for N Orleans & will be there by the 4th & will stop at the St. Charles Hotel."
Though the shipment was already underway, McCulloch underscored the Rangers’ urgent need for the guns. McCulloch knew not all the guns would go to the Rangers, but that was the pitch. After all, if the Rangers had not rescued Colt from bankrupt obscurity during the Mexican War, he would not be where he was—what he was—the greatest industrialist in the nation and the largest private firearms manufacturer in the world. He owed the Rangers, and he owed Texas.
Colt could have simply said, "A deal’s a deal," ignored the request, and let McCulloch figure it out. But he didn’t do that. At the top of McCulloch’s letter, Colt personally wrote and initialed his acceptance of the requested change in the terms of payment saying simply:
"Telegraph McCulloch and our Agents also. S. C."
Colt’s act transformed the letter from a naked request into a binding amendment to their agreement. It is rare enough to find letters between major historical figures; it is extraordinary to find a single document bearing the writings of both, not to mention one that altered the course of a significant wartime transaction.
Kittredge & Folsom received the telegraph and delivered the guns to McCulloch. Colt had fulfilled his part of the bargain. Their part of the deal done, there was no need for more Colt-McCulloch correspondence on the matter — legally, anyway.
The Eastern press had for months scourged Colt for his pre-war sales to the South. Now, after Fort Sumter, sending guns to Ben McCulloch—a national hero turned Confederate officer, for Texas, no less—if the reporters got wind of it, they’d have skinned Colt alive.
McCulloch knew the personal risk Colt took in approving his request. He could not let that bold act on his behalf go unacknowledged. He kept it simple, but in its simplicity, McCulloch’s soul-deep gratitude leaps from the page.
Letter from McCulloch to Colt, April 16, 1861, four days after the war commenced with the bombardment of Fort Sumter:
"The pistols has [sic] all arrived & I have made the proper documents and left them with your agent Kitrige & Folsom, who will send you a copy, if it is not satisfactory, I will make it so. Much obliged for the carbine, will show it to the Gov & see what he thinks of buing [sic] 10000. I am off for Texas where I will be delighted to see you, write me at Austin City Texas for the present."
Colt died in January 1862; McCulloch was killed two months later at Pea Ridge. The Texas debt to Colt was never collected.
The Revolver:
Colt 1860 Army Revolver, serial number 3510, .44 caliber with 8" barrel, is one of 750 fluted-cylinder models shipped on April 9, 1861. Features include a four-screw frame, brass trigger guard, iron backstrap, fluted cylinder, and matching serial numbers throughout.
Markings remain sharp, including the barrel address “ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD CT” and the frame stamp “COLT’S PATENT.”
According to Colt historian Charles Pate (The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver, Andrew Mowbray Publishers, 2018; “Ben McCulloch Colts,” Military Collector & Historian, Fall 2017, p. 265), this is the finest of all surviving McCulloch Colts.
The revolver exhibits matching serials, sharp legends, strong mechanics, and a smooth, even, colorful patina.
The documents are similarly well preserved: folded but clean, with bold ink and Colt’s pencil notation clearly legible.
Also included:
• Engraved color portrait of Ben McCulloch
• 2009 letter of authenticity from Beverly Jean Haynes of Colt’s Manufacturing Company
• Copy of The Texas Gun Collector (Fall 1997) featuring Milo Mims’s article “The Ben McCulloch Colts…1,000 Six-Shooters for Texas”
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