Jefferson Davis’ Firearms
By John Sexton · Originally published September-October 2023 · pp. 48–60
Jefferson Davis’ Firearms By John Sexton
It is no surprise that Jefferson Davis had many firearms associated with his life. Davis was a West Point graduate, served in the U.S. military, served as colonel of a regiment during the Mexican War, was U.S. Secretary of War, and president of the Confederate States of America. There are at least ten guns documented as owned by him. The American Civil War Museum owns Davis’ cased Colt presentation engraved Model 1851 Navy fitted for a detachable shoulder stock, serial number SN 64817. The pistol was with Davis when captured on May 10, 1865, in Irwinville, Ga. The separated shoulder stock was found by a veteran in Virginia, and remained in a private collection until sold by Rock Island Auction Company in 2016. The stock was purchase by historical arms collector Michael Simens. The glass paneled Colt presentation casing was recovered in Abbeville, S.C. The revolver was donated to the museum in 1949 by the son of the commander of the capturing cavalry troopers.
There are other captured Jefferson Davis objects with good documentation that were not reported to the War Department. Davis was among the most famous Americans of his day, revered in the South, and abhorred in the North. Any object personally attached to Davis was already valuable during his lifetime. Davis mentioned in his papers how his personal baggage was broken into when he was captured. He also related
stories of him finding personal items in the North souvenired by soldiers being offered for sale, including family letters and photographs. The Beaumont-Adams revolver sold by Rock Island Auction Company for $470,000 is one of those items. It is among the few firearms I am aware of without government documentation, but very well documented in contemporary newspaper articles and family records of the capturer.
The Mississippi Department of Archives purchased five guns from Herb Glass in 1963. These guns were all from Davis’s family with an affidavit attesting to their Davis connection. They included a Kentucky rifle; a pair of American dueling pistols made by Stone & Koppikus; a large bore double barrel howdah pistol made by Samuel Staudenmeyer; and a “D. Swett & Co” Vicksburg, Miss., agent marked Henry Deringer. The Springfield Armory National Historic Site has in its collection a Devisme rifle captured in Davis’ luggage. The Atlanta History Center has one of its explosive projectiles also captured with Davis’s luggage.
Colt 1851 Navy SN 16612 sold by Herb Glass to Dr. Robert Moore in 1964, with a family affidavit. Published in The Gun Report magazine, May 1965.
Left: Daguerreotype of Jefferson Davis, 1853, colorized.
FACTORY PRESENTATION COLT MODEL 1851 NAVY PERCUSSION REVOLVER AND SHOULDER STOCK INSCRIBED TO LATE U.S. SECRETARY OF WAR AND GENERAL OF MISSISSIPPI MILITIA, JEFFERSON DAVIS
Hopewell News, July 12, 1949.
Revolver taken from Jefferson Davis upon his capture by troops of the 4th Michigan Cavalry, May 10, 1865. Colonel Robert Horatio George Minty’s son donated this gun to the Museum of the Confederacy. (Courtesy The American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia)
When Jefferson Davis fled Richmond, Va., he had his entire household belongings with him, including all the guns that he had collected during his lifetime. For this reason, many of his guns and personal items with excellent provenance were collected by cavalrymen who were part of the capture. Davis only mentions two guns in his memoirs, specifically a Kerr revolver and a double-barreled pistol shown in this article. War Department inventory documents only mention six guns, the double barrel being one. The most valuable presentation Colt and recently sold Beaumont-Adams revolvers have excellent provenance but were not included in official U.S. military documents.
Colonel Robert Horatio George Minty. Deluxe engraved Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver: .36 caliber, 6 shot, 7.5 inch octagonal barrel with single piece high gloss varnished burl walnut grip; serial number 64817; case hardened steel frame, blued finish with silver plating on back strap and trigger guard. Top of the barrel has the rolled address on top barrel flat reads: — ADDRESS SAML COLT HARTFORD CT —.
COLT SHOULDER STOCK DESIGNED BY JEFFERSON DAVIS
The stock is finished en suite to revolver with the highest grade scroll engraving and silver plating. In contemporary Colt advertisements, revolver stock like this are referred to as “Attachable Carbine Breech.” This shoulder stock was designed by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, circa 1856. (Courtesy Rock Island Auction Company)
The Colt factory presentation inscription on this stock appears on top of the yoke ahead of the engraved clamping bar screw head, which reads, “Presented to / Gen. Jefferson Davis / Late U.S. Sec. of War / By the Workmen of / Col. Colts Armory / Hartford, Ct.”
Samuel Colt, engraving by John Chester Buttre, circa 1855.
The serial number 64817 is stamped on the lower tang and buttplate tang.
The left side of the yoke is inscribed “Davis’ Detachable / Pistol Carbine Breech” which shows Davis’ personal input to Colonel Colt.
The best-known privately-owned Jefferson Davis associated firearm is Kerr revolver SN 1041. This revolver came from the family of Capt. Given Campbell (1835–1906) who headed Davis’ escort. Davis gave Campbell a pair of Kerr revolvers as noted in both his diary and Davis’ memoirs. This is the best documented of Davis’ firearms not in the The American Civil War Museum or Mississippi Department of Archives. (Photography by Jack W. Melton Jr.)
JEFFERSON DAVIS’ KERR REVOLVER
This Kerr’s Patent Revolver, No. 1041, has family commemorative inscription on the left frame forward of the cylinder, “PRESENTED TO GIVEN CAMPBELL BY JEFFERSON DAVIS, PREST. C.S.A. MAY 4 1865.”
The grooved top strap and JS/anchor Confederate proof stamped into the fully checkered grip at triggerguard of Kerr No. 1041, are features only observed on the earliest large bore Kerr Army revolvers bought by the Confederacy. These features are carryovers from the smaller 80 bore first model Kerrs, SN 1-1000. About 9,000 revolvers are thought to have been imported by the Confederacy. There are no 80 bore revolvers known with original JS/anchor proof.
Exhibit label from Springfield Armory: “JEFFERSON DAVIS RIFLE – Confederate President Jefferson Davis, an officer in the Mexican War and former U.S. Secretary of War, showed a keen interest in small arms. When Davis was captured after fleeing the fallen capital at Richmond, Virginia, he had in his possession the gun displayed here. An experimental model of French manufacture, it was designed to fire explosive projectiles similar to the artillery projectiles that had come into use in the 1850s. However acceptable in artillery, explosive small arms projectiles were considered unethical, which perhaps explains a contemporary report that Davis was captured with an ‘infernal machine’ in his possession.”
A close-up of the lock area shows the fine French craftsmanship.
JEFFERSON DAVIS’ DEVISME RIFLE Left: Springfield Armory curator Alex MacKenzie holds this Devisme rifle that was found among the belongings of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy, when he was captured on May 10, 1865.
Right: The rifle’s maker, F.P. Devisme, is engraved on the barrel. The .74-caliber weapon was designed to fire exploding projectiles. It has been in the Springfield Armory collection since 1887. (Photos by John Banks, john-banks.blogspot. com/2018/02/secret-stash-what-publicdoesnt-see-at.html.)
The January 19, 1964, Columbia Record, documents the five guns sold to state of Mississippi. Davis mentioned the double barrel howdah pistol in an 1874 letter concerning return of personal items captured in his luggage and still held by War Department, “The old double barrel pistol which was in the trunk was used by me in Indian campaigns when I was a lieutenant in the US army. It has no intrinsic value, but from association is valuable to me.”
Bust of Jefferson Davis (1935) by Laurence Tompkins, Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site, Irwin County, Ga.
DEVISME CARTRIDGE
Original tag that accompanied this artifact when Tom Dickey purchased the Devisme cartridge. (Courtesy Gordon Jones, Atlanta History Center.)
Cartridge from Jefferson Davis’ luggage for his Devisme rifle taken as souvenir by Lt. Edward Denny who inventoried one of Davis’ trunks. (Atlanta History Center, Thomas Swift Dickey Collection. Photograph by Jack W. Melton Jr.)
Captured Beaumont Adams revolver, SN 40568 of Jefferson Davis. There are cased examples in same serial range that were presented to generals Stonewall Jackson and George McClellan. Davis’s revolver was engraved in same style and surely had the same style presentation case. This big bore army revolver was as highly regarded by Confederates in the field as the Colt and the Kerr. The casing was probably abandoned while escaping south with too many wagons of personal affects, like the Colt presentation casing documented as found in Abbeville, S.C. (Courtesy Rock Island Auction Company)
About the Author
John Sexton holds the highest designations as certified appraiser with International Society of Appraisers (ISA-CAPP) & accredited senior appraiser with American Society of Appraisers (ASA) specializing in Civil War memorabilia. He authenticates and evaluates other rare and valuable historic items as well. He is coauthor of the book Confederate Bowie Knives (2012) with Jack Melton and Josh Phillips, published by Mowbray Publishing Inc., and author of many periodical articles on Confederate arms. John’s contact information: website: www.civilwarappraiser.com, email civilwarappraiser@gmail.com, cell 770-329-4984.
Photographs from the Original Article
Captions and credits appear in the article text as originally printed.