[Im283]

I was reading a book last night titled "The Illustrated Confederate Reader".
It has a section in it with photos taken of Rebel Soldiers. One particular photo caught my eye. It is a pic of a John Pickle who in January 1862enlisted in Co. B of the 18th Texas Cavalry as a private. Notation said he provided his own horse and two firearms including a $75 revolver. I assume the revolver in this pic is the one mentioned.

Anyway what revolver is this? I noticed the top strap right away but the loading lever does not appear consitent with what I thought would be an 1858Remington. Certainly I am no expert on these guns and I am hoping one of you smart guys might know.

I did the best I could with the pic. It is scanned, enhanced and cropped.

PS: All the pics in this section appeared to be the type taken before the boys go off to war.

[Tommygunn]

It looks like an Eli Whitney Navy revolver. The Confederacy copied them as the Spiller & Burr, with a brass frame. That one might be an early Spiller & Burr before S&B filled in the frame in front of the cylinder to beef up the gun (brass is softer than other gun metals and the early S&Bs suffered from this weakness).
The uniform appearance of both barrel & frame suggests to me it is the Eli Whitney, though.

[Library Guy]

Keep in mind that many Civil War, Gold Rush, and Old West portraits were done in photography studios and that many of the weapons that the subjects pose with were provided by the photographer.

Otherwise one might believe that every CSA private carried three revolvers and a super sized D-ring Bowie.

[niklas]

is it not a freeman?

[Im283]

library guy, I wondered about that point as well, but the blurb with his picture stated that he supplied two firearms including a $75 pistol. I figured this guy came from some money maybe ???

To me the gun looks like it has a shell extractor on it rather than a loading lever but then the pic would have to be some kind of recreation from a much later date. Also the cylinder looks to be slotted for a firing cap.

Anyone know a common price of a revolver in 1860? Would $75 have been very high end?

[SWC Bonfire]

$75 in Confederate money in 1862 probably wasn't worth nearly as much as $75 in Yankee money.

[Tommygunn]

Anyone know a common price of a revolver in 1860? Would $75 have been very high end?

I believe the Colt 1860 was $25.00 and Remington sold its equivelant for $18.00, IIRC

[Z71]

Looks like a Whitney to me.

[SDC]

Ditto; here's a picture of a 2nd Model Whitney from Flayderman's, and the hammer, front of the frame, and the loading rammer look fairly close.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p22/StaceyC123/2ndModelWhitney.jpg

[Jim K]

I think it is a Whitney .36 based on several things, but it may well be a Confederate copy. I wonder if what looks like a loading lever really is that. If not, it could be a First Model First Type Whitney (a rare gun at that time with only 100 made) which does not have a loading lever, but the picture just isn't good enough for a positive identification.

Jim

[Im283]

I have been researching Whitney's for about an hour now. I can't find a picture of one without a loading lever but I found this pic. Looks pretty darn close. I wish my original pic was more defined.

http://www.michaelsimens.com/Admin/mikesimages/C-915-2.jpg

[pohill]

Check out this site:
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20americaine/revolver%20confedere/a%20a%20revolver%20confedere%20gb.htm

Look at the Cofer - nevermind, it has a spur trigger

[SDC]

Here's a pic of a First Model Whitney, also from Flayderman's:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p22/StaceyC123/WhitneyFirstModel.jpg

[Im283]

Both of the Whinteys look real close. Hard to tell from my original picture if there is a loadinglever or not.

Anyway I did not even know Whitney made a revolver so some good has come from this thread!