INSCRIBED CIVIL WAR MOORE .32 CAL. RIMFIRE REVOLVER OF LT. HENRY ELDREDGE CARTER: “A FINE OFFICER AND GALLANT SOLDIER,” WOUNDED AT STONES RIVER WHILE AN ENLISTED MAN, PROMOTED FEBRUARY 1863 AND SERVED UNTIL OCTOBER 1863, AFTER CHICKAMAUGA

$3,500.00 SOLD

Quantity Available: None

Item Code: 490-4142

This inscribed Civil War Moore revolver has a low serial number, 409, and is nicely engraved “H.E. CARTER” on the backstrap in shaded block letters, with “19th” on the buttstrap, and “ILL. VOL.” in shaded block letters on the triggerguard grip strap. Henry Eldredge Carter was born 7/26/1840 in New York state, one of eight children of Samuel Carter and Frances Dey. When war broke out he was 21-years old, single, living in Chicago and working as a clerk. He was signed up by Captain Colby for three-years service and mustered into Company D of the 19th Illinois on 6/17/61 at Chicago and was described as 5’ 7½” tall, with brown hair, grey eyes, and light complexion.

The regiment was authorized to be recruited from the state at large in May 1861 using as a nucleus four companies then at Springfield that had been accepted by the state in April, already seen service in guarding rail lines, occupying Cairo, interdicting arms smuggling on the Mississippi and suppressing secessionist sentiments, and were mustered in on May 4. In June they moved to Chicago where the regiment reached field strength and mustered in for three years as the 19th Illinois on June 17 under Col. J.B. Turchin. Carter’s company, the “Chicago Light Infantry,” was one of the original four, but it is unclear when he joined it since his date of muster is simply that of the regiment as a whole. He served in the regiment as a private until promoted 2/1/63 and mustered in as 2nd Lieutenant of Company D on 3/2/63, until resigning 10/29/1863 while the regiment was at Chattanooga in the wake of the Battle of Chickamauga. His period of service thus extends to cover their first major battles: Stones River 12/29/62 to 1/2/63, where he was wounded in the leg, and Chickamauga, 9/18/63 to 9/21/63.  In the regimental history Carter is described as, “a fine officer and gallant soldier.”

Dyer summarizes the regiment’s assignments during the time Carter was with it as follows: Moved to Quincy, Ill., July 12-13, 1861. Thence to Palmyra, Mo., July 14, and guard Hannibal and St. Jo. R. R. from Quincy to Palmyra and between Palmyra and Hannibal till July 27. Moved to Hannibal, thence to St. Louis, Mo., and to Bird's Point and Norfolk, Mo., and duty at Norfolk till August 14. Moved to Ironton, Mo., August 14. Attached to Department of Missouri to September, 1861. Dept. of Kentucky to October, 1861. Elizabethtown, Ky., Dept. of the Cumberland, to November, 1861. 8th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December, 1861. 8th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Ohio, to July, 1862. Unattached R. R. Guard, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 29th Brigade, 8th Division, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Centre 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 14th Army Corps, to October, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 14th Army Corps, October, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 14th Army Corps, to July, 1864.

During Carter’s time with it, the regiment’s service was as follows: Prentiss' Expedition toward Dallas and Jackson, Mo., August 29-September 8, 1861. Moved to Cape Girardeau, Fort Holt, Ky., and Elliott's Mills, thence moved to Cairo, Ill., September 16, under orders for Washington, D. C. While en route East, September 17, via Ohio & Mississippi R. R., bridge No. 48, over Beaver Creek, 30 miles west of Cincinnati, Ohio, broke through, precipitating six passenger coaches a distance of 60 feet, killing and wounding 129 of the Regiment. At Camp Dennison, Ohio, till September 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., September 24-25, thence to Lebanon, Ky., September 25, and duty there till October 22. Moved to Elizabethtown, Ky., October 22, and duty there and at Bacon Creek till February 10, 1862. Advance on Bowling Green, Ky., February 10-15. Occupation of Bowling Green February 15, thence advance to Nashville, Tenn., February 22-25. Occupation of Nashville February 25 to March 18. Advance to Murfreesboro, Tenn., March 18, thence to Shelbyville, Tullahoma and McMinnville March 25-28. Advance on Huntsville, Ala., via Fayetteville April 4-11. Occupation of Huntsville April 11. Advance on and capture of Decatur and Tuscumbia, Ala., April 11-14. Action at Tuscumbia April 24. Athens May 13. At Huntsville till May 26. Moved to Fayettevllle May 26-June 2. Negley's Expedition to Chattanooga, Tenn., June 2-10. Chattanooga June 7-8. Expedition to Larkinsville and Stevenson, Ala., June 14-20. Winchester June 16. Guard R. R. and bridges from Huntsville to Decatur till August. Richland Creek, near Pulaski, August 27. Retreat to Nashville, Tenn., August 27-29. Siege of Nashville September 5-November 6. Repulse of Forest's attack on Edgefield November 5. At Nashville till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro, Tenn., December 26-30. Battle of Stones River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. At Murfreesboro till June. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma Campaign) June 24-July 7. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga, Ga., Campaign August 1-September 22. Davis' Cross Roads, Ga., September 11. Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 18-21. Rossville Gap September 21. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23.

At Stones River, where Carter was wounded, the regiment played an important part in crossing the river on January 2 to save the army’s left wing. After his departure from the regiment they served in battles around Chattanooga and in the Atlanta Campaign until mustering out in July 1864, with a loss in service of 4 officers and 60 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded. Carter returned to Illinois, married in 1867 and worked as a railroad freight agent for the Chicago and Alton Railroad. He is listed as a member of GAR Post 28 in Chicago, the Ulysses S. Grant Post, but seems to have lived in Bloomington and Atlanta, Illinois, and in later years in Detroit. Following a stroke about 1920 he moved to Santa Monica, California, home of his daughter, where he died 4/12/1921 and was interred back in Atlanta.

The pistol rates very good for condition, with smooth metal, sharp markings, and rather full coverage of the barrel assembly and cylinder in thin, muted blue, and lots of silver on the engraved frame, grip straps and triggerguard. The grips lack their varnish and have some handling marks- the buttflat shows six or seven deep scratches- we hesitate to call them notches- but the color is good and the fit to the frame and grip straps is tight. The barrel address and serial numbers are sharp. While the cylinder does not index properly, the hammer does hold at half and full cock; barrel is mostly clean with a small amount of scattered dirt.

The Moore was a popular side arm. Carrying seven self-contained metallic .32 Cal. rimfire cartridges, the Moore came with silver-washed engraved brass frame, triggerguard and buttstrap as standard features, all making it a viable threat to Smith and Wesson, who shut down its production with a patent-infringement lawsuit after some 5,000 to 8,000 had been produced from 1861 to 1863. Late production guns had a Smith and Wesson designation added to them. This pistol, serial #409, has the standard barrel address in crisp lettering: “D. MOORE PATENT SEPT. 18, 1862.”

The pistol loaded by unlatching the cylinder and barrel assembly, rotating it to the right and using a barrel mounted detachable ejector rod to get rid of spent cartridges and then insert new rounds. Some think this method of rotating the cylinder and barrel over to the side was more rugged than the top-hinge method used on the S&W No. 2, making it even more of a threat to that company. In any case, the silver-washed engraving was certainly a selling point, employing  floral scrolls on the frame and recoil shield, simple geometric designs on the butt and triggerguard, and elongated floral scrolls on the base of the backstrap, which has a fan-shell at top (under the hammer,) framing a space that just begs for an inscription- a clever design that must have appealed to dealers with the prospect of making some additional money.

We have not pulled Carter’s service or pension records and thus cannot track him in the muster rolls, but there is a substantial 1912 regimental history by James Henry Hayne that is available. We show a postwar photo of Carter from that history, which is also the source for the evaluation of him as an officer and soldier, made in the context of regret that veterans of the unit have not been able to see him much since he moved from the area. This is a very nice looking pistol carried by an officer with some extensive field service in an active regiment and the potential for more information to come.   [sr] [ph:L]

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