INSCRIBED COLT POLICE REVOLVER OF SAMUEL DALTON QUARLES: CAPTAIN, MAJOR & LT. COL. 6th N.H.; WIA SPOTTSYLVANIA; EX-TEXAS CIVIL WAR MUSEUM

INSCRIBED COLT POLICE REVOLVER OF SAMUEL DALTON QUARLES: CAPTAIN, MAJOR & LT. COL. 6th N.H.; WIA SPOTTSYLVANIA; EX-TEXAS CIVIL WAR MUSEUM

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$3,500.00

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Item Code: 1179-125

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This .36 caliber M1862 Colt Police Revolver comes from the collections of the Texas Civil War Museum. The pistol has matching serial numbers, 12082, giving it an 1862 production date, and bears a professional, period inscription on the buttstrap, “S.D. Quarles,” who was an officer in the 6th New Hampshire, rising from Captain to Major, and was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel, serving in the regiment from its organization on November 27, 1861, to its muster out on July 27, 1865, and seriously wounded at Spottsylvania on May 18, 1864.

Although designated Model 1862, production of these pistols actually started in 1861. They were popular among Civil War officers, being .36 Caliber, and thus more powerful than the .31 Caliber Colt pocket revolver, but lighter than the .36 Navy. Colt produced them in several barrel lengths. This one has a 6-1/2” barrel. The mechanics and bore are good. The metal is smooth. The fit of wood to metal is tight. The markings are sharp: including all serial numbers, ADDRESS COL SAML COLT NEW-YORK U.S. AMERICA on the barrel; COLTS/PATENT on left frame; PAT SEPT. 10th 1850 in one cylinder flute; and, 36CAL on the left triggerguard. The barrel assembly and cylinder show as a thin plum-brown. The frame and hammer preserve muted case colors. The screwheads show a lot of blue. The triggerguard shows some rubbed, tarnished silver on the plate and sides of the bow. The backstrap, buttstrap and gripstrap are medium, aged brass tone. We see just some small light dings and scratches to the metal with a bit of tiny pitting on the rear of the cylinder from firing, though the nipples are not battered. The grips have a warm brown color and good surface, though with some small dings on the buttflat and along the right edge of the backstrap. Sutherland and Wilson give 8500 as the starting serial number for 1862 and 15000 for the start of 1863.

Born in Ossipee, NH, in 1833, Samuel Dalton Quarles was educated at several academies and at the University of Michigan, apparently having applied but not gotten into West Point in 1855. He took up teaching as a profession for a time and also served as a County School Commissioner for two years, but read law in the office of a local attorney and passed the bar in October 1861.

Quarles had helped raise a company for the 4th New Hampshire, was unable to join them because of illness, but recovered and recruited another company, which became Company D of the 6th NH, with Quarles appointed their Captain on Nov. 30, 1861, and mustering at for three years at that rank at Keene, NH, to date from Nov. 27, 1861. The regiment took part in Burnside’s coastal expedition to North Carolina, became part of the 9th Corps, Army of the Potomac in early 1863 and went west with Burnside, serving briefly as part of the 23rd Corps, then rejoining the 9th Corps and Army of the Potomac in April 1864 in time for Grant’s Overland Campaign. Quarles was seriously wounded on May 18 in the fighting around Spottsylvania, but returned to duty October 20. He had been appointed Major as of July 28, and after returning was finally mustered at that rank on Oct. 24. He mustered out with the regiment on July 17, 1865, but received a brevet as Lieutenant Colonel to date from April 2, 1865, “for gallant and meritorious conduct before Petersburg, Va.”

Dyer offers the following summary of the regiment’s service. We have bracketed the dates and engagements he missed while recovering from his wound:

“Expedition to Hatteras Inlet, N. C., January 6-13, 1862, and duty there till March 2. Moved to Roanoke Island March 2 and duty there till June 18. Expedition to Elizabeth City April 7-8. Battle of Camden, South Mills, April 19. Expedition to New Berne June 18-July 2. Moved to Newport News, Va., July 2-10, and duty there till August 2. Moved to Aquia Creek and Fredericksburg, Va., August 2-7. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Battles of Groveton August 29; Second Bull Run August 30; Chantilly September 1. Maryland Campaign September-October. Battle of South Mountain, Md., September 14. Battle of Antietam, Md., September 16-17. Duty in Pleasant Valley, Md., till October 27. Movement to Falmouth, Va., October 27-November 19. Corbin's Cross Roads, near Amissville, November 10. Sulphur Springs November 14. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12-15. Burnside's Second Campaign, "Mud March," January 20-24, 1863. Moved to Newport News, Va., February 11; thence to Lexington, Ky., March 26-April 1. To Winchester, thence to Richmond, Ky., April 18. To Paint Lick Creek May 3, and to Lancaster May 10. Movement to Vicksburg, Miss., June 3-14. Siege of Vicksburg June 14-July 4. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. At Milldale till August 5. Moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, August 5-20; thence to Nicholasville, Ky. Provost duty at Nicholasville, Frankfort and Russellville till October 25. Moved to Camp Nelson, Ky., and Provost duty there till January 16, 1864. Regiment veteranized January, 1864, and on furlough January 16 to March 10, when ordered to Annapolis, Md. Non-Veterans at Camp Nelson, Ky., till March. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James May 3-June 15. Battles of the Wilderness, Va., May 5-7; Spottsylvania May 8-12; Spottsylvania Court House May 12-21. Assault on the Salient at Spottsylvania Court House May 12. [North Anna River May 23-26. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before Petersburg June 16-19. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30, 1864. Weldon Railroad August 18-21. Poplar Springs Church September 29-October 2.] Hatcher's Run October 27-28. Garrison of Fort Alexander Hays till April, 1865. Appomattex Campaign March 28-April 9. Assaults on and fall of Petersburg April 2. Occupation of Petersburg April 3. Pursuit of Lee to Burkesville April 3-9. Moved to Washington, D. C., April 20-27. Duty at Alexandria till July. Grand Review May 23. Mustered out July 17, 1865.”

Quarles returned to Ossipee and the practice of law. He married in 1866, but had no children, and passed away in November 1889. A former lieutenant who had served under him contributed a glowing biography of him to the regimental history:

“He was the soul of honor: you could depend upon whatever he told you. . . He was grand in his patriotism, and never lost faith in the government in its darkest hour. His sympathies were as broad as humanity: he believed thoroughly in the equality of mankind and the unity of the republic.

As a soldier, he was fearless in battle, and loved the tented field better than a palace. He thoroughly enjoyed the hardships of a soldier's life; his perseverance was indomitable; he knew no such word as fail. As a company commander, he was most exact and thorough in every detail. . . I was first lieutenant under him for eight months, and we never had an unpleasant word, while it may be added that we remained fast friends to the day of his death. He was affectionate, and loved his mother to devotion; and I was under pledge for three years to send her his body in the event of his death."

This is great looking pistol carried by a well-respected officer with a strong record who saw considerable action: the 6th New Hampshire lost 10 officers and 177 men just in killed or mortally wounded during their service.   [sr][ph:L]

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