My Name is Chuck from the UK, have recently joined up to the forum after acquiring a nice condition New model Army which has most of its original Blue left. At some point it has made its journey across the pond to the UK and after winning it at auction it has been purchased for research purposes as I have always had a fascination with Remington side arms. I have already started writing up an in depth research document for it which I can upload at a later date.
Currently I am trying to do some further research on it and I thought this could be a great place to start and to meet people who may have an interest in it.
I have found out a fair bit about this Remington already, it was made in July 1864, serial Number 83602, It has a W stamped in to the left side of the barrel (Likely linked to a "William Waters" who I believe was a sub-inspector at the Remington plant) , a J on the right side of the barrel of which I cant nail down an inspector, an F stamped in to the brass trigger guard of which I also cannot nail down to an inspector however could be a Frankford Arsenal Connection: While I believe most inspector initials are for individuals, supposedly some collectors associate the "F" specifically with inspectors operating under the guidance of the Frankford Arsenal oversight, though in this case, it is most likely an individual sub-inspector whose name remains lost to history but whose work was approved by the U.S. Ordnance Department. and the "Giles Porter" Cartouche on the left hand side grip indicating that it was manufactured and inspected for the Union Army.
From my research so far it appears that it was made at a significant time as it coincides with the Unions final push to end the war just as the transition started towards the Remington being the primary sidearm of the North after the Colt Factory burnt down in a fire in Feburary 1864 and at a time when the Union was aggressively trying to resupply the front lines with revolvers after heavy usage of the previous batches and battles.
From what I understand it was made in a batch of approximately 6000-7000 revolvers which were dated from July 1864 and from the serial number and date I believe it would have likely been sent directly to the Ordnance department for distribution to the front lines.
Looking at the serial number and dates I believe that the Union Cavalry Bureau was distributing these revolvers to the major areas of war and it appears that it could have likely been used by one of the following commanding units:
• Sheridan’s Cavalry Corps (Army of the Potomac): In the summer of 1864, General Philip Sheridan was aggressively re-equipping his men for the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Units like the 1st, 2nd, and 5th U.S. Cavalry (Regulars) or the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry were being heavily supplied with new Remingtons at this time.
• The Army of the Cumberland (Western Theater): These troops were part of General Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. Revolvers in this serial range frequently went to cavalry regiments from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois who were fighting their way toward Atlanta in July 1864.
• Wilson’s Cavalry Corps: Later in 1864, James H. Wilson began forming a massive, centralized cavalry force that would eventually become the most formidable horse-soldier unit in history. They prioritized the Remington for its "solid frame" durability in the field.
From looking at the serial number "83602" and a lot of reading online, revolvers in this range have often been tied down to being in the hands of the 6th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, from looking online there appears to be a few hits in this serial block for instance serial number "79425" that was issued to this unit which served under general Custer in the Shenandoah Valley campaign. (which is quite exciting as this serial number is very close!)
At the same time another potential is the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. Records suggest many Remingtons from the summer 1864 batches were sent to the Army of the Potomac as "replacement pools" for Massachusetts and Pennsylvania regiments.
I must stress all the above is from a lot of looking around in different places online so there may be discrepancies in some of the accuracy of my findings but I have been trying to research this on my own without any outside help, until I found this forum!
I would be incredibly grateful if anyone else on here has anything to add and chip in to this research project of mine as I am sure there are a lot of experts on here.
Is there such thing as original old records held still for these side arms? I am wondering if there is any further information to be granted from places of old records etc.
Below I have attached some photos of the Remington for you to look at.
I look forward to getting involved in the forum where I can and hopefully this is an interesting read for my first proper post on here
Thank you,
Chuck.
