The revolvers designed by C.S. Pettengill were some of the more unique percussion handguns produced in mid-19th century America. The pistols were manufactured in three sizes, including a small .31 caliber “Pocket” model, a mid-sized .34 caliber “Navy” or “Belt” model, and the largest pistol, a .44 caliber “Army” model. The guns all utilized a unique “self-cocking” action that today would be referred to as “double action only.” The pistols had a very distinctive frame profile that resulted in a low bore axis in the hand, and also featured a rather innovative concealed hammer. In fact, the revolver was the only concealed hammer revolver to see U.S. military service during the 19th century.
The “Army” model was a solid frame, six-shot, .44-caliber “self-cocking” percussion revolver with a 7.5" octagon barrel rifled with six grooves. It had an overall length of 14" and weighed about 3 pounds. A Colt style loading lever was located under the barrel. A knurled knob on the left side of the frame allowed the loading lever and cylinder arbor pin assembly to be removed, thus freeing the cylinder to be removed from the frame. The pistols were blued, with color casehardened loading levers and two-piece walnut grips. A rudimentary rear sight was created by a groove in the top strap, and the front sight was a German silver cone, similar to the early Remington Army and Navy revolvers. The initial pistol design was conceived by C.S. Pettengill of New Haven, Conn.; covered under U.S. patent #15388 issued on July 22, 1856. An additional patent (#21054) was granted to Charles Robitaille and Edward A. Raymond of Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 27, 1858 for refinements and improvements to the mechanism. Although the pistols were known as “Pettengills,” and the early production guns are marked with the names of all the patentees, none of the inventors ever produced any of the guns.
Later production guns bear only Pettengill’s name, and all the associated patent dates. Standard markings for the later production Army model pistols are PETTENGILLS / PATENT 1856 in two lines and PAT’D JULY 22, 1856 / & JULY 27, 1858 in two lines, located on either side of the topstrap sighting groove. Earlier production Army sized revolvers have the first mark, but second mark reads RAYMOND & ROBITAILLE / PATENTEE 1858. The bottom of the frame of the early guns is unmarked, but most military inspected guns are marked in two lines: PATENTED / NOV. 4, 1862. Serial numbers typically appear on the bottom of the pistol’s grip frame as well as on the side of the cylinder and inside the triggerguard. Martially marked examples bear sub-inspection marks on major components, and have acceptance cartouches on the grips.
The pistols were manufactured by Henry S. Rogers of the Rogers & Spencer Company. Rogers & Spencer started producing the “Pocket” and “Navy” sized revolvers in 1859. The production of the “Army” sized revolvers did not commence until early 1862, when the company managed to secure a contract to provide the .44 caliber pistols to the U.S. government. Through some political wrangling, and the application of pressure through influential friends and political supporters, Rogers managed to convince Secretary of War Cameron to support an order of Pettengill Army model revolvers. On Dec. 26, 1861 Cameron ordered General Ripley of the Ordnance
Total production for the Army model is estimated at around 3,000 revolvers. These guns were serial numbered sequentially from the previous “Pocket” & “Navy” revolvers, and were not numbered in their own range. It is believed that the “Army” models began to appear around serial number 1,300. The documentable range of U.S. purchased Pettengill revolvers is 3,244 through 4,144. These serial numbers are published in the Springfield Research Service serial number books; all the serial numbers listed were guns in the hands of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry. As this range is smaller than the 2,001 revolvers that were delivered, it is apparent those guns both above and below that range were also acquired by the Ordnance Department, but there is no other listing of serial numbers that I am aware of, other than those guns issued to the 1st Arkansas.
Rogers & Spencer never completely resolved the mechanical issues that arose during testing at Springfield Armory, and of the guns delivered to the government about 15% were rejected. The issues appear to have “revolved” around timing and indexing of the cylinder. It is for this reason that martially marked examples often appear today with mismatched cylinders. The complex machining of the ratchet on the cylinder’s rear needed to make the gun function correctly appears to have been prone to wear, or worked poorly when the guns were fouled. The end result was cylinders that would not index correctly after use. The revolvers did not perform much better in the field than they did during testing, and by late 1863 most Pettengill Army revolvers had been removed from service, having been replaced by more reliable and robust Colt or Remington revolvers. Interestingly, 274 Pettengill revolvers were still on hand at the Ordnance Depot in Nashville as of July 1864.
Pettengill Army revolvers were issued to the following volunteer cavalry regiments: the 3rd Mich., 3rd and 5th Mo. State Militia, 1st Ark., 3rd Ill., and 3rd Ky. There is no documentation to indicate that the guns were ever issued to regular Army cavalry regiments. According to research published by John D. McAulay, regarding the post-Civil War disposition of surplus arms, the St. Louis arsenal disposed of 196 Pettengill revolvers for $1.75 each Oct. 25, 1876. In July of 1882, the New York Arsenal sold 525 at an average price of $.27 each. It is not known what happened to the remaining stocks of Pettengill revolvers at other arsenals. It is interesting to note that Rogers & Spencer subsequently used much of the tooling and machinery from the Pettengill revolver production to manufacture their own Rogers & Spencer revolvers. A comparison of the two models will reveal that the front of the frame, the barrel and the loading lever are nearly identical. However, the Rogers & Spencer revolver design combined this “front end” with a more conventional and mechanically robust single action mechanism. Unfortunately, the Rogers & Spencer revolvers were largely delivered after the conclusion of the war and never saw service.
Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and an upcoming book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.