For Americans of a certain age, the name “Griswold” brings back a lot of mental imagery—imagery of Chevy Chase and his co-stars playing the role of the Griswold family, cavorting through National Lampoon’s series of vacation-themed movies where much mayhem ensues. You could argue whether or not those movies were funny, but one group of Americans found very little humor in the Griswold name. That group would be the Union Army of the Civil War, who found themselves at the business end of Griswold & Gunnison cap-and-ball revolvers.
Wheelgun Wednesday: This Griswold Isn't From A "Vacation" Movie
Civil War firepower @ TFB:
Building their own firepower
The breakaway Confederate forces had a big problem at the start of the American Civil War—they needed guns. Many of the South’s top soldiers came out of the federal military and would spend the next years fighting their former comrades, now in the Union forces. The Confederates also seized some federal arms and ammunition that fell within their territories, but they needed a lot more war material—and they didn’t have the factory capacity that the North did. They needed guns, and they needed factories to build those guns.
So the South started building their own manufacturing capacity, including new rifle/musket production lines at Richmond and Fayetteville that used machinery removed from the former federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. They also needed revolvers, particularly for mounted units, but Colt and Remington and Smith & Wesson and Manhattan were based in the North. No point in hoping for new revolvers from those factories. So the Confederates imported British weapons like the Beaumont-Adams and Tranter revolvers … and they made their own. The Griswold & Gunnison revolvers are some of the best-known from that bunch.
The Griswold & Gunnison revolver was based on the Colt 1851 design, just like the Manhattan Navy revolver was; but unlike the Manhattan design, the Griswold & Gunnison revolver was a six-shooter (the Manhattan was a five-shot revolver). And the Griswold & Gunnison design used cheaper metals like iron and brass instead of steel for some components, due to material shortages in the South. It had a different grip from the Colt design and some other small changes too.
They made a lot of these revolvers in the factory in Griswoldville (five points if you can guess who that town was named after). According to the Met Museum, production began in 1862, with 22 machines manned by 24 workers, 22 of whom were slaves. The factory made 3,700 revolvers, more than any other Confederate handgun factory. It was destroyed in 1864 during Sherman’s March to the Sea campaign.
Because the factory made a large number of revolvers, the Griswold is remembered better than some of the Confederacy’s other knockoff designs, and has itself featured as a subject of reproduction models. Traditions currently sells a .44-caliber revolver inspired by the Griswold design, with a brass frame, and Pietta also made a .36-caliber version along similar lines. While the brass-framed revolvers have a reputation for lacking the longevity of a steel-framed gun, the Confederates had little choice in the 1860s when the Griswold & Gunnison factory was running. These days, the repros are cheap enough that they’re easily replaceable, and it’s not like anyone is going to be shooting one of the originals.
The Griswold is also remembered because it was the weapon of choice of Cullen Bohannan, the lead character of AMC’s television series Hell on Wheels that ran 2011-2016, identifying him to other characters as a former Confederate soldier.
This gun here
The revolver seen here is for sale at Poulin’s fall auction. Their description of the revolver says it appears to bear the name of the soldier who carried it:
“Wood grips are not numbered but have ‘L. T. Walker CS’ scratched in channel along with Bill Gary’s stamped “GARY” which he added to many of his guns when in his collection. The triggerguard also has “L T WALKER” scratched inside. This revolver has long collection history and has a letter of authenticity written by Bill Gary stating ‘Griswold & Gunnison SN# 855 is authentic in every respect and is a very good example of the first model G&G’.”
It goes up for sale at their auction on November 5-8, along with a pile of other historical firearms. You can see the catalog listing here for more details on this rare piece of American history. They’ve got plenty of paperwork that is supposed to prove it’s the real deal. If you want to see photos of what an original Griswold & Gunnison looks like when it’s cleaned up, see the Met’s exhibit here, and there’s plenty of more in-depth information about these revolvers on YouTube as well.
All photos: Poulin Auctions
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