Page 175 - 4091-BOOK1

The Walker revolvers saw hard service. In 1984, Lt. Col. Robert Whittington III identified 150 surviving A, B,C, D, and E Company marked revolvers in
his book “The Colt Whitneyville-Walker Pistol.” Twenty-seven B Company marked revolvers are listed in his book, including this one. The revolver the cylinder came from, B Company No. 106, was not listed. B Company No. 102 was also listed in the well-known list of Wilbur Quick, and the revolver was cataloged by the Far West Hobby Shop as part of the David Leeds Ingalls Collection.
The barrel has a short German silver blade front sight, “ADDRESS, SAML COLT NEW-YORK CITY” marked on top running from the breech towards the muzzle, “B COMPANY No 102” on the left side above the wedge, and “US/1847” on the right side. The revolver has an interesting replacement loading lever with a tension spring running along the right side of the plunger, a clever solution to the issue of loading levers falling during use. The frame has “B COMPANY No 102” on the left side. The cylinder has
the noted roll-scene along with a “B” inspection mark, “B COM-Y No 106” between the “MODEL U.S.M.R.” and “COLT’S PATENT” roll-engraving, and the number “546” on the rear which is in the correct 440-660 range for the B Company Walkers per Pate in “The Colt Walker Army Revolver.” The brass squareback trigger guard has “B COMY-No 102” with a struck line through it ahead of the bow, “102” on the left side under the grip, and “Andres S. Viesca” in ornate Old English style script on the right side under the grip. The iron back strap has “B COMPANY No 102” on the butt. The grip spacer has “96” at the toe. The revolver is accompanied by a 2024 authentication letter from Herb Glass discussing the revolver’s various details, including that this revolver was modified in the period for a Dragoon style latch and then later the novel Walker style loading lever with a retention spring as discussed above was installed. Glass wrote, “I find this gun to be a genuine Colt Walker in very good condition...” later concluding, “B Company No. 102 is well above average for a Walker. These guns generally saw long hard use with many parts replaced in the field during their service.”
Brigadier General Andres S. Viesca (1827-1908), full-name Andres Saturnino Jesus de los Dolores Viesca Bagues, was a Mexican military officer in the War of Reform and the Second French Intervention in Mexico on the side of the Mexican Republic and also served multiple times as the governor
of Coahuila de Zaragoza in Northern Mexico along the border with Texas
in 1864-1867, including from April 7, 1865, to February 21, 1867. He was born in Parras de la Fuente in the southern part of the state of Coahuila and Texas prior to the Texas Revolution. His uncles Jose Viesca and Agustin Viesca had both previously been governors of Coahuila and Texas (1827- 1831 and 1835 respectively) and had also held other political offices and opposed Santa Anna. General Viesca held political offices in the 1850s prior to becoming governor and was among the most powerful and influential men in the region along the U.S. border. The state’s capital, Saltillo, had been occupied by U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War in 1846, and the famous Battle of Buena Vista on February 22-23, 1847, was fought south of the capital near Puerto de la Angostura. Pate and Whittington in their respective books indicate that dozens of Walker revolvers were lost in battle during the Mexican-American War. Pate details 39 battlefield losses along with 85 revolvers stolen or lost, so it is possible this revolver came into Viesca’s possession after being lost by an American trooper during the Mexican-American War.
Another possibility is that the revolver was used by a Confederate during the American Civil War before finding its way to Mexico. Colt Walkers were considered obsolete by the time of the outbreak of the American Civil War thanks to Colt’s improved Dragoon and Model 1860 Army revolvers, but they were still serviceable and were the most powerful revolvers available. Around 85 were sold as surplus by the San Antonio Arsenal in 1860 and others would have been among the arms there when the arsenal was captured by the Confederacy in 1861.
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