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LOT 3295
Historic Presentation Cased Pair of L.D. Nimschke
Engraved, Gold & Silver Plated Plant’s Mfg. Co. Front
Loading Revolvers with Ivory Grips and Accessories
-A) Engraved Plant Revolver - Serial no. 7854, 42 cup-
primed cal., 4 3/4 inch solid rib bbl., silver/gold finish, antique
ivory grips. This is a beautiful historic presentation cased
and engraved pair of Plant’s Mfg. Co. revolvers inscribed to
Edward Elias Bradley (1845-1917). The case plaque has the
years “1816” and “1868” on the right and left edges respectively
and “Lieut Col E Bradley/From his former Command/THE/
NEW HAVEN GRAYS/June 26th, 1868” in Gothic script at center
accented by some scroll designs. The right side of the barrels
are also inscribed “LIEUT COL E. E. BRADLEY”, the right side
of the frames at the breech have “NHG” monograms (New
Haven Grays), and “1868” is inscribed on the butts. “2nd Regt,
C.N.G.” is on one of the frames on the left. 1816 represents the
official creation of the New Haven Grays to protect the city
of New Haven from unrest, and 1868 represents the year of
Bradley’s promotion to lieutenant colonel of the Connecticut
National Guard 2nd Regiment. Bradley enlisted in the New
Haven Grays in 1861 and was promoted to corporal in 1862. He
became a lieutenant in F Company of the 2nd Regiment of the
Connecticut National Guard in 1863, a captain in the same unit
in 1865, and became a lieutenant colonel of the regiment in
1868. He was promoted further to colonel in the 2nd Regiment
from 1869. In 1877, he was appointed as paymaster general
with the rank of a brigadier general, and finally, in 1894, he
was appointed as adjutant general. A portrait dated December
1894 of him in the later position is included. Bradley also held
important positions in multiple leading businesses and civic
organizations and could trace his ancestry back to an officer in
Oliver Cromwell’s army who moved to the colonies in 1644. The
New Haven Grays were one of the first units called up during
the Civil War and were initially enlisted for 90 days as part of
the 2nd Connecticut Infantry; their short enlistment period
reflects the naively optimistic assumption that the war would
be quick and decisive. The Grays fought at the First Battle of
Bull Run, the first major battle of the conflict. U.S. officials in
Washington were so confident of a quick Union victory that
many actually brought their families to the surrounding hills
to watch the battle. The New Haven Grays played an important
role during the battle. When the main Union forces began to
collapse leaving the roads to Washington open during what
started out as an orderly retreat, the Grays remained calm and
organized. They used well-disciplined cover fire and “leap frog”
maneuvers as they pulled back causing Confederate officers
to assume they were still facing a larger force of well-trained
men leading them to call off their attacks. The unit went on
to fight in 19 other engagements including the infamous
carnage at Gettysburg. During the war, the Grays produced
61 commissioned officers, including 3 generals and 11 field
officers. Monuments in their honor stand on the battlefield
today as testaments to their valor and exploits. A wall in the
Gray’s Room in the West Haven Museum lists the 23 members
of the unit that died during the war, and several streets in
New Haven are named after Civil War Grays, including Bradley.
Less than 20,000 of these revolvers were manufactured by the
Eagle Manufacturing Company in New York City in the 1860s
in several variations for New Haven based Plant’s Mfg. Co.
The vast majority of them were plain. They used cup-primed
cartridges that load into the front of the cylinder instead of
through the rear in order to work around Rollin White’s patent
for bored through cylinders. This pair is based on the Army
Model but has shorter barrels.
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