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The accompanying April
2000 factory letter for this historic
revolver confirms the 6 1⁄2 inch barrel, blue
finish and checkered black hard rubber grips as
well as its shipment to Major General Leonard S. Wood (no
address listed) on May 20, 1905, (all frames were manufactured prior to
1899, making this model an antique). It is not often that the factory shipped directly to an individual as it was Smith & Wesson policy to work directly
with its distributors. Shipping to an individual occurred only in special cases, usually when the individual was a prominent person; such is certainly the case with General Wood. As noted above, at the time it was shipped, Wood was serving in the Philippines as the governor of Moro Province during the Moro Rebellion. In the rebellion, the Colt Army revolvers in .38 Long Colt earned a reputation of lacking enough firepower to stop the suicidal attacks by sword wielding juramentados. Thus, a .44 Smith & Wesson Russian was a logical choice as a sidearm for Wood; it offered more power than the .38 Long Colt and faster follow-up shots than the single action Colt “Artillery Model” revolvers.
Over the years this revolver has appeared in a number of publications including “Guns of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum:” on page 88, the July 2017 issue of “American Rifleman” on pages 90 and 91, David Chicoine’s “Smith & Wesson Sixguns of the Old West” on page 400, Dean Boorman’s “The History of Smith & Wesson Firearms” on page 110, and Jesse Hardin’s “Old Guns and Whispering Ghosts” on page 175. The revolver was on display at the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum from 2013 to 2022 and was featured on Ozarkswatch TV, NSAM in April 2018 and CSPAN Presidential Firearms (https:// www.c-span.org/video/?438656-1/presidential-firearms). The revolver has the standard two-line address/patent dates legend on the barrel rib, the left side of the barrel has the caliber designation, and matching serial numbers appear on the butt, right grip frame, cylinder, barrel, and barrel latch.
Major General Leonard Wood (1860-1927) is hands down one the most noteworthy American officers of the late 19th century Indian Wars and early 20th century. Though he rose to the highest positions of the U.S. Army, Wood joined the military not through a background of military studies at West
Point or Annapolis but as a physician after studying at the Harvard Medical School, completing his MD in 1884. He was then contracted in June 1885 as an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army’s Department of Arizona. He served with the 4th Cavalry based out of Fort Huachuca in Arizona during the Apache Wars, including the campaign that led to the capture of famed Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo. During the campaign, Wood carried dispatches 100 miles through hostile territory and, though not officially an officer at the time, also took command of a detachment of the 8th Infantry following a fight with the Apache in which their officers had been killed. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor by both the expedition’s commander Nelson A. Miles and his commanding officer Henry W. Lawton and was awarded the Medal of Honor on April 8, 1898, shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. By 1898, he had been promoted to captain and served as the personal physician of President Grover Cleveland and then William McKinley.
In the nation’s
capital, Wood
became a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of
the Navy. Roosevelt was
an early proponent of
war with Spain and
support for Cuban
independence. President
McKinley meanwhile
wanted to avoid war. The
explosion of the USS Maine
in Havana Harbor on February
15, 1898, pushed the public
further into supporting war with Spain
although the actual cause of the explosion
remains debated to this day. The U.S. still did not declare
war, but did increase support to Cuba, including establishing a blockade which resulted in Spain declaring war on the U.S. When the war broke out, Wood became the commander of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry and Roosevelt served as his second in command. The unit became known
as the Rough Riders very early on and attracted national media attention. Wood was in command of the Rough Riders when they landed in Cuba and in the Battle of Las Guasimas just after their arrival and was then quickly promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and placed in command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade after the former commander fell ill. At the famous Battle of San Juan Hill, Wood was thus in command of the brigade while Roosevelt was in command of the Rough Riders within it, and they famously emerged victorious and captured and defended both Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill.
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