Though most of
the artifacts donated to my museum are clearly medical in nature, some may not
seem so at first glance. One such
artifact in the museum’s collection is an 1862 Police Pocket pistol, which is
said to have belonged to General Gustavus Sniper, 185th New York
Infantry. While General Sniper certainly
had a role in the Civil War, he was not in the medical profession. However, his pistol was accepted into our
collection so that it can be displayed in an upcoming exhibit on Civil War
weapons and the types of wounds they inflicted.
The 1862 Police
revolver was a small, light, five shot, .36 caliber revolver. The barrel was made in various lengths of 3
½” up to 6 ½”. It had a fluted cylinder,
a round barrel, and a creeping loading lever.
This model was designed because of civilian demand for a pocket
pistol. However, according to a 1978
Colt brochure, “The .36-caliber chambering of these medium size revolvers made
them highly prized pocket sidearms. As also true with the 1849 Pocket, a number
were carried by Civil War soldiers as backup to their single-shot
muskets.”
The pistol’s
former owner has a good story to tell as well.
Gustavus A. Sniper was born on June 11, 1836 in Germany. His family immigrated to the U.S. when he was
a boy, and they settled in Syracuse, New York where he attended school. When he was 18 years old, he joined several
local militia groups. In 1859-60 he
organized a company called the Monroe Cadets and served as its captain until
the start of the Civil War.
Sniper served
during the Civil War as Lieutenant Colonel of the 101st New York Volunteer
Infantry, and later as Colonel and Commander of the 185th New York Volunteer
Infantry. It was his service in the
185th that gained him the most fame. In
the book, "Joshua Chamberlain, the Soldier and the Man", by Edward G. Longacre, General Joshua Chamberlain gives his opinion
of Sniper, “[H]e would describe the 185th as a ‘splendid’ regiment,’ its
commander, Sniper, as ‘fearless’ and ‘clear-brained’.”
A small portrait of General Sniper. |
The 185th
regiment was mustered into service on September 22, 1864, under the command of
Colonel Edwin S. Jenney. Col. Jenney was
discharged in February 1865, and Col. Sniper succeeded him as commander of the
regiment. On March 29, Col. Sniper led
his regiment in a charge at the Quaker Farm near Petersburg. VA. According to the 1885 History of Cortland
County, “The fate of the colors of the 185th during this charge was most
thrilling. B. B. Wilson was color-bearer
at that time; he soon fell wounded. A
private then seized the flag, and was immediately killed. Another private of Company D then grasped the
banner and instantly fell wounded. Private
Herman Rice, of Company B, next seized the colors, but his arm was pierced by a
bullet, and they again fell. At this
juncture Colonel Sniper, who was dismounted and in the thickest of the fight,
seized the fallen flag, waved it on high and shouted, "Men of the
185th---forward!" A wild cheer went up, the regiment rushed forward and
the field was won. For his personal
bravery Colonel Sniper was warmly complimented by the general officers, while
the brave regiment was also showered with congratulations. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US
Volunteers for “conspicuous gallantry in the battles of the Quaker Road and
White Oak Road, Virginia.”
After the war,
Sniper went into politics. In 1870 he
was elected to the New York State Legislature, where he served three
terms. In 1876, he was appointed the
Deputy County Clerk, and was promoted to County Clerk in 1882. He died on March 29, 1894.
In 1905 a monument to General Sniper was erected in Schlosser Park in Syracuse, New York, to honor his contributions as a Civil War veteran. |
Artifact
photo courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
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