What Revolver Did US Army Issue in Spanish-American War?

[WaistGunner]

Hi Folks, I have a great photo of my Great, Great Grandfather (Company C 18th Infantry) seated on his bicycle, dressed in full US Army uniform, 1898 in Iliolo Philipines, and he is wearing a leather gunbelt and an 1888 model (?) US cross-draw holster. What kind of revolver might he have had in that holster? Any ideas? Thanks,
Waistgunner

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/waistgunner_chimp/Span-a1.jpg[/img] ]
Here is his hat, he wrote all over the interior and exterior of his voyage over, battles, and return voyage...awesome!
[URL=[img]http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/waistgunner_chimp/rpdcommbadge063.jpg[/img] ]

 

[WaistGunner]

Hi Folks, I have a great photo of my Great, Great Grandfather (Company C 18th Infantry) seated on his bicycle, dressed in full US Army uniform, 1898 in Iliolo Philipines, and he is wearing a leather gunbelt and an 1888 model (?) US cross-draw holster. What kind of revolver might he have had in that holster? Any ideas? Thanks,
Waistgunner

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/waistgunner_chimp/Span-a1.jpg[/img] ]
Here is his hat, he wrote all over the interior and exterior of his voyage over, battles, and return voyage...awesome!
[URL=[img]http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/waistgunner_chimp/rpdcommbadge063.jpg[/img] ]

 

[Guest]

Could be a 5 1/2 inch barrel Colt SAA. .45.

 

[Texas Star]

Normally, the M-1892 Colt .38 and its several minor, frequent revisions.

Caliber was .38 Long Colt.

Some .45 SAAs were cut to 5.5 inches and re-issued, mainly in the Phillipines, where the added power was much appreciated. These are the origin of the so-called Artillery Models. Not only Artillerymen used them, though.



T-Star

 

[bmcgilvray]

That's a really superb photo of your grandfather. It's a good reference for military buffs as well. I like the good photo of the hat too. Wonder if it's the one in the photo.

 

[WaistGunner]

Originally posted by bmcgilvray:
That's a really superb photo of your grandfather. It's a good reference for military buffs as well. I like the good photo of the hat too. Wonder if it's the one in the photo.

Thanks bmcgilvray, This is the hat he was wearing in the photo, albeit a little worse for wear after battling moths and 110 years. Grandpa left several pieces of his uniform insignia, as well as some captured Spanish infantry medals, hat-badges, and collar insignia, really cool stuff. My Grandpa was an army dispatch rider, and after the war, became a postal deliveryman in Southern California, go figure.

PS: Thanks Texas Star and Lawandorder for the info on the old Colts, now I have to find one, ugh...

 

[n4zov]

Great photo and hat! Thanks for sharing it with the forum.

 

[deadin]

Thanks Texas Star and Lawandorder for the info on the old Colts, now I have to find one, ugh...

Hey, it could be worse (or better, depending on your point of view - and pocketbook). If he had been in a State militia (i.e. Guard unit) instead of the Regulars, he could have been carrying a Schofield.

 

[semperfi71]

That's all pretty interesting stuff.

 

[imjin138]

Cool photo, I bet he had an interesting time over there.

 

[guy sajer]

Wonderful photo

Thank you .

The bullets in his loops look smaller like a 38 .
Here is the later Colt M1903 . Pretty much the same as the earlier guns . Walnut grips instead of hard rubber . Lanyard ring added .

 

[BRush]

W.G. Your family heirlooms are impressive. The hat and pin are great.

I'm no expert on which State Militia served in the Cuba campaign, if any, but during this period many Militia still had their Colt SAA Cavalrys. This remained remained so through at least Black Jack Pershing's punative expedition into Mexico and WWI. I believe this is one of the 520 Colt SAA's issued to the NY Militia before 1895.

Here is another angle of this Militia SAA with a Model 1896 Krag Carbine.

The 1st Regiment, U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (the "Rough Riders"), no doubt through Teddy Roosevelt's influence, were issued these new Model 1896 Krag Carbines(Although they didn't get to practice fire them before using them in battle). This Krag is in the SN range of those issued to the Rough Riders. It is pictured below with two Colt SAA Artillery Revolvers.

Before yhe Rough Riders left San Antonio for deployment they were issued Artillery Revolvers. Examples of these early 1895 Artillery revolvers are hard to find today as most were recalled again for refurbishment during the 1901 - 1903. The two pictured are from this period. The lower gun was refurbished in 1903. I beleve the upper Artillery is one of Manilla Arsenal blue framed Artillerys mentioned by John Kopec and thus saw service in the Phillipine Reserection.

 

[BRush]

Sorry for the duplicate last picture. I intended to post this picture which better shows the bluing on the frame of the Artillery.

 

[gunbarrel]

Very impressive firearms, Mr. Rush, thanks for sharing them with us. However, you are talking about state militia and the Rough Riders in the Cuban campaign and WaistGunner's Great, Great, Grandfather served with the 18th Infantry in the Philippines. Are you saying there is connection? Thank you.

GB

PS WG, click here for info on the 18th:

http://www.spanamwar.com/18thus.htm

 

[BRush]

GB - Thank you for your comments. No connection intended - I just got carried away. The link you provided is much appreciated.

 

[opoefc]

Forum members, This is slightly off the original thread here, however it's a bit of S&W history few collectors know about. Many of the Militia Units activated for the Spanish American war were issued Springfield trap Door muskets or carbines, as the supply of Krag rifles went to regular Army units. The military had plenty of Springfiled Trapdoors in inventory but were short on scabbards for the Trapdoor bayonets. Smith & Wesson was given a contract for 60,000 scabbards and made & delivered about 1,500 of the order before the war ended and the contract was cancelled. These scabbards are not marked or stamped to identify them as S&W made, however they were hammer forged on a mandrel and can be identified by the pattern of the forging of the seam running the length of the scabbard, as S&W was the only maker that hammer forged their scabbards. These scabbards were delivered to the Springfield Arsenal about 5 blocks from the S&W factory. The Arsenal is now a National Park Service Museum and you can see some of these scabbards in the displays. At the same time S&W was making these scabbards, the Springfield arsenal was making a few Trapdoor rifles in caliber .34-40 Krag. Find one of these with its bayonet and a S&W scabbard and you will win the Best of Show display in any gun show! Ed.

 

[MikeyL]

GB: Check out some of the history books on the Spanish-American war, such as Albert A. Nofi's book "The Spanish American War, 1898" and you will get a feel for how it worked then. First off, the US Army was a very small organization in 1898; when the war broke out, almost all the units that went to Cuba or the Philippines were made up of "Regular Army"units or volunteer units, but they often got 'merged'. My grandfather served in the 3rd Infantry during the Spanish American war, and was in the Santiago campaign. He came to that unit from the 3rd Nebraska volunteers. The Rough Riders were the 1st Volunteer Cavalry, but fought as part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade. Your great-grandfather was probably a 'regular army' since the 18th Infantry landed at Cavite on 17 July, supported by the 1st Colorado Volunteers and the 1st Nebraska; difference was, if he was a 'regular army' he was enlisted for a specific period of time (4 years was typical) while a volunteer was enlisted until the 'cessation of hostilities'. My suspicions are that while regular army units were armed with the .38 Colt, most of the volunteer units had Colt SAA's in the 5 and 1/2 inch "Artillery" configuration, but this ain't necessarily so! I have my grandfather's belt buckle, saber (he was an NCO) and pistol holster, with the Colt 38 double action revolver...so I know the 3rd Infantry was armed with the double action gun. It sure is neat to have those artifacts, since that was the last of an era. Neat pictures!

MikeyL
S&WCA #2010

 

[WaistGunner]

Thanks guys for all the history and information on the SpanAm weapons of the US Army. I learn so much from this forum, it is amazing! I forgot to mention Grandpa left his little round dogtags too, what great heirlooms...Waistgunner

 

[Jellybean]

WaistGunner, that is a great photo of your Great Great Grandfather. I used to ride a bicycle on patrol every chance I got and also rode mountain bikes on my own. Looking at the bike and the way it is fitted to your Great Great Grandfather shows they knew a lot more about them at that time then I would have quessed. I'm not trying to steal this thread so back to you guys.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

This year is the 110th anniversary of the Spanish-American War, so these pictures and reminiscences are very relevant. Remember the Maine!