This is GOOD+ condition example of a scarce US Navy marked Whitney “Navy” Percussion Revolver. The Whiteny Navy was made in a number of versions and variations, which were a combination of evolutions of the design and Eli Whitney Jr.’s parsimoniousness, with some changes based upon running out of parts and adopting new ones. In general, the revolvers were single action .36 caliber percussion revolvers with nominally 7 ½” octagonal barrels screwed into the solid frames. The standard finish was blue, with color casehardened hammers and loading levers, brass triggerguards and smooth two-piece walnut grips. The sights were rudimentary with a sighting groove in the topstrap for the rear sight and a brass post front sight. Loading levers were of Colt style toggle link design, with the early guns using a ball detent loading lever retention catch and later production guns using the Colt style retention catch. The unfluted cylinders were roll engraved with multi-panel scenes, but the roll engraving tended to be so light that a Whitney Navy with any amount of cylinder scene remaining today is the exception and not the rule. This particular example is known as a 2^nd Model; 5^th Type by collectors and generally applies to the revolvers that fall into the 25,000 to 29,000 serial number range. The primary difference between the 4^th Type and 5^th Type was a change in the size of the brass triggerguard, with the 5^th Type guns having larger triggerguards than their predecessors. About 33,000 of the Whitney “Navy” revolvers of all varieties were produced from late 1850s through the mid-1860s and quite a number of them, in fact more than half of the 2^nd Model production, ended up seeing use by the US military during the Civil War. The robust design of the gun, which included a top strap, made them much sturdier than the Colt models that it competed with. 

The US Navy purchased some 3,450 Whitney “Navy” revolvers during the US Civil War. The guns were relatively late additions to the Navy’s small arms arsenal, with the initial order being placed in February of 1863. Additional orders continued through the rest of the year and into 1864. The majority of the Whitney Navy revolvers delivered under these contracts were not marked USN or with naval inspector marks. The exception being the approximately 900 guns delivered between February and May of 1863 and inspected by Frank C Warner, a civilian arms inspector working for the Washington Navy. Warner’s FCW initials appear on some Whitney Navy revolvers that he inspected at the Whitney factory as well as the Model 1861 Naval Rifles that Whitney produced. In February of 1864, an additional 42 Whitney “Navies” were inspected and test fired by William Jeffers at the Washington Navy Yard. It appears that all other Whitney Navy revolvers that bear US Navy markings were guns that were marked towards the end of the Civil War or in the immediate aftermath of the war, as arms were inventoried, reinspected and decisions were made about what to keep and what to sell as surplus. These reinspected guns were usually revolvers that were returned to the various Naval Yards from ships stores of small arms. At this time, many of the guns were refurbished, repaired and were then inspected and marked with an Anchor stamp on the top barrel flat, forward of the frame, and often with the inspectors’ initials on the face or side of the cylinder. Whitney “Navy” revolvers saw significant service with the North Atlantic Blockading squadron during the course of the American Civil War, and many of the guns can be identified by serial number in Navy documents.

This US Navy marked Whitney “Navy” Revolver is in about GOOD+ condition. It is one of the late war inspection guns and falls in the upper range of the guns issued to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The revolver is marked with an {ANCHOR} on the top flat of the barrel, just forward of the frame and is also marked P/GG on the face of the cylinder. This is the mark of US Navy Commander Guert Gansevoort. Gansevoort was a career naval officer whose first posting was a three-year cruise on the frigate USS Constitution, where he served as a midshipman. Gansevoort was only 10 years old when the ship departed in 1823 for that three-year tour. Interestingly Herman Melville was Gansevoort’s cousin, and the author would draw inspiration from a plot to commit mutiny on the ship Somers, which Gansevoort was the executive officer of in 1842. The whole affair was quite sordid and impacted the lives and careers of both the ship’s captain and Gansevoort and formed the basic structure for the Melville novella Billy Budd. During his service, Gansevoort was the inspector of ordnance at the New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard from 1860-1862 and in 1865.

As noted, the gun is in about GOOD+ condition. It retains a clear and fully legible two-line barrel mark that reads

E WHITNEY

N. HAVEN

with the lower line stamped lightly. The revolver is serial number 28596, which puts it at the upper range of known Atlantic Blockading Squadron issued Whitney Navy Revolvers. The matching serial numbers appears under the barrel, on the loading lever, on the cylinder arbor pin, on the rear face of the cylinder and inside the left grip. No number was found on the frame, and the right grip is unnumbered, which is typical. As is typical of the Whitney Navy revolvers that saw military service, none of the roll engraved cylinder scene remains visible. The gun retains no finish and was lightly cleaned at some point in time. It now has a mottled gray patina with a dull gray base color and scattered freckles and patches of oxidized discoloration, some lightly scattered surface roughness and some lightly scattered pitting. The most obvious pitting is on the face of the cylinder and in the cone recesses on the rear face of the cylinder. The freckled oxidation has left some hints of the mottled casehardened patterning on the hammer and loading lever, although no actual colors remain. The action of the revolver is mechanically very good and the gun times, indexes and locks-up exactly as it should. All of the original cones (nipples) are present, and are in good, usable condition, although they do show moderate wear. The original brass-post front sight is in place at the end of the barrel and is in good condition. The bore is in about GOOD+ to NEAR VERY GOOD condition. It is deeply oxidized with scattered light to moderate pitting but retains strong rifling. The original arbor pin retention thumbscrew is in place and still operates, which is uncommon as this part is usually broken, missing or damaged in some way. The large brass trigger guard, correct for this model, has a medium golden patina. The two-piece oil finished walnut grips are in GOOD condition. The grips show moderate wear and have been lightly sanded. Their fit is a little less than perfect, with some minor gapping at the frame junction. The left grip has a small, repaired chip at the lower leading edge and both grips show scattered bumps, dings and mars.

Overall, this is a solid example of a late Civil War US Navy contract Whitney Navy revolver with a Brooklyn Navy Yard cylinder inspection and the classic naval anchor inspection mark as well. This gun would be a nice addition to your collection of Civil War naval small arms, or to a collection of martially marked Civil War secondary martial revolvers.

SOLD