The Rogers & Spencer “Army” revolver was likely the pinnacle of single-action percussion revolver design, but unfortunately the 5,000 revolvers ordered purchased by the US government never made it into the field before the end of the American Civil War. 

The firm of Rogers & Spencer was formed by Amos Rogers and Julius Spencer in 1837 in Willowville, NY, not far from Utica. The company is probably most famous for producing the Pettengill family of revolvers. In 1859, they were hired to manufacture guns of the CS Pettengill design, but when the Pettengill company failed, Rogers & Spencer purchased the rights to the design and continued with production of the revolvers. This led to a contract in 1861 to produce 2,000 .44 caliber “Army” sized Pettengill revolvers, which Rogers & Spencer delivered between October 1862 and January 1863. The firm subsequently managed to secure a contract in November of 1864 for 5,000 revolvers of their own design, at the rate of $12.00 per revolver, with deliveries to be made at the rate of 500 per month, starting in January of 1865. 

The new revolver was also a .44 caliber percussion “Army” revolver but used a more conventional single-action lock mechanism, which the Ordnance Department had showed a preference for, rather than the double action only mechanism of the Pettengill system, which tended to become difficult to operate when the revolvers were fouled. The new gun used the same barrels, loading levers and some small internal parts from the Pettengill design. The balance of the pistol more closely resembled the Freeman Army revolver, although there is no indication that Rogers & Spencer ever had any relationship with Freeman or utilized his designs in any way. 

Rogers & Spencer delivered the first 500 revolvers from their new contract on January 30, 1865, and continued to deliver 500 pistols approximately every 30 days for the next nine months, with the final delivery made on September 26, 1865. As such, only 1,500 of the revolvers were delivered to the US government prior to the cessation of hostilities between the North and the South. Even those 1,500 guns failed to make it into the field before the end of the war, and all of the guns remained in storage at the New York Arsenal for the next 35 years. The revolvers were purchased at a US Government surplus auction on June 19, 1901, by the firm of Francis Bannerman. Bannerman purchased roughly 30,000 surplus military revolvers at that auction, including 4,982 Rogers & Spencer revolvers, at the rate of 25.27¢ each, a mere fraction of their original price of $12 each!

The Rogers & Spencer “Army” offered here is in very nice condition, and rates about FINE overall and retains about 60% of its original blue. The pistol retains about 70%+ of its original thing blue on the 7.5” octagonal barrel, which has blended with a mostly smooth plum patina. Most of the blue is on the bottom of the barrel and in the protected areas and shows some high edge wear and thinning along the points of contact. The gun retains about 75%+ original blue finish on the frame with the balance having a similar smooth plum patina as found on the barrel. The cylinder retains about 20% of its thinning blue, and shows moderate wear, thinning and loss, with the remaining blue having mixed with a smooth plum brown patina. The backstrap and gripstrap show only traces of blue, with the balance a smooth grayish brown patina. The metal is mostly smooth with some very minor, lightly scattered surface oxidation, as well as some scattered bumps, dings, and minor impact marks. The hammer and loading lever both retain faded traces of their original case coloring, which has faded to a smooth, smoky bluish gray. The revolver is serial number 1470, and that number appears on the left side of the frame, on the side of the cylinder, on the loading lever, under the barrel (concealed by the loading lever) and on the bottom of the grip frame. It is also stamped into the left grip panel on its interior. That places the gun in the first third of the deliveries to the Ordnance Department, probably in March of 1865. That means the revolver was probably delivered about a month prior to the cessation of hostilities. The revolver is crisply marked in two lines, on either side of the sighting groove on the topstrap:

ROGERS & SPENCER

UTICA, NY

The gun is profusely marked with US Ordnance sub-inspector initials, with the letter B being found throughout on most of the parts, small and large parts alike. The left grip panel is clearly marked with a very crisp script RPB cartouche, the mark of Springfield Armory sub-inspector Robert P. Beals, who inspected arms from the decade before the Civil War through most of the 1870s. The action of the pistol is very good and remains quite tight. The pistol times, indexes and locks up as it should. The pistol retains extremely sharp edges throughout and even most of the screw heads remain fairly crisp. The bore remains mostly bright with very sharp rifling. There is some scattered oxidation and a couple of spots of scattered very minor pitting, but otherwise the bore is quite fine and some of the apparent oxidation might clean out. The cylinder chambers remain crisp with some original blue as well as some oxidation from age. The original cones (nipples) are all in place and remain sharp as well. The cone recesses on the rear face of the cylinder show some surface oxidation, showing at least some use. The action and bore of the gun suggest it would likely shoot well, were one so inclined. The two-piece, flared, oil finished grips are in VERY GOOD condition. The shape of these grips results in easy chipping and damage to the thin lower edges, which are quite sharp. In the case of these grips, they show the usual dings and chips typical at the lower flared leading and trailing edges, along with some slivered loss along the rear edge of the left grip. The left grip is stamp numbered to the gun on the interior and fits very well. The right grip is an original Rogers & Spencer grip but is not numbered and has some minor fitting issues, primarily at rounded frame to grip junction. The grips do show a moderate number of bumps, dings and mars from storage, handling and use.

Overall, the pistol is simply a very nice condition example of one of the last percussion revolves purchased by the US military. For any serious collection of Civil War revolvers, the Rogers & Spencer is a must to include in a collection as the representative of the end of the percussion era for US military handguns. This is a very attractive and crisp gun that would be a great addition to your collection. One of the best features is that the serial number places it within the range of Rogers & Spencer revolvers actually delivered prior to the end of the war. While none of these guns ever saw Civil War field service, it is nice to know that this one was at least delivered to the Ordnance Department before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and Johnston’s surrender at Durham, NC.