PALMETTO ARMORY MODEL 1842 CIVIL WAR PISTOL, DUG 1991 AT BENTONVILLE, NC

This is another great item being offered, it is an excavated Palmetto Armory Model 1842 percussion pistol. They were one of the first firearms issued to Confederate troops during the Civil War, produced in Columbia, South Carolina. The Palmetto Armory was established in 1852 by Columbia silversmith and jeweler William Glaze and his associate Benjamin Flag.

The Palmetto Iron Works was contracted in 1851 by the South Carolina state government to produce arms for the militia. Between 1852 and 1853, the armory produced 2,000 Model 1842 Palmetto Percussion Pistols. These were the first handguns issued to Confederate forces.                               

This pistol was dug In 1991 by H. Alligood at the site of the Battle of Bentonville, near the Fayetteville Arsenal in North Carolina. At the start of the Civil War, the arsenal came under Confederate control and was the South's second-largest domestic weapons source. During General Sherman’s “March to the Sea”, the arsenal was destroyed in March 1865.

This is one of those relics that very few excavated examples are found – they were prized by their owner. No doubt this one belonged to a Confederate soldier because by 1865 they were just about obsolete, being replaced by revolvers. The remains of this rare pistol comes in the deep-dish display case with its provenance.