Images & Prints
Complete Soldier Grouping, ID Provenance to Pvt. John Anderson
Pike Guards/34th Arkansas Infantry
Triple-Armed 6th Plate Image (Double-Barrel Shotgun, Knife, M1849 Colt 6" Barrel)
Comes WITH THE Double-Barrel Shotgun AND 6" Barrel Pre-War Colt
Purchased 2008 from the Anderson Family (now residing in Murfreesboro, Arkansas)
Any devout and true collector--or simply an admirer and "student" of the War--treasures even the smallest artifact from that long ago era, when the Nation fell into the seemingly bottomless abyss of political upheaval. The world that every man, woman, and child lived within in 1861 was about to change forever. The effects of that war stain us today--but also give us spiritual guidance and wisdom not only about our forefathers and their great sacrifices, but about how we can live our lives today with the same code of honor, duty, loyalty, and righteousness in the face of tyranny and injustice. Every tiny artifact--down to every dug fired minnie' ball--is yet another small irreplaceable "time capsule" that bespeaks of that age so long ago.
And if the smallest artifact can do that, imagine what such a grouping as this can interpret about that place and time.
Offered here is the phenomenal grouping sold by the Anderson family estate last year (late 2008, in Murfreesboro, Arkansas) of whom they represent as being from their ancestor, Private John Anderson. At the time of the sale, the family (in rough economic straights, as we all know about the fall of last year!), sold two images, being that of both John Anderson, and his older brother Robert Anderson. With the images (both men triple-armed almost identically), came this Colt 6" M1849 Pocket Revolver, and double-barrel shotgun. To make a long story short (and there were many twists and turns in getting the image, weapons, identification information, etc), it was originally my friend in Arkansas who physically went in response to the Arkansas newspaper advertised sale, and was able to acquire all of the pieces. I have been blessed enough to acquire the image offered here, bring of John Anderson (the younger brother) with these two weapons--his brother's image was already sold to another Trans-Mississippi collector (which I am DESPERATELY trying to buy the brother's image from!) As with any "family provenance", one always must begin the immediate investigation of legitimacy into the ID of the purported ID. What I found was an incredible plethora of information regarding the substantiation of indeed the existence of the Anderson brothers, who enlisted in May of 1861, as eager "fire-eating" recruits, into the "Pike Guards". The Pike Guards officially mustered into Arkansas State Troops service on May 2nd, 1861, assigned as Company C under Colonel Gratiot's command of Arkansas State Troops (muster roll information pictured below and will accompany this grouping). They would march into Missouri and fight at the Battle of Wilson's Creek--literally armed with exactly what the Anderson brother images show: shotguns, hunting rifles, flintlock muskets, knives, pistols, and whatever weapons the soldiers themselves literally brought from home. Being their "baptism of fire" at Wilson's Creek, they lost 12 men in the fight. Just a couple months after the battle, the Arkansas State Troops were officially disbanded, favoring their enlistment into "regular" Arkansas Confederate regiments. The Anderson brothers would remain together, enlisting together within the 34th Arkansas Infantry Regiment in June (formation of the companies, forming into the official regiment soon thereafter). Both of their enlistment of service are noted within the National Archives and NPS Soldier's and Sailor's System (pictured below--also will accompany this ensemble). Both brothers--being early recruits in May 1861, and actually "seeing the elephant" in battle--were quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant in different companies within the 34th (Robert, being the old brother, was actually a 1st Sgt, and anyone who knows their understanding of rank in Civil War Company formations KNOWS that the 1st Sgt. was really the "boss" of the Company!) The Anderson brothers would go on to fight "until the bitter end" with the 34th Arkansas, remaining within Arkansas for the remainder of the War with the 34th, fighting in such notable and vicious battles such as Prairie Grove, and Red River Campaign actions such as Jenkins Ferry. Both survived the War, and would receive pensions, as their pension records via the NPS Soldier's & Sailor's System indicate (pictured below and included). I have also provided some great Pike Guards and 34th Arkansas historical information as well.
The image attributed to Private John Anderson is a classic early Confederate recruit/1861 "off to kill 20 Yankee's" 6th plate tintype image: he bears his own double barrel shotgun, M1849 6" Colt Pocket revolver, and large side knife tucked into his belt. His uniform appears to be a simple home-spun style coat with VERY LARGE coin-style, flat, or possibly even crude wooden buttons (those of you who know you authenticity and knowledge in uniforms and button usage of Confederate soldiers know what I am speaking of, and take a look, and you'll quickly see and agree!) His pants are noticeably darker in tone, and again, certainly for a "backwoods" Arkansas soldier, his pants are all his own as well. Arkansas was hardly ever able to receive any equipage whatsoever from their own tiny state arsenal or supply system, nor from the organized Confederate government, so every Razorback typically had to "make-do" with what he had. The accounts of Trans-Mississippi troop equipage problems, beginning from Wilson's Creek, through Marmaduke's raids in 1864 (when 1/3rd of his men were literally WITHOUT ARMS as he wrote and is accounted for in the Official Records War of the Rebellion), all the way unto the end of the War, the Trans-Mississippi boys scrounged for whatever they had. John is clearly carrying a Colt 6" Pocket revolver, and NOT Navy--again, anyone with any true knowledge of size, reference, and framing of both the men of that age (their smaller stature), the size of Colt 6" pocket frames versus the much larger framed Navy's, and compared to uniform equipage (especially the button size), it is a Colt Pocket, and not a Navy. "Knowledge is power" as they say! The image even bespeaks more of it's Trans-Mississippi identification in that, though it's roughly 6th plate in size, it was originally displayed in a simple 2-ply paper cabinet-style encasing--the classic known Deep South and Trans-Mississippi cheap, quick, inexpensive style of other known photographers at that time in that region. Yet another clue to it's location identification. There were only minute traces of the glue and paper on the image, and I simply removed the paper/glue residue around that very outer edge (you can clearly see the "ghosting" of the rectangular shading display window around the edges.)
The Colt is all-matching serial numbers 65551, making it an extremely early production piece (1853), and having the rarest, longest barrel variation (6"). Being a pre-war specimen, once again it makes perfect sense coming from a Confederate Arkansas soldier. Only the wedge has no numbers, and clearly is a replacement, though appears to be a period replacement. The action is crisp and good, being fully functional. The metal is in very smooth, in quite good condition, having a faded "frosty" look to the faded case coloring. The serial number markings are all crisp and clear, though the cylinder is (as usual) very soft. All of the original nipples are present and good, and the bore is good, too. The original walnut grips are still quite pretty, and no cracks or big chips nor any repairs. Only "honest wear" of the minimal sort to be found anywhere. What's really cool about the Colt New York 2-line address on top for the barrel is that you vividly see where the floral motif at the left side is--but Anderson clearly took a file and filed-off the "New York" address part on top of the barrel! NOT unusual to see on Confederate-used items, where they wanted NOTHING to do with their Northern enemy being so pronounced on their equipage.
The double-barrel shotgun is yet another archetypical pre-war imported English-made specimen, being complete and original in every way, and still fully-functional! The weapon bears a maker's mark in the dark blued barrel breech area, and "FINE TWIST" upon the ribbing between the two barrels, reflecting the fact of it's fine twist finish you clearly see upon the barrels. The original nipples are both intact, though obviously the bolster areas evidence the clear heavy combat utilization of the piece--again helping to lend credence to it's pedigree of wartime combat service. Bolster wear such as this doesn't come from shooting squirrels or ducks while hunting. No, it takes repeated, rapid, heavy firing in a short period of time (a few years) utilizing lots of poor gunpowder and percussion cap primer that literally eats at the wood and metal. Can't fake that kind of combat wear.
As always, the final question becomes simple: how do we know these are THE WEAPONS from John Anderson (or possibly his brother, for that matter, since coming from the family ancestors, they could easily be of one or the others). Let us face reality with a critical, analytical mind--much like "detective work" or CSI! Anyone can make any claim of provenance and identification to anything. I mean, seriously--museums are FULL of items that are "ID'd" to so-and-so, based upon the "family's donation" to the museum. In reality, we will never 100% truly know. No one is alive today that was alive back then to substantiate anything. The true "experts" of Civil War artifacts, and their true owners, are long dead. That is true for anything. If you are a good Christian, you know all men are imperfect. Nothing can be truly for certain (yeah, yeah, except death and taxes....I know, I know...). But what is clear is that it would be very unusual for a financially-strapped family (living in a double-wide trailer) in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, having two incredibly-rare Confederate triple-armed images, both men bearing very simple homespun uniforms and brought-from-home weapons classic to that region, the photo's originally not being "hard-cased" but paper-cased (known to photographers of that region), AND just so happening to have an excellent pre-war 6" Colt Pocket Revolver and double-barrel Civil War shotgun. Oh yeah, and just so happening to have excellent access to the National Archives, NPS, and other paid subscriptions to access soldier records, pick out two brothers names, matching their family history and "lore," and matching their family last name! The weight of the evidence certainly points in favor toward legitimacy, and not fantasy. Besides, you seasoned collectors know if someone is going to lie or create some fantastical story behind something, they will go ALL OUT! ("....they fought in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg....held Lee's horse at the McLean House for the surrender at Appomattox.....") Most people with little monetary means are NOT going to spend a lot of money on a rare CS triple-armed image, go buying the right weapons to match the guy in the picture, pay membership subscriptions to archival websites to research names for their area. In short, this grouping appears to be entirely accurate and "righteous" in every way to me, personally.
I'll price all three for the cost of what they are, in terms of their literal value...you get all the history and provenance for free!
LAYAWAY