Confederate Revolver with 1864 Provenance Diary

Confederate Revolver with 1864 Provenance Diary - Inventory Number: CON 527

Picked Up from the Battle of Missionary Ridge

Wonderful Wartime Souvenir - Kerr Revolver #4,961 with the original 1864 Diary documenting its finding by Henry H. Hough, a hired independent government carpenter.

SUNDAY MARCH 20, 1864

"Camp on Mission Ridge Ten"

".. worked today chopping in the morning and after dinner went to help draw timber I had the luck to find a very nice Revolver in the woods think it was lost By a Confederate...”

KERR REVOLVER - SN #4961 "estimated year of production in conjunction with historical events 1862 - 3500 thru 5500 completion of Capt. Bullock contract" (CONFEDERATE ORDNANCE DREAM: Gen. Josiah Gorgas, CSA, and The Bureau of Foreign Supplies by Henry L. Gaidis, - North South Trader Nov-Dec 1982)

This revolver displays all markings as to be expected. Inclusive of London Armory Co., Patent, Proofs, Serial numbers on Frame & Cylinder, and the JS with Anchor. The action gets hung up when cocked.  There is a small pin lacking from the left side of the frame which is likely the issue, however, this has not been investigated, not even oiled.  It is exactly as we purchased it as the revolver remained in the family since the war until sold by the rightful heir in May 2024.

HENRY H. HOUGH'S 1864 DIARY documenting his finding of the Kerr revolver. Every single page of the diary has an entry. The diary is accompanied by a very well executed color copy of his diary with transcribed highlights.  There are numerous mentions of this revolver as well as military actions.  

Incredible confederate revolver with firsthand account of its provenance during the war. In over 35 years of collecting and dealing in relics, this is the very best documented example we have encountered!

HENRY H. HOUGH was born February 22, 1840 in Waterford, Loudoun County, Virginia. He chose to follow the trade of his father in carpentry. A pro Unionist, under the auspices of engineer William Wierman Wright, he was one of two thousand independent men hired to assist the Army in the reconstruction of railroad lines destroyed by the Confederate army between Nashville and Chattanooga. He returned to the Waterford area after the war, eventually moving to the Washington, District of Columbia, then Wheaton, Maryland. Died April 25, 1913 Forest Glen, Montgomery County, Maryland, Buried Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., Section S/Lot 75/Grave 3.

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Inventory Number: CON 527