Grant’s ‘Lost’ Remmys
Here’s something you don’t see every day:
The above is a matching set of Remington’s New Model Army revolvers, with ornate work from iconic Master Engraver Louis D. Nimschke. Serial Nos. #1 and #2, they were presented to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the latter half of 1863 or early 1864, as he was transitioning from leading forces in the West, facing foes such as Beauregard, Pemberton, Bragg, and Johnston, to setting up shop with the Army of the Potomac on the center stage of the Civil War in the brutal Overland Campaign, facing Lee.
Late firearms author and expert Steve Fjestad (the guy who started the Blue Book) said of the set, “Without a doubt, these cased Remingtons constitute the most elaborate and historically significant set of currently known revolvers manufactured during the Civil War.”
After being in Grant’s family into the 1930s, they circulated among collectors but were hidden from public display until 2018. Now, they are up for auction at Rock Island next month.
The estimated price runs to as much as $3 million.