LeMat Revolver
By John Sexton · Originally published November 2020 · p. 6
LeMat Revolver Dear John: My dad was born in 1943 and he found this relic LeMat revolver as a child. He found it in a clump of dirt behind a store in Verona, Mississippi. He has had it since then, and now he would like to sell it. Leslie Tupelo, Miss. Dear Leslie: This is a nice 1st Model LeMat revolver. It appears all original and “as found” except for the added carved wood grips. The LeMat “grapeshot” revolver was the most exotic handgun of the Civil War. Unlike Colt six-shot revolvers, LeMats had a nine-shot, 42-calibre cylinder revolving around an 18-gauge shotgun barrel for firing buckshot with a selector switch on hammer nose to change barrels; it was the ultimate in firepower for a cavalryman. Produced exclusively for the Confederacy, LeMats were carried by several Confederate generals including J.E.B. Stuart, Braxton Bragg, and P.G.T. Beauregard, who was an original principal in their manufacture. About 2,500 LeMat revolvers were made in Paris for the Confederacy. The 1st models have the loading assembly attached to the barrel on the right side; they are the scarcest and most desirable models. Yours is too pitted to read “Col Lemat’s Patent” on the top barrel flat but serial number “227” can be read on both the barrel and cylinder. About 400 1st models were thought made. I have only seen one excavated relic Lemat revolver before. It was a transitional model found near the Franklin Battlefield in Tenn., and was thought to have been carried by one of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalrymen. It sold in auction in 2010 for $8,050. It was fully loaded when lost. The relic that sold in auction would rank higher in marketability as it was identified to the battlefield, the troops who carried it, and because it was fully loaded. In auction I could see this relic selling for $4,000-5,000, or maybe more. Brice’s Crossroads battlefield is near where it was found. N.B. Forrest was the
Confederate general in command at that famous cavalry fight.
John is an certified appraiser with International Society of Appraisers specializing in Civil War memorabilia. He authenticates and evaluates other rare and valuable historic items as well. His website is www.civilwardealer. com. He is coauthor of the book Confederate Bowie Knives (2012) by Jack Melton, Josh Phillips and John Sexton, that was published by Mowbray Publishing, Inc. Send “Ask The Appraiser” questions and photographs to [email protected].
The loading lever was originally attached to barrel; the stud is still present. Serial number 227 stamped on cylinder. This excavated sold twice in auction, $8,000 (2010), and $15,000 (2016).
