Name/Title
Fulton Confederate Percussion PistolEntry/Object ID
2008.10.1Description
Fulton Confederate Percussion Pistol with brass mounts. The lock plate is stamped with "Palmetto Armory SC" encircling a palmetto tree. "Columbia, S.C. 1852" is also stamped on the lock plate directly over the trigger. The barrel is engraved with a "P" over a "V" and "Wm Glaze & Co." on the side of the ramrod. "'1853" is engraved on the tang.Context
Around 1850, industrialists William Glaze (1815-1883), Benjamin Flagg (1807-1882), and James Boatwright (1773-1857), founded Palmetto Armory. An arms manufacturer, the company was located in present-day Arsenal Hill and was operated principally by Glaze, an experienced clock, watch, weapons, and hardware merchant and mechanic. Flagg, who formerly operated Massachusetts-based arms manufacturer Benjamin Flagg & Co., would remain involved with the company until around the time Glaze repurposed it as the Palmetto Iron Works—which manufactured steam engines, boilers, cotton gins, farm implements, and sugar mills—in 1854. An experienced mechanic and manufacturer of cotton gins, mills, carriages, and wagons, Boatwright was 77 when the business was formed and was only involved with it for a short time.
In 1850, the South Carolina General Assembly passed "An Act to Provide for the Defense of the State," which appropriated $350,000 for military purposes, including munitions for the state militia. The following year, in April 1851, Glaze, Flagg, and James Trapier (1815-1865), Major of Ordnance for South Carolina, signed a contract stipulating that Palmetto Armory would manufacture 6,000 muskets with bayonets ($14.50 each), 1,000 rifles ($15.50 each), 2,000 pistols ($14.50 each), 1,000 cavalry sabers with scabbards ($6.50 each), and 1,000 artillery swords with scabbards ($6.50 each). Upon the termination of the contract in 1853, Palmetto Armory had delivered all of the muskets and rifles, 1,000 pistols, 2,000 cavalry sabers, and 526 artillery swords to the state.
This pistol was based on a United States percussion pistol model from 1842. It is stamped '1852' in recognition of when William Glaze and James Boatwright established the Palmetto Armory within the Arsenal Hill neighborhood. The top of the barrel is stamped '1853' to mark the year in which this specific pistol was manufactured at the Palmetto Armory.Firearm Detail
Manufacturer
William Glaze, Palmetto ArmoryPlace Made
City
Columbia, South CarolinaDate Made
1853Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
EngravingLocation
TopTranscription
P
V
Wm Glaze & Co.Material/Technique
StampedType
EngravingLocation
SideTranscription
Palmetto Armory SC
Columbia, S.C. 1852Material/Technique
StampedDimensions
Height
2 inWidth
5-1/2 inLength
14-1/4 inRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Palmetto Armory
