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1849 DATED INSTRUCTION PAMPHLET FOR LOADING THE
MODEL 1842 SINGLE SHOT PISTOL AS ISSUED TO THE DRAGOONS
AND MOUNTED RIFLEMEN – SCARCE DOCUMENT IN EXCELLENT
CONDITION – SIGNED BY THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMY:
Printed at the end of the Mexican War era, this three
page pamphlet or manual is one of the earlier, and as a
result scarcer, publications prepared by the US Army for
the instruction of the private soldier in the use of his
weapons. The date of this manual, 1849, and the process
of loading described in the text, establishes this
manual was intended for use with the Model 1842 Single
Shot Pistol manufactured by Henry Aston and Ira
Johnson. It is interesting to note that the first
paragraph of the manual states that this manual is a
“substitute for the present method of loading the
pistol”, suggesting that this manual replaced a manual
tailored for the Model 1836 Pistol which would have
included instructions for priming that earlier pistol’s
flintlock.
This particular printing of this manual bears the
original signature in ink of Colonel Roger Jones,
Adjutant-General of the Army. According to the
Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army,
Volume 1, by Heitman (pages 38 and 582),
Col. Jones was a native of
Virginia and began his military career in 1809 as a
second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Promoted to
a first lieutenant later that same year, Jones resigned
from the Marine Corps in 1812 to transfer to the Corps
of Artillery. His career continued to advance and he
was appointed as the Adjutant-General in 1825 and
continued to serve in that position until his death in
July of 1852. Col. Jones was brevetted to the rank of
major and then lieutenant colonel for gallantry in 1814
during two engagements in Upper Canada during the War of
1812; to the rank of brigadier general in 1832 for
faithful service; and to the rank of major general in
1848 for meritorious conduct during the War with
Mexico.
This three page manual describes the process of loading
and priming the pistol in six stages, and provides some
interesting points in the details. The manual instructs
that the captive ramrod is to be applied to the ball in
the barrel using the small end of the rod against the
ball, rather than the larger end as most would assume.
The instructions are specifically intended for the use
of mounted troops as indicated in the section dedicated
to priming the pistol where the soldier is admonished to
direct the muzzle of the pistol away from the horse’s
head – apparently a caution found to be necessary due to
previous tragedies resulting from unintentional
discharges. The manual measures 5 ½” by 3 ¾”, likely
sized to fit in the soldier’s pocket.
That any of this type of small, apparently
inconsequential document survived the passage of time is
remarkable in it self. The unlikely survival of
this document preserves the history of the early efforts
by the army, and in particular the Ordnance Department,
to provide adequate education and training for the
individual soldier. This is a significant US Army
Ordnance manual in its own right, made more so by
bearing the original signature of the Adjutant-General
of the Army, and one that would add nicely to a display
of the early single shot US martial pistols.
SOLD
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