Elgin Patent Cutlass Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1837
name: label: maker
content: Morrill, Mosman & Blair
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .36 caliber Elgin patent percussion cutlass pistol with leather sheath was made by Morrill, Mossman, and Blair of Amherst, Massachusetts. This pistol is famous for its square black pointed trigger. The German Sheath is black and in good condition with silver at the throat and tip.
label: Description
content: The pistol is stamped “CAST STEEL” on the barrel.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: Morrill, Mossman and Blair went into the business of manufacturing arms on April 1, 1836. They became well known for manufacturing knife pistols which were at high demand during the 1830’s because of the famed James Bowie.
label: Description
content: James Bowie became a folk hero because of his reckless nature, contribution to the Texas Revolution and his death at the Alamo, but it was the Sandbar Fight in 1827 that made Bowie famous. After being shot and stabbed, Bowie killed Norris Wright, the Sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife that came to be known as the Bowie Knife.
label: Description
content: The knife became legend and George Elgin patented the Bowie Knife on July 5, 1837. With this patent Morrill, Mossman and Blair created this type of pistol. This particular pistol is the larger version of the cutlass pistols produced by this company. Their success however was short lived when the company was dissolved in 1838.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.
label: Description
content: Gardner, Robert E. Col. Small Arms Makers: A Directory of Fabricators of Firearms, Edged Weapons, Crossbows and Polearms, Crown Publishers Inc, New York: 1963, p. 136.
label: Description
content: Texas State Historical Society. “Bowie, James,” The Texas State Historical Association. < www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo45>.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Amherst
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
label: See more items in
content: Military
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0783.06
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0783.06
label: accession number
content: 1985.0783
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cutlass-pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol-cutlass, percussion
label: Other Terms
content: cutlass-pistol; pistol-knife; Firearms; Navy; Percussion Fire; .36 In; Rifled; Muzzle Load; Sa
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 7/8 in; 35.2425 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, pistol-cutlass: 7/8 in x 14 1/4 in x 4 in; 2.2225 cm x 36.195 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, scabbard: 7/8 in x 8 7/8 in x 2 1/4 in; 2.2225 cm x 22.5425 cm x 5.715 cm