The American Civil War was fought during a period of rapid technical development in weaponry. While the conventional and reliable Springfield percussion rifle remained the mainstay of the infantry, many innovative firearms saw service for the first (and sometimes the last) time.
One of these was the curious two-barrelled revolver patented in the US in 1856 by the French-born physician Jean Le Mat. Le Mat devised a revolver that combined a nine-shot cylinder loaded with .42 calibre solid ball with a single salvo of buck-shot fired from a separate barrel.
Le Mat was based in New Orleans before the civil war, though there is still some doubt as to where and when his curious revolver was manufactured for the Confederate army. Some may have been made in the Southern states, but the majority appear to have been produced in Paris. Proof positive that it did see service came at James D Julia’s (15% buyer’s premium) October 31-November 2 sale in Fairfield, Maine.