| Subject: Hickok and Remington NMA |
Author:
Ron (Canadian Cowboy)
[Edit]
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Date Posted: 19:37:48 09/17/09 Thu
Here are a couple of excerpts from "Wild Bill Hickok Gunfighter, An Account of Hickok's Gunfights", by Joseph G. Rosa. The first excerpt describes the fight between Hickok and two 7th Cavalry soldiers, named Lonergan and Kile. The witness mistakenly refers to Kile as "Kelly", and mistakenly refers to the saloon as Thomas Drum's, when it was actually Paddy Welch's Saloon.
From Chapter Seven, Hays City: The Fight With 7th Cavalry Soldiers. pg. 115/118. Rosa writes...
Why, one may well ask, did the troopers attack Hickok? Stories of a feud between Hickok and some members of the Seventh are not borne out by any known records. Therefore, are we to assume that Hickok spent some time drinking with the soldiers which led to the fight, or did they attack him for another reason? It has been suggested that Lonergan and Kile went AWOL that evening which made them deserters in military eyes. If Hickok was indeed in Hays City in his capacity as a deputy U.S. Marshal, then he could have arrested the pair and claimed a reward. But to do that he would have needed prior notification that they were wanted men. It was John Ryan, (a sergeant in the Seventh Cavalry in 1870, who later retired as a captain) who intimated that the pair left Fort Hays "without permission" to visit Thomas Drum's saloon [sic], and thirty-nine years later in the Newton, Massachuetts "Circuit" of September 3, 1909, he described what happened:
Lonergan was a powerful man, and although he had been in the company only a short time he was considered
one of the pugilists of M troop. When they arrived at the saloon Wild Bill...was standing at the bar having a sociable
chat with the bar tender. Lonergan walked up behind Wild Bill without being discovered, and as quick as a flash
he threw both arms around Wild Bill's neck, from the rear, and pulled him over backwards
on to the floor, and held his arms out at full length. Lonergan and Wild Bill had had some words before that
caused this action. In the meantime Wild Bill got his right hand free and slipped one of his pistols out of his
holster. Some of the men in visiting this city were in the habit of carrying their pistols stuck down inside
the waistband of their pants, with the hilt protruding, but covered up by their blouse, and a man could
whip out one of those pistols in an instant. Kelly had his in this position,and he immediately whipped it out
and put the muzzle into Wild Bill's ear, and snapped it. The pistol missed fire, or it would have ended
his career then and there. Lonergan was holding Wild Bill's right wrist, but Bill turned his hand far enough
to one side to enable him to fire his pistol, and the first shot went through the right wrist of Kelly. He
fired a second time, and the bullet entered Kelly's side, went through his body, and could be felt on the
other side. Of course Kelly was knocked out of service in a few seconds. Wild Bill did his best to kill
Lonergan, who was holding him down, but Lonergan held his wrist in such a position that it was impossible
for him to get a shot at his body. He finally fired again and shot Lonergan through the knee cap.
That caused Lonergan to release his hold on Wild Bill, who jumped up from the floor and made tracks
for the back of the saloon, jumped through a window, taking the glass and sash with him,
and made his escape. I was on the scene........
end of excerpt.
Kile's weapon was a Remington NMA of 1863.
Now from Chapter Fourteen, Weapons Of The Gunfights. pg. 205/206 Rosa writes...
REMINGTON NEW MODEL ARMY REVOLVER, MODEL 1863
Colt's biggest American rival during the Civil War, and in the immediate postwar years, was the Remington Arms Company of Illion New York. The company could trace its origins back to 1816, and by the mid 1840s had an enviable reputation for long arms. But their fortunes changed dramatically in 1845 when they completed a government contract that another maker had failed to meet. By 1856, when Colt's basic patents were about to run out, Remington decided it was time they, too, produced revolvers. The company employed Fordyce Beals, a professional gun designer, to work on a suitable weapon. His first effort was moderately successful, but the final version, the New Model Army Revolver of 1863, proved to be very popular. Many thousands of them were sold to the Government and, following the war, the 1863 version vied with Colt for civilian and military use.
The basic difference between the Colt .44 caliber Army and the .44 Remington model was that the Colt was open-topped (there is no top strap over the cylinder) whereas the Remington had a solid frame--an unusual feature on American revolvers of the time. A minor lock change on the Remington extended the cylinder bolt so that it and the trigger could be hung on one screw, whereas the Colt had a screw for each part. Rivalry between both makers and models was predictable. The Colt, because of its lack of a top strap and the inclusion of an anti-fouling grease groove on its cylinder arbor, rarely jammed or suffered from cylinder lock due to fouling. The Remington, however, although it could be stripped down faster, was fitted with a small cylinder pin or arbor that lacked a grease groove and soon became fouled, sometimes jamming the cylinder.
In 1864 it was reported by the Ordnance Department that a number of Remington revolvers purchased by contract were sub-standard.
It was stated that some of the stocks were made from "green" wood; front sight orifices had been drilled into the bore; slag had been noticed in frames and in general the pistols were unsuitable. Remington offered to buy the weapons back for the civilian market. Similar problems were experienced in the west where misfires or weapons exploding when fired were reported. Some cavalry commanders refused to issue Remingtons. General C.C. Auger, in command of the Department of the Platte, was angered by the situation, and in early 1867 wrote to the Chief of Ordnance, pointing out that his command had not experienced similar problems with Colt's pistols.
Despite its shortcomings, the Remington pistol remained popular and today is much prized by collectors and some shooters. However, back in the 1860s, the fact that some cavalry regiments (notably some companies of the Seventh) were issued Remingtons proved a boon insofar as Hickok was concerned. When John Kile pulled the trigger of his Remington after pushing its muzzle into Hickok's ear, and it misfired, it allowed Hickok time to draw his Navy and to mortally wound Kile and severely wound his companion Lonergan.
end of excerpt.
Sorry about the long post, but i thought some of you might be interested.
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