This historic revolver was manufactured in 1863 and was deluxe finished, and the historic factory presentation inscription "Brig. Gen. R. O. Tyler/From Colt's P. F. A. Mfg. Co." is inscribed on the back strap in beautiful script indicating presentation by the factory to Union Brigadier General Robert O. Tyler of Hartford. It features the high polish blue finish on the barrel, cylinder, and back strap. The hammer, loading lever, and frame are casehardened. The trigger guard is silver plated. The loading lever arm has multi-point checkering. The hammer has hand cut knurling with chevron shaped lower border featuring seven dots. This is reportedly Gustave Young's way of tracking the amount of time spent on engraving to determine the cost. The naval battle cylinder roll-scene has factory hand engraved enhancement, and the serial number on the cylinder is also hand engraved rather than stamped. The grip is figured walnut with a piano varnish finish. The revolver also features a German silver blade front sight, the one-line New York barrel address, "COLTS/PATENT" on the left side of the frame, "B" on the left side of the trigger guard at the front, "44 CAL" on the left trigger guard shoulder, and matching serial numbers visible on the cylinder, barrel, frame, trigger guard, and butt. The barrel wedge is a mismatched number (401) period replacement. This revolver is pictured and described on pages 168 and 169 of "The Colt Engraving Book Vol. 1" by R. L. Wilson in his chapter on Gustave Young. The hammer is shown on page 343 of "The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver" by Charles Pate, and the revolver and presentation inscription are featured and discussed on page 381 of Pate's book. He notes, "Brigadier General Robert O. Tyler wrote Mr. Root on January 29, 1863, thanking him for, '...a box containing a pair of your Revolvers which you so kindly sent me.' The author could not find this pair of pistols in the Colt records, so we do not know what model they were. NMA SN 111585 is inscribed on its back strap 'Brig. Genl R.O. Tyler / From Colt's P.F.A. Mfg. Co' and may be one of the pair, but Army contract pistols in this serial number range were being delivered in April-June of 1863. It is not highly decorated but still it probably was completed no earlier than April of that year." Major General George W. Cullum's biography of Robert Ogden Tyler's (1831-1874) published in "Memoir of Brevet Major-General Robert Ogden Tyler..." from 1878 provide details of his life and military career. Similar details are also reported in Cullum's Register. Tyler moved to the Colt factory's home town of Hartford, Connecticut, when he was just 7 years old. His uncle Daniel Tyler graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1819 and was one of the first Union generals during the Civil War. The younger Tyler followed in his uncle's footsteps and graduated from the academy in the Class of 1853. His paternal grandfather had also fought in the American Revolution. He spent the antebellum era stationed in the West and gained experience in the Yakima War, Utah War, and Coeur d'Alene War. After the secession of the southern states and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, Tyler was one of the men who was sent to assist the garrison and witnessed its bombardment. As a West Point graduate and man with military experience, he rose through the ranks becoming a captain on May 17, 1861, and then the colonel of the 4th Connecticut Infantry which became the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He was placed in command of the siege train of the Army of the Potomac and then promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on November 29, 1862. The Union army went through multiple reorganizations, and he was in charge of the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac starting in May of 1862 , and his command played a significant role at Chancellorsville. At the Battle of Gettysburg, his men and guns played an important role in stopping the Confederate assaults, including repelling the "high water mark of the Confederacy" during Pickett's Charge. Cullum's Register notes: "General Tyler, in this battle of the giants, had two horses shot under him, and his coolness, skill, and intrepidity contributed greatly to the success of the final struggle." His service on the battlefield ended at Cold Harbor where he led a brigade and was shot through the ankle the following year. One of his friends is said to have remarked, "although he long survived the war, he was killed at Cold Harbor." He never fully recovered, but he remained in administrative roles until the end of the war and received a brevet to major general of volunteers in March 1865. After Cold Harbor, the citizens of Hartford presented him an Ames sword and accoutrements valued at $1,000 (a considerable sum in the 1860s). The sword and its presentation were detailed in the Hartford Courant articles, including one on September 27, 1864, following the presentation listing among the presenters E. K. Root of Colt. The state legislature also passed a resolution thanking him for his distinguished service in July 1865. The Grand Army of the Republic's Robert O. Tyler Post #50 in Hartford was also named in his honor. He returned to the regular army with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1866 and served as Chief Quartermaster of the Department of the Carolinas, then the Department of the South, and then the Second Military Division, and later served as the Depot Quartermaster at Charleston, South Carolina. He was on a leave of absence in Europe from Sep. 15, 1868, to July 15, 1869, as part of an effort to improve his health. After returning he was Chief Quartermaster of the Division of the South and then the Division of the Pacific. He is listed on a leave of absence for "making the tour around the world" from Aug. 1, 1872, to June 30, 1873, and traveled to Japan, China, Singapore, and India. He wrote home of seeing arms and armor for sale that had belonged to Indian rulers, including "a flintlock revolver working on a similar principle to that of Colt...", presumably a Collier pattern. After returning, he was the Chief Quartermaster of Division of the Atlantic as well as the Department of the East and finally the Chief Quartermaster of the First District and Second District of the Division of the Atlantic. He died at the young age of 42 and is buried in the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford in the same section as Samuel Colt's own grave. The preface of his memoir published in 1878 note: "Wedded only to his country, with none left to bear his name or transmit his noble characteristics, he lives in the history of a most eventful period, and in the hearts of numberless surviving friends." Provenance: From the Colt Factory to General Robert O. Tyler; The Andrew Singer Collection