A very good condition Civil War issue revolver holster made with the latch-tab integral to the flap. While regarded by some collectors as technically “non-regulation,” this style is well represented in Civil War photographs of armed cavalry enlisted men and was certainly an issued item. See Meadows (1987) page 64 for both another example and a photo of three Civil War troopers wearing these.

The holster is constructed of black leather, oxidizing slightly toward brown, and has fairly narrow belt loop on the reverse secured by three copper rivets. The finish overall is very good, with just some rubbing to the top edge of the belt loop, as should be expected, the edge of the flap and high points from the cylinder impression of the revolver it held and rubbing of the latch tab. These could be colored and disguised, but the holster has not had any leather dressing or preservative applied. The edge seam is good and the toe plug is in place. The is a little bit of creasing to the leather above the toe plug and some rubbing to edges of the creases, but the leather is solid and this is a minor cosmetic matter. The stud hole of the latch tab shows a small bit of glue residue on the inside. It looks like the hole had opened slightly toward the top from use and the previous owner did not want it to split further. This is not visible from the outside and the inside could probably be cleaned up a bit.

One interesting thing pointing to an early date for this holster is the somewhat narrow belt loop that is canted at a slight angle. Issue holsters that can be dated late in the war used a wider loop to better distribute the weight of the pistol and reduce the wear. In addition, many collectors believe the early concept of the belt holster for the revolver involved positioning it much further back on the waist belt, which involved angling the pistol to get the barrel across the saddle seat. Regardless, this is a very nice example of an issue cavalry holster.   [sr]

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