A PAIR OF 43RD REGIMENT MEMORIAL PRESENTATION PERCUSSION POCKET PISTOLS,

A PAIR OF 43RD REGIMENT MEMORIAL PRESENTATION PERCUSSION POCKET PISTOLS, by William & John Rigby, Dublin, Ireland, mid-19th century. The pistols consecutively serial numbered 9739 and 9740, with 2 in., .60 caliber octagonal Damascus barrels engraved on the top 'DUBLIN' an with swivel rammer below; foliate scroll engraved frames with folding triggers; walnut stocks with hinged compartments on the back holding three caps and a ball, the grip of one pistol with applied engraved German silver plates on each side reading 'In Memory of/Patrick Davidson/Surgeon/43rd Light Infantry/Shot in an attack of Caffres/when accompanying an Escort/conveying provisions from/King Williams Town to the/Camp in the Amatolas on the/14 Febry 1852' and the grip of the other pistol with fine checkering. Overall lg. 6 1/8 in. Condition: Pistols are in very good overall condition, steel is toned to dark gray, Damascus texture on the barrels is very strong; stocks have minor wear and blemishes, actions function properly. Footnotes: Note Patrick Davidson (d. 1852) served as Assistant Surgeon in the 70th Regiment of Foot from August 16, 1839, until he was promoted to Surgeon in the 43rd Regiment of Foot, October 27, 1846. The 43rd were sent to South Africa for service in the Eighth Xhosa War in 1851. The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or Kaffir Wars, were a series of wars between European colonists and the Xhosa people of southern Africa. A total of nine wars took place between 1779 and 1878 in the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa. In February 1852, during the Eighth War, the 43rd Light Infantry were involved in an action at a place known as Bailey's Grave in which several men of the regiment were killed. Surgeon Davidson was shot twice through his forehead by two Khoikoi deserters from the Cape Frontier Force while taking dressing from his saddle bag to tend to a wounded soldier of the 73rd Regiment. Henry William Crosbie Ward of the 43rd Light Infantry recorded a description of the action in his diary stating: '...The Kaffirs let fire a volley right into the column killing one man of the 73rd and wounding another... The firing kept on for an hour or more when poor Davidson, our surgeon, was shot stone dead. He was getting something out of his saddle-bag for dressing the 73rd's man's wound when one of those rascally Totties who deserted from the Cape Corps fired two shots at him, one entered right in his forehead and the other above his left eye. Poor fellow, he expired without a groan. I saw the flash in the pan of the ruffian's piece that shot him. He was not 20 yards from him.' (Diary excerpt in a letter from Lieutenant Colonel J.B. Jarvis, editor of the 1st Royal Greenjackets (43rd and 52nd) Chronicle, giving biographical details of nineteenth century army medical officers, the Wellcome Collection Museum and Library, London, England). A carved marble memorial to Surgeon Patrick Davidson is located inside St. John's Kirk Church, Perth, Scottland. The tablet, taking the form of a scroll hanging from a sword with tassels with a military hat above reads: SACRED/TO THE MEMORY OF/PATRICK DAVIDSON ESQRE. M.D./SURGEON OF THE 43RD LIGHT INFANTRY/WHO, WHILST IN THE ACT OF ATTENDING UPON/A WOUNDED SOLDIER,/FELL IN ACTION WITH THE CAFFRES AT 'BAILEY'S GRAVE'/ IN BRITISH CAFFRARIA/ON THE THIRTEENTH OF FEBRUARY 1852/THIS MONUMENT/IS ERECTED BY HIS BROTHER OFFICERS/AS A MARK OF THEIR AFFECTIONATE REGARD.' For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing