John B. Floyd Secretary of State

John B. Floyd
Secretary Of War
Guns known to have been owned by him.

MODEL

SERIAL

HISTORY

Colt 3d
Model Dragoon

16467

This gun was presented to the Honorary John B. Floyd, secretary of state by the workman of
Col. Colt's Armory. The entire set of deluxe arms were hand delivered to Washington, DC by a
delegation from the Colt Factory which included Gustave Young who engraved this gun, on the surface these were presents to John B. Floyd by the Colt workman. Samuel Colt and John Floyd were personal friends so the guns were delivered by the workman as a ploy to fend off any possible charges of conflict of interest. Colt knew that Floyd would be very important for the contracting of military arms. At the time of the presentation Samuel Colt owned 9996 shares of Colt and 4 top aides owned 1 share each. Samuel Colt sensed that the thunderstorms were brewing for the future Civil war and wanted to be in a position of favor with officials who could help him with government contracts, especially the secretary of war the highest ranking civilian official who was directly responsible for military and naval matters.
This dragoon was engraved with extra quality engraving and includes the shoulder stock mounts, the
engraving includes over laps of scrolls, wolf's heads, eagle head and a unusual animal motif, the engraving is much more than would be considered to be standard. The hammer and butt plate are richly embellished. This gun is very similar to the guns given Czar Alexander II of Russia and Grand Dukes Michael and Constaine.The inscription on the metal on the stock reads : "Hon John B. Floyd / Secretary of War / From the workman of /Col. Colt's Armory".

Colt Model
1851 Navy

63838

This gun is inscribed on the back strap "To Hon. J. B. Floyd / From Col. Colt's Workman's". This gun
was given by the workman at Colt in 1857 to disguise the possible attempt by Col. Colt to influence
Floyd's decision to buy small arms from Colt's Company. Floyd was born in 1807 and died in 1863 and
served as Governor of Virginia from 1849 to 1852 and as a Brigadier General of the Confederate Army.
Floyd later presented the pistol to Peter Otey, a member of the Generals Civil War staff and later on the
staff of General James Longstreet. Peter Otey after the war was elected to U. S. Congress. The gun is
factory engraved with selected walnut grips, blue and case colored finish and a silver plated back strap and
trigger guard.

Colt Full
Stock Sporting Rifle

1935

This deluxe engraved sporting rifle was parented to John B. Floyd who was secretary of
war to the Lincoln adminstration.The rifle is of the highest quality that was made by the Colt workman
of that time and is inscribed " Presented to / HON JOHN B. FLOYD /Secretary of war by the workman
of / Col. Colt's Armory / Hartford Ct ".