Without question the most important pair of presentation pistols I have ever handled. Truly incredible with impeccable, iron clad provenance and ownership history from King George IV in 1811 (then Prince of Wales), through military ownership during the Napoleonic War by a Spanish Patriot, then purchased by American Major Richard Fitzpatrick fighting the Seminole Indians in Florida, and then gifted by the major to his friend Stephen Mallory who became Confederate Secretary of the Navy.

One of the more exciting aspects of this brace of pistols is that they show clear evidence of being carried and used in the field. When American Major Fitzpatrick bought them in Cuba they were not cased. From the Spanish military in Cuba Fitzpatrick bought these pistols (and a pack of bloodhounds) to use against the Seminoles. They were fine state of the art large bore pistols that he could put to good use against the indians. And the fact that there are two guns may well indicate that he carried one and gave his comrade Stephen Mallory one to use while serving together. That would certainly explain why he later gave both of them to Mallory, and why Mallory had them cased.


These presentation H.W. Mortimer & Son dueling pistols are truly wonderful. The pistols have copper blade front sights and smoothbore barrels, platinum banded and lined breech plugs with inset platinum --crown/MORTIMER/FLEET-ST- maker marks, notch rear sights and sight grooves on the engraved upper tangs. The locks are signed -H.W./Mortimer/& SON- with border and martial engravings, sliding safeties, waterproof pans with platinum liners, and frizzen spring rollers. Deluxe features include spurred trigger guards, single set triggers, pineapple trigger plate finials, floral engraved pommel caps, checkered saw-handle stocks, silver forend caps and wrist escutcheons, and two silver presentation inlays on the left stock flats. These escutcheons are inscribed -To Don Francisco Sayus/-THE SPANISH PATRIOT-/The FRIEND of BRITAIN- and the rear escutcheon is a circular inlay engraved with the arms of the Prince Regent and -From H.R.H./The PRINCE/REGENT/of GT/BRITAIN.- The Prince Regent was the title given to the Prince of Wales in 1811 when his father King George III was mentally incapacitated. The Prince gifted these guns to his Spanish comrade during their joint fight with Napolean Bonaparte. The Regent acted as the premier Royal Monarch during the years of George III decline. He was crowned King George IV upon his fathers death in 1821.



There is wonderful period documentation on these presentation pistols. In the newspaper Gaceta de la Regencia de Espana e Indias Del Jueves 3 de Octubre de 1811- is an article (translated from Spanish) saying … information from A Coruna on August 30, 1811, indicates three English frigates had arrived at Motrico and delivered rifles and other goods for Colonel Francisco Espoz y Minas division and The Cantanabrian patriot D. Francisco Sayus, one of the Spaniards who worked the most on the principles of our sacred insurrection to excite the patriotism of his compatriots and provide them with shelter to sustain it, has just received from H.R.H. the Prince Regent of England a very honorary office and a pair of extremely fine pistols, on each of which is engraved the following: To D. Francisco Sayus, the Spanish patriot and friend of England. From H.R.H. the Prince Regent of Great Britain.

Don Francisco de Sayus was a Spanish merchant and official. The son of French parents, he was a supporter of the Bourbon monarchy and Spanish independence during the Napoleonic Wars and attempted to free King Fernand VII who was held as a prisoner in France from 1808 to 1814 per Rafael Perez Llano but fled back to Spain when the operation proved to be a trap. Spanish sources from the 19th century indicate he was a representative of Field Marshal Francisco Espoz y Mina of the 7th Army, a Spanish guerrilla leader who later was promoted to commander-in-chief of Upper Arragon and fought under the Duke of Wellington. Sayus is listed as a member of the Real Junta de Gobierno (Royal Governing Board) in 1802, as the primary consul on the board in 1808, and as an -honorario- in the eighteen-teens and twenties. On August 8, 1809, Sayus, then treasurer, reported to the council in Santander that he was being treated as a criminal and had been imprisoned and that he received death threats from the French authorities and had become impoverished advancing resources to the city and its inhabitants. He indicated General Jean-Pierre-Francois, Comte de Bonnet, then based in Santander, said that it was necessary to hang me or shoot me. Don Francisco Sayus elected to leave Spain for a while, leaving his family to be cared for by the council. . He returned home again in September 1812 and soon returned to his role as treasurer. He went bankrupt in 1819 and died in 1821.

The history on the pistols was not nearly finished after his death. They were purchased by an American Major Richard Fitzpatrick from a Spanish officer in Cuba around 1835 for his use in the Seminole Indian Wars. He later gave them to his dear friend Stephen Mallory of Florida who had served with him against the Seminoles, and later became the Confederate Secretary of the Navy.

An incredible handwritten note present with these guns to this day tells the rest of the story. The pair was given to Stephen R. Mallory of Florida by Major Fitzpatrick of South Carolina. Fitzpatrick had purchased them from a Spanish officer in Cuba during the Seminole War.

The pair were passed down to Mrs. Mallory Kennedy when this note was written around a century ago. They are also recorded in the article Stephen Russell Mallory: United States Senator from Florida and Confederate Secretary of the Navy Part II by Occie Clubbs in The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 4 from 1947.

In his footnotes Clubbs states A brace of dueling pistols presented to Mallory by Col. Fitzpatrick are now in the possession of Mrs. S.R. Mallory Kennedy. The weapons bear the inscription surmounted by the coat of arms, -Don Francisco de Sayre, [sic] The Spanish Patriot, The Friend of Great Britain, From H.R.H. The Prince Regent of Great Britain The case which Mallory had constructed is completely fitted with shot, powder, shot mold, flint and flint patches. A ramrod is provided.

Colonel Richard Fitzpatrick was born in South Carolina in 1792, and went to Key West sometime between 1816 and 1822 where he became the only authorized wrecking auctioneer. He was a substantial landowner in Florida and had a Miami River plantation where he lived with Stephen Mallory. Stephen Mallory was born in Trinidad in 1812 and moved to Key West with his family in 1820. He studied law under Judge William Marvin and argued maritime cases before the judge. Mallory lived on Fitzpatrick's Miami River plantation in 1831 and worked with him to develop his land holdings. In 1835, Fitzpatrick is recorded as going to Cuba to purchase bloodhounds for use in the campaign against the Seminole Indians, and Mallory also served in 1835-1838 with Fitzpatrick.

Thereafter Mallory was a United States senator for Florida from 1851 until the start of the Civil War and was the chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. As Secretary of the Confederate Navy, he oversaw the establishment and management of their naval efforts throughout the war and became particularly famous for his support for the famous ironclads. He was charged with treason but ultimately pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1866 and had a law career in Florida until his death in 1873.

THESE ARE BREATHTAKING!

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