As to barrel length, longer barrels were necessary to burn black powder well and were already well established by the 1851 Navy and 1860 Army Colts and their Remington et. al. equivalents during the Civil War years. The longer gun barrel merely hanging down at the rider's side was unimpeded by the saddle.
Since most pistols, aside from cavalry troopers and artillerymen, were carried by mounted officers, the add'l length was no hindrance. There is a school of thought however, that artillerymen, seated on the caisson as opposed to the near side lead horse trooper, needed a shorter bbl. for comfort, hence the 5-1/2" bbl. Colts. Previous posters may have a better explanation.
Nowadays, anything longer than 4" is a royal PITA as the seat cushions on cars, trucks, tractors and 4-wheelers pushes the gun butt up into your spare ribs, but a long bbl. mounted on horseback is still no problem.
IMHO, the question as to carry position deserves some add'l discussion. While trying not to put too fine a point on it, for the civil war and Indian wars trooper, well through the turn of the century, the revolver was carried on the right side, butt forward allowing use of the gun by either hand. The saber, conversely, was carried on the left from long custom to facilitate mounting a horse....(if it was carried on the right it would make mounting almost impossible). The trooper's carbine was also carried on the right side, usually clipped & slung from a cross-chest belt, but later, in a thimble type boot just behind the right knee. (See the attached pic)
As a mounted soldier, cavalry men were first and foremost, horsemen. The left hand controlled his mount and the right was used for all else. Drawing from the holster was awkward at best but necessary as it was specified by regulation. Too, if you've ever ridden with a revolver carried butt forward on the left side (while reining with the left hand), you'll soon understand why the gun was carried butt forward on the right side. Carried on the left, butt forward, places the grip and hammer right where your elbow is located while reining. It bangs the living hell out of that elbow...been there, done that!
When dismounting to fight afoot, this regulation mandated arrangement, with the revolver carried butt forward on the right, allowed the trooper to get off his horse with all of his weapons available; saber on the left, carbine & revolver on the right. However, during the Indian wars, it was found that mounted indians, while fighting during the melee, could reach a troopers saber and/or his carbine and pull him off his horse. This subsequently led to experimental use of saddle mounted scabbards for both the Carbine and the Saber. In the 2nd pic, an 1881 trooper is depicted with the carbine secured in the thimble scabbard and his saber on the far side, is similarly mounted to the saddle.
Check out the pics below taken from Randy Steffen's monumental book, "The Horse Soldier, 1776-1943. His text uses actual War Dept. regulations to document, uniforms, tack and accouterments used by US Cavalry during that time period.
Since most pistols, aside from cavalry troopers and artillerymen, were carried by mounted officers, the add'l length was no hindrance. There is a school of thought however, that artillerymen, seated on the caisson as opposed to the near side lead horse trooper, needed a shorter bbl. for comfort, hence the 5-1/2" bbl. Colts. Previous posters may have a better explanation.
Nowadays, anything longer than 4" is a royal PITA as the seat cushions on cars, trucks, tractors and 4-wheelers pushes the gun butt up into your spare ribs, but a long bbl. mounted on horseback is still no problem.
IMHO, the question as to carry position deserves some add'l discussion. While trying not to put too fine a point on it, for the civil war and Indian wars trooper, well through the turn of the century, the revolver was carried on the right side, butt forward allowing use of the gun by either hand. The saber, conversely, was carried on the left from long custom to facilitate mounting a horse....(if it was carried on the right it would make mounting almost impossible). The trooper's carbine was also carried on the right side, usually clipped & slung from a cross-chest belt, but later, in a thimble type boot just behind the right knee. (See the attached pic)
As a mounted soldier, cavalry men were first and foremost, horsemen. The left hand controlled his mount and the right was used for all else. Drawing from the holster was awkward at best but necessary as it was specified by regulation. Too, if you've ever ridden with a revolver carried butt forward on the left side (while reining with the left hand), you'll soon understand why the gun was carried butt forward on the right side. Carried on the left, butt forward, places the grip and hammer right where your elbow is located while reining. It bangs the living hell out of that elbow...been there, done that!
When dismounting to fight afoot, this regulation mandated arrangement, with the revolver carried butt forward on the right, allowed the trooper to get off his horse with all of his weapons available; saber on the left, carbine & revolver on the right. However, during the Indian wars, it was found that mounted indians, while fighting during the melee, could reach a troopers saber and/or his carbine and pull him off his horse. This subsequently led to experimental use of saddle mounted scabbards for both the Carbine and the Saber. In the 2nd pic, an 1881 trooper is depicted with the carbine secured in the thimble scabbard and his saber on the far side, is similarly mounted to the saddle.
Check out the pics below taken from Randy Steffen's monumental book, "The Horse Soldier, 1776-1943. His text uses actual War Dept. regulations to document, uniforms, tack and accouterments used by US Cavalry during that time period.
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