The Dance Brothers were given an exemption from duty if they would promise to build revolvers for the Confederacy.
They set up shop in Columbia in Brazoria County, Texas and built pistols in 1862-1863.
The first style was a .44 caliber, iron framed revolver with a round barrel on which was mounted a brass blade sight. The trigger guard and backstrap were brass.
The second style was also a .44, similar to the first style but it sported a octagon barrel.
These pistols were larger than the Colt 1851 Navy but smaller than Colts Dragoons.
A third, slightly smaller style was made in .36 caliber.
No one really knows the reason for the lack of a recoil shield however some feel that George Dance who designed the gun felt that the recoil shield on other revolvers contributed to chain firing by keeping the flame from the fired chamber right against the adjacent caps and nipples. It also caused jams from cap fragments (which Colt attempted to fix by adding the groove in the face of the recoil shields on his pistols). By eliminating the recoil shield it was felt that the reliability of the gun would be improved.
As another thought I can't help but think that the lack of a shield also reduced the amount of iron needed to make the guns might have also been considered to be important.