The Americans wouldn't have typically had such weapons...they weren't really good for much of anything but fighting in duels, if you happened to be a gentleman, or perhaps highway robbery, if you happened to live in Europe. I would hazard that most officers bothered themselves to aquire a pair for the looks of the thing.

As for the holster, because muzzle loading pistols have to be loaded within a very short time of intended use, a holster as we know it simply isn't a particularly practical idea. You kept it in a box or perhaps a pouch, along with the ammunition and powder, and pulled it out and readied it for firing some minutes (certainly less than a half hour) before you expected you might be using it.

I always vote for having a character be near water because lots of plunder/goods passed hands, and a character with not-so-great beginnings could end up with some really neat stuff that wasn't "ordinary" for his place/station in life.

Also, think about what was happening at this time in history. In about 1775 the members of Congress (Benjamin Franklin being one of them) set up a "secret correspondence" in order to make contact with foreign friends abroad for aid. All these members knew the Colonies didn't have the powder mills needed to sustain a fight, and we sure didn't have a plentiful supply of saltpetre, or nitre - key ingredient for powder. Powder ran out at Bunker Hill. The powder mills of old were pretty much abandoned ghost buildings, and the folks who knew the specifics of manufacturing powder were long buried. Paul Revere, in 1776, laid plans of getting powder making off the ground once again.

A character, working with Franklin, Revere (or both!) with access to waterways, "secret correspondence," and a connection to a bold privateer could end up with some great weapons, etc.

My point is, weapons changed hands and got from one place to another in odd ways. While weapons through time have usually refelcted the wealth and prestige of their owner, the tale of how they landed in the "odd" character's hands is intriguing.

Anyway, if you do have a character with a pistol, that character could tuck it into a belt once known as a "baldric," which is a belt worn diagonally from one shoulder. (Pirates in the early 18th c. would tuck their pistols into such a belt, as well as a belt strapped about their waist. They often tied them with a silken cord.) Also, after having fired a shot, and still being in close combat with no time to reload, they'd turn the pistol around and use the handle as a blunt weapon while wielding their blade in the other.

In my other research notes, I have this: Both sides in the American Revolution used flintlock muskets. A soldier carried paper-wrapped ammunition. (In the early years of the flintlock, soldiers were provided with a flask of powder and a pouch of bullets--and they loaded these things individually. An early attempt at standardization had been the "cartouche," a small container that held one bullet and sufficient powder for one loading.) By this time, the complete bullet and powder combination was wrapped in a tube of paper. To load a musket, the soldier tore off the end of the cartridge with his teeth, sprinkled the gunpowder into the pan, then shoved the rest of the cartridge into the barrel and jammed down the powder and ball with a ramrod. If an expert at it, you could fire 3 to 4 shots a minute.

I once interviewed members of a local sportmen's club in order to understand the use of blackpowder and how it felt to fire a musket. After lots of talking, one of the members let me fire his cherished musket (the stock of which was handmade by him of wood from a place where he hunted 70 years ago and inlaid with shavings of pearl, etc. - in other words, a litter of his life went into the making of this gun. And so it was in years gone by - things a writer can use when creating a weapon a character carries.)

One last thought, why not give your character a "hide-out" weapon - something that does less damage than their main weapon but is used as a backup and is hidden on their person. Like the "Queen Anne" pistol or, in later years, the derringer - small, lighweight and easily hidden. Again, if this character has had a winding path through life, he could have some inventive things on him.

Notable exception that should be mentioned, pistols (along with the cutlass) were very important in navel boarding actions. Again, this doesn't have much import to the Revolutionary War...the new nation didn't have a navy till later and taking a ship by boarding rather than safely (relative) forcing a surrender at range is a tactic you only use where you can afford to risk losing your ship or, for some reason or other, surrender is unlikely.