cannonjockey
Private
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2021
- Location
- Arkansas
While I'm not a big sword person, I have acquired a few as wall hangers or photo props--mostly cheap repro's. One such repro is an India-made 1860 cavalry saber that I picked up at Dixie gun works maybe 45 years ago for only $40. Still, it looked good at a distance and was fine as a photo prop.
Anyway, I got the bug to purchase one real ACW M1860 cavalry saber--nothing fancy--just a standard enlisted trooper's version. From checking around at the various ACW militaria sellers, I was suddenly facing sticker shock of more than a grand on anything but what otherwise could be described as a sword-shaped accumulation of rust. However, I found an auction on Proxibid quite some time back that was mostly general firearms but which also included about 10 or 12 individual swords--most ACW period I think. I bookmarked them all--intending to research each later. Then being the old forgetful fart that I am, I promptly forgot about it.
Some time later, I logged on to Proxibid only to see that the auction was in process. In a panic, I quickly signed into the auction just in time for the very last sword to come up on the block. It opened at $425 so I bid $450 intending to go up to maybe $600. Nobody rebid, and I won it for $450. The problem was that it wasn't an M1860, but an earlier M1840 heavy model. I think what may have confused me was that it had an M1860-style grip with a slight swell in the grip belly.
I realize that both were used during the ACW but the lighter M1860 was obviously the most dominant. In fact, it remained the official cavalry saber right up until the early 1900's I think.
Since the deal was done, I decided to wait until I had the blade in hand to research it. With premium and insured shipping, I was out about $550.
When the sword arrived, I thought at first it was a reproduction since the blade was so new and shiny. Of course, the brass guard was tarnished but otherwise scratch and dent-free. The only thing that gave away its age was the "dry as a bone" leather grip which had begun to flake off and/or turn to powder at the touch. I slathered it with several coats of Lexol which seemed to stabilize it from further decay.
The blade had never been sharpened and still had what appeared to be the original factory polish. There were no nicks on the edge. The maker's stamps on the ricasso appeared as fresh as the day they were stamped. The scabbard was also in almost pristine shape with just some light staining here and there. There were no inspector's stamps. It appeared to me that I had a sword that had never seen any use--probably never even issued. The maker was Emerson & Silver of Trenton, N. J. From what I understand, this sword maker only existed during the ACW but reportedly produced over 100,000 swords of all kinds for the Union army.
Here's just the sword and scabbard along with some shots of the stamping on the ricasso. it has all the size and design characteristics of an M1840 except for the later M1860 style grip shape and style of construction.
stamps at the ricasso
Notice the polished part of the blade transforming into a factory brushed surface about two inches short of the guard. This is something that will normally fade with any wear or use at all.
The sword arrived with the J.E.B. Stuart patent-style leather hanger attached. Although they were used during the war, this one looks to be a later Indian Wars issue, so someone just added it at some point. There is no arsenal mark on it.
I had a PDF copy of American Swords by Authur Wyllie which showed only 1000 M1840s made after 1860 by Ames and 638 more by Shifflin & Lewis but none by Emerson & Silver
Wikipedia (I know--not the best source) told me that the various sword makers quit making the M1840 in 1859-60, but a Google search for Emerson & Silver pointed me toward a sold listing that was still on the net from "The Horse Soldier" in Gettysburg. The listing was for a sword identical to mine and suddenly revealed a lot of missing info including the fact that the state of New Jersey ordered 2700 of these M1840 heavy sabers between 1863 and 1864 for their volunteer cavalry. It also showed the original listing price for sold example which was over 2 and a half times what I had paid. I intended to call them to find out how old that listing is but as of right now it's still on their website.
Link to sold saber: The Horse Soldier
All of this got me curious as to why any state would have ordered a large quantity of what was essentially an obsolete cavalry sword late in the war, so the next thing I did was do a Google search for New Jersey volunteer cavalry during the ACW. From what I could find online it turned out that New Jersey organized at least 3 volunteer cavalry regiments during the war and all of them trained at Fort Bayard which was coincidentally also located in Trenton, N.J. A full regiment usually consisted of 12 companies of 100 men each, so about 1200 men per regiment not including officers and support personnel. Still, no explanation as to why the heavy saber model was ordered when almost everybody else was using the light M1860. Then I hit a connection when I looked at the 3rd Volunteer cavalry regiment. Evidently, to encourage enlistment, some New Jersey official came up with the bright idea to give the 3rd volunteer cavalry extra fancy uniforms---sort of styled after Napoleonic Hussars. They were actually called the 3rd N. J. volunteer Hussars. I can only guess that since they were going to have the name and costume, it was decided that they needed the Hussar-style heavy saber.
Here are some studio shots of some of the 3rd New Jersey Hussars showing both their ornate uniforms and what appears to be their heavy sabers. Because of their fancy uniforms, they were named "the fighting butterflies". They also were issued red-lined capes and a unique jaunty cap to wear. The headgear was simply a brimless kepi turned 90% with an emblem on what was now the front.
The first soldier appears to be an officer due to the aiguillettes draped from his uniform---possibly only a lieutenant from what appears to be a single line of braid on his sleeves. His cape is hanging over the chair. The corporal after him is wearing his cape and evidently was a man of means--having privately purchased thigh-high boots. New Jersey is also on record as having purchased a quantity of Whitney revolvers, so I'm assuming that's what he is holding.
The star on the chest appears to be another affectation of the 3rd regiment.
Of course not knowing how tall or large any of these men are, it's difficult to say for sure whether the swords are M1840s or M1860
As mentioned I had not intended to add another facet to my collecting at this point but had previously posted all this found information on a gun board I belong to. It turned out that another member was a cavalry sword collector for all periods and not just the civil war. He provided me with some information out of his copy of the Thillman book dedicated to cavalry and artillery sabers. He indicated that it did not have a lot of information other than that the state of New Jersey sold about 2700 M1840s back to the Federal government which sort of contradicted the info disclosed in the listing at the Horse Soldier. He never explained this contradiction. I then started looking to acquire a copy of the Thillman book for myself but since it is out of print, I couldn't quite justify the $350 to $500 prices that people were asking for used copies on Amazon. I finally have a line on a copy of the mentioned book for only $200 locally---if I can just get the guy to call me back.
If anyone has the book and can tell me if it will help solve this riddle of why these swords exist feel free to comment or correct the info I have.
Cheers
P.S. I prefer the term collector because it sounds a lot nicer than "hoarder"
Thanks for reading if you made it this far without being totally bored
Cheers
Anyway, I got the bug to purchase one real ACW M1860 cavalry saber--nothing fancy--just a standard enlisted trooper's version. From checking around at the various ACW militaria sellers, I was suddenly facing sticker shock of more than a grand on anything but what otherwise could be described as a sword-shaped accumulation of rust. However, I found an auction on Proxibid quite some time back that was mostly general firearms but which also included about 10 or 12 individual swords--most ACW period I think. I bookmarked them all--intending to research each later. Then being the old forgetful fart that I am, I promptly forgot about it.
Some time later, I logged on to Proxibid only to see that the auction was in process. In a panic, I quickly signed into the auction just in time for the very last sword to come up on the block. It opened at $425 so I bid $450 intending to go up to maybe $600. Nobody rebid, and I won it for $450. The problem was that it wasn't an M1860, but an earlier M1840 heavy model. I think what may have confused me was that it had an M1860-style grip with a slight swell in the grip belly.
I realize that both were used during the ACW but the lighter M1860 was obviously the most dominant. In fact, it remained the official cavalry saber right up until the early 1900's I think.
Since the deal was done, I decided to wait until I had the blade in hand to research it. With premium and insured shipping, I was out about $550.
When the sword arrived, I thought at first it was a reproduction since the blade was so new and shiny. Of course, the brass guard was tarnished but otherwise scratch and dent-free. The only thing that gave away its age was the "dry as a bone" leather grip which had begun to flake off and/or turn to powder at the touch. I slathered it with several coats of Lexol which seemed to stabilize it from further decay.
The blade had never been sharpened and still had what appeared to be the original factory polish. There were no nicks on the edge. The maker's stamps on the ricasso appeared as fresh as the day they were stamped. The scabbard was also in almost pristine shape with just some light staining here and there. There were no inspector's stamps. It appeared to me that I had a sword that had never seen any use--probably never even issued. The maker was Emerson & Silver of Trenton, N. J. From what I understand, this sword maker only existed during the ACW but reportedly produced over 100,000 swords of all kinds for the Union army.
Here's just the sword and scabbard along with some shots of the stamping on the ricasso. it has all the size and design characteristics of an M1840 except for the later M1860 style grip shape and style of construction.
stamps at the ricasso
Notice the polished part of the blade transforming into a factory brushed surface about two inches short of the guard. This is something that will normally fade with any wear or use at all.
The sword arrived with the J.E.B. Stuart patent-style leather hanger attached. Although they were used during the war, this one looks to be a later Indian Wars issue, so someone just added it at some point. There is no arsenal mark on it.
I had a PDF copy of American Swords by Authur Wyllie which showed only 1000 M1840s made after 1860 by Ames and 638 more by Shifflin & Lewis but none by Emerson & Silver
Wikipedia (I know--not the best source) told me that the various sword makers quit making the M1840 in 1859-60, but a Google search for Emerson & Silver pointed me toward a sold listing that was still on the net from "The Horse Soldier" in Gettysburg. The listing was for a sword identical to mine and suddenly revealed a lot of missing info including the fact that the state of New Jersey ordered 2700 of these M1840 heavy sabers between 1863 and 1864 for their volunteer cavalry. It also showed the original listing price for sold example which was over 2 and a half times what I had paid. I intended to call them to find out how old that listing is but as of right now it's still on their website.
Link to sold saber: The Horse Soldier
All of this got me curious as to why any state would have ordered a large quantity of what was essentially an obsolete cavalry sword late in the war, so the next thing I did was do a Google search for New Jersey volunteer cavalry during the ACW. From what I could find online it turned out that New Jersey organized at least 3 volunteer cavalry regiments during the war and all of them trained at Fort Bayard which was coincidentally also located in Trenton, N.J. A full regiment usually consisted of 12 companies of 100 men each, so about 1200 men per regiment not including officers and support personnel. Still, no explanation as to why the heavy saber model was ordered when almost everybody else was using the light M1860. Then I hit a connection when I looked at the 3rd Volunteer cavalry regiment. Evidently, to encourage enlistment, some New Jersey official came up with the bright idea to give the 3rd volunteer cavalry extra fancy uniforms---sort of styled after Napoleonic Hussars. They were actually called the 3rd N. J. volunteer Hussars. I can only guess that since they were going to have the name and costume, it was decided that they needed the Hussar-style heavy saber.
Here are some studio shots of some of the 3rd New Jersey Hussars showing both their ornate uniforms and what appears to be their heavy sabers. Because of their fancy uniforms, they were named "the fighting butterflies". They also were issued red-lined capes and a unique jaunty cap to wear. The headgear was simply a brimless kepi turned 90% with an emblem on what was now the front.
The first soldier appears to be an officer due to the aiguillettes draped from his uniform---possibly only a lieutenant from what appears to be a single line of braid on his sleeves. His cape is hanging over the chair. The corporal after him is wearing his cape and evidently was a man of means--having privately purchased thigh-high boots. New Jersey is also on record as having purchased a quantity of Whitney revolvers, so I'm assuming that's what he is holding.
The star on the chest appears to be another affectation of the 3rd regiment.
Of course not knowing how tall or large any of these men are, it's difficult to say for sure whether the swords are M1840s or M1860
As mentioned I had not intended to add another facet to my collecting at this point but had previously posted all this found information on a gun board I belong to. It turned out that another member was a cavalry sword collector for all periods and not just the civil war. He provided me with some information out of his copy of the Thillman book dedicated to cavalry and artillery sabers. He indicated that it did not have a lot of information other than that the state of New Jersey sold about 2700 M1840s back to the Federal government which sort of contradicted the info disclosed in the listing at the Horse Soldier. He never explained this contradiction. I then started looking to acquire a copy of the Thillman book for myself but since it is out of print, I couldn't quite justify the $350 to $500 prices that people were asking for used copies on Amazon. I finally have a line on a copy of the mentioned book for only $200 locally---if I can just get the guy to call me back.
If anyone has the book and can tell me if it will help solve this riddle of why these swords exist feel free to comment or correct the info I have.
Cheers
P.S. I prefer the term collector because it sounds a lot nicer than "hoarder"
Thanks for reading if you made it this far without being totally bored
Cheers
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