Real or Faux? John Buford's saber

[major bill]

John Buford's saber. Is the engraving post Civil War? Are they saying he carried this saber at Gettysburg?

 

[major bill]

 

[scooter748driver]

The font looks to be post-war to me.

 

[major bill]

The font looks to be post-war to me.

I suspected that it might be. If so, how much does it damage the value of the sword?. If in fact it belonged to Buford that makes it a nice item.

 

[Kurtlg]

What is the provenance ? If it is real you'd think it wouldn't be laying on a display table.

 

[major bill]

What is the provenance ? If it is real you'd think it wouldn't be laying on a display table.

I was told not to touch any of the objects on the tables. I do not remember what was said about it, but it is possible they saud it came from his family.

 

[Kurtlg]

If that is the one shown by Rock Island Arms it says the engraving was done in the 1920s.

 

[RedRover]

Buford was promoted to Major General on his deathbed. The engraving post-dates his life span in any case.

The sword looks like a common 1860 light cavalry saber for cavalry enlisted men. Same engraving on sports' trophies.

 

[major bill]

If that is the one shown by Rock Island Arms it says the engraving was done in the 1920s.

Yes it was at Rock Isand. The Rock Island Arsonal Museum was no longer open, but we talked a couple curators to bring out some items from storage and give us a talk on the items. I tended to wander off to view other items so missed parts of the presentations.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

It definitely looks like a relatively modern engraving intended to commemorate Buford and his service at Gettysburg.

The choice (and omission) of words shown on the engraving and accompanying display tag suggest (to me) that he did not carry this saber in that particular action, even if it did belong to him. Merely my interpretation, based solely on the word descriptions provided for the displayed item. (I note, however, that Buford's statue monument at Gettysburg depicts him standing wearing a long-blade on his side, but then again, all the Union General monuments at Gettysburg appear to show each of them wearing that same weapon).

 

[major bill]

I was deleting old photos from my smart phone and wondered why I still had this old photo. I thought perhaps I saved it because at the time I had some question about the sword or some interest in it. Time for the photos to go in the trash folder?

 

[Bonedaddy]

Looks to be excessively cleaned and polished, both the brass and the saber and possibly the scabbard too.

 

[R. Porter]

If that is the one shown by Rock Island Arms it says the engraving was done in the 1920s.

I thought the engraving looked like it was done last month! To me the font looks very modern. The sword looks very clean. i agree that it looks like a period enlisted man's. No engraving on the blade, which you would expect on a sword carried by an officer, even with an enlisted hilt; but not a deal breaker. I'd like to see what's on the blade ricassos and pommel and anywhere else. At least the scabbard isn't a model 1906.

 

[bayonet]

Is it stamped MADE IN INDIA on it?

 

[major bill]

Do we trust the curators at the Rock Island Arsonal Museum that the sword belonged to Buford? I assume they know what they are doing. Being the military they probably have extensive paperwork detailing each item.

 

[bayonet]

Do we trust the curators at the Rock Island Arsonal Museum that the sword belonged to Buford? I assume they know what they are doing. Being the military they probably have extensive paperwork detailing each item.

Through out life I have encountered those that are experts and know more than me but still they can be wrong. Whether by accident or on purpose. A well know and knowledgeable dealer sold me an item that further research on my part turned out not to have the correct manufacture time period. All due to 2 letters stamped on the barrel. I remained quit and not far down the road I traded it back to him for a similar item with the correct time period. He put it back up on his website and sold it to someone else. Believe what you want but that sword looks hokey. On another issue with them, I hate their auctions that put 2, 3, 4 or more items in a lot when you only want 1 item in that lot. Bummer