Richard E. Schenk
Corporal
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2016
- Location
- Northern Virginia
I recently acquired this rather unusual 1864-dated variant of the Ames M1861 cutlass.
There are a couple strange things about it. First, it has no serial number. As you may know, in 1861 the Navy directed Ames to serial number all cutlasses produced for the Navy. Since this cutlass is dated 1864, it is unlikely one of the 600 or so sent out before Ames received the order from the Navy to serial number each cutlass. It is possible the 1864 blade could have been mated with an earlier hilt somewhere along the way. It is not at all uncommon to see such mismatches, probably made in the course of repairs/refurbishment, but it doesn't seem to be the case in this instance. The second thing is the single letter "D" for an inspector's mark. Almost all inspected cutlasses were stamped with the initials "D.R." for contract arms inspector Danial Reynolds. Clearly this was purposely struck as a single letter. My understanding is that the punches inspectors used to mark inspected weapons had all their initials on a single punch, so this is not likely a case of having forgotten to punch in the second initial. Sometimes an off-center mis-strike results in only a partial impression, e.g. the first letter of the mark, but clearly this wasn't the case here. This is not a unique one-off anomaly. Another member of this forum tells me he also has an example and has file photos of others, all with the same unusual markings. They are not common but do show up on the market from time-to-time.
I believe these uniquely marked cutlasses are likely US Revenue Marine/Revenue Cutter Service cutlasses. The USRM/RCS was the predecessor of the modern Coast Guard and is our Nation's oldest continuous-serving sea service. The Navy was disbanded after the Revolutionary War because of its high cost, so in 1790 Alexander Hamilton founded the USRM to enforce our customs laws and protect American commerce. When the Navy was reestablished, Congress passed an Act directing that the USRM would fall under Navy Command in times of War. In the War of 1812 it was a USRM vessel which captured the first British ship, and in the Civil War it was the USRM ship Harriet Lane which fired the first shot of that conflict. Charles Pate, the well-known author on American military small arms, states the USRM/RCS bought about 1000 cutlasses from Ames during the CW, with the largest number (about 600 IIRC) being purchased in 1864. He does not think the USRM/RCS cutlasses were marking with Navy serial numbers. I would be surprised if my cutlass and the other similarly marked cutlasses were not from the 1864 RCS purchase. Since the cutlasses were apparently procured under a separate contract, it would not be surprising if they were not serial numbered in the same series as the Navy-contracted cutlasses. Since the RCS was operating under the Navy at the time, however, the "USN" stamp would be appropriate. I would guess the "D" is for whomever inspected the swords. Perhaps it was Daniel Reynolds using the single initial to differentiate these cutlasses from the ones he inspected for the Navy contract. All this is speculation, of course, until someone can find a period document addressing the issue.
I plan to research the USRM/RCS records in the national archives to see if I can find any evidence to support my hypothesis. If I find anything, I will let you know. In the meantime, if any of you have or know of other examples of this or similar cutlasses, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.
There are a couple strange things about it. First, it has no serial number. As you may know, in 1861 the Navy directed Ames to serial number all cutlasses produced for the Navy. Since this cutlass is dated 1864, it is unlikely one of the 600 or so sent out before Ames received the order from the Navy to serial number each cutlass. It is possible the 1864 blade could have been mated with an earlier hilt somewhere along the way. It is not at all uncommon to see such mismatches, probably made in the course of repairs/refurbishment, but it doesn't seem to be the case in this instance. The second thing is the single letter "D" for an inspector's mark. Almost all inspected cutlasses were stamped with the initials "D.R." for contract arms inspector Danial Reynolds. Clearly this was purposely struck as a single letter. My understanding is that the punches inspectors used to mark inspected weapons had all their initials on a single punch, so this is not likely a case of having forgotten to punch in the second initial. Sometimes an off-center mis-strike results in only a partial impression, e.g. the first letter of the mark, but clearly this wasn't the case here. This is not a unique one-off anomaly. Another member of this forum tells me he also has an example and has file photos of others, all with the same unusual markings. They are not common but do show up on the market from time-to-time.
I believe these uniquely marked cutlasses are likely US Revenue Marine/Revenue Cutter Service cutlasses. The USRM/RCS was the predecessor of the modern Coast Guard and is our Nation's oldest continuous-serving sea service. The Navy was disbanded after the Revolutionary War because of its high cost, so in 1790 Alexander Hamilton founded the USRM to enforce our customs laws and protect American commerce. When the Navy was reestablished, Congress passed an Act directing that the USRM would fall under Navy Command in times of War. In the War of 1812 it was a USRM vessel which captured the first British ship, and in the Civil War it was the USRM ship Harriet Lane which fired the first shot of that conflict. Charles Pate, the well-known author on American military small arms, states the USRM/RCS bought about 1000 cutlasses from Ames during the CW, with the largest number (about 600 IIRC) being purchased in 1864. He does not think the USRM/RCS cutlasses were marking with Navy serial numbers. I would be surprised if my cutlass and the other similarly marked cutlasses were not from the 1864 RCS purchase. Since the cutlasses were apparently procured under a separate contract, it would not be surprising if they were not serial numbered in the same series as the Navy-contracted cutlasses. Since the RCS was operating under the Navy at the time, however, the "USN" stamp would be appropriate. I would guess the "D" is for whomever inspected the swords. Perhaps it was Daniel Reynolds using the single initial to differentiate these cutlasses from the ones he inspected for the Navy contract. All this is speculation, of course, until someone can find a period document addressing the issue.
I plan to research the USRM/RCS records in the national archives to see if I can find any evidence to support my hypothesis. If I find anything, I will let you know. In the meantime, if any of you have or know of other examples of this or similar cutlasses, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.
Forum Host
Bringing the