Rhea Cole
Major
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2019
- Location
- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
REAL CONFEDERTE BOWIE KNIVES
I don't know how many posts there have been here on CivilWarTalk & other CW forums that I subscribe to that have asked for help authenticating a Confederate Bowie Knife. Almost every single one of the knives pictured in those postings are great big & clunky looking.Quite often, they are stamped with markings designed to fool a buyer into believing it is an authentic relic. As we all know, at the start of the war volunteer regiments were sometimes presented with blacksmith made "fighting knives" of ferocious size & appearance. Whether or not they could be called "Bowie knives" is in the eye of the beholder. It did not take long for foot sore infantrymen to get rid of useless items like the homemade fighting/Bowie knives.
Green River Knife by John Russell
Green River pattern knives were ubiquitous beginning with the establishment of John Russell's cutlery factory in 1834. Examples on sale at the my local super market are all but identical to the originals. This classic design is an all purpose butcher, skinner & kitchen knife. Soldiers on both sides of the CW were happy to have one of these highly practical knives in their haversack. I have one in mine. I found it beneath the floor boards of a ruined plantation slave cabin in the 1990's.
John Russell "Bowie Knife" circa 1855-60
National Museum of American History
John Russell also produced the hunting/Bowie knife pictured above. This design was, like all Russell designs, a very practical knife. Notice the space in front of the guard that allowed for a very secure grip during the often slippery business of butchering game. Once again, this is a knife that any soldier could have carried.
As you can see, the English "Bowie Knife" is identical to the Green River design.
Confederate "Bowie Knvies" were, more often than not, British knives. The patterns were variations on a theme.
Needless to say, none of these absolutely authentic 1862 knifes are at all similar to the bogus "Bowie Knives" that are so common.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of one of these things?
Obviously, these examples are not the end all & be all of Confederate "Bowie Knife" designs. However, these are examples of knives that were intended for delivery to the CSA in 1862. One thing they all have in common, whether Green River or British manufacture is no resemblance what so ever to the giant "Confederate Bowie Knives" that are intended to take the hard earned money of unwary collectors.
The full text of the Modern Greece excavation report is online.
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