Model 1850 U.S. Foot Officer's Sword

Artistblade by Weyersberg company (Solingen, Germany)

Artist/Culture W. H. Horstmann and Sons (Philadelphia, U.S.)

Date1861–1865

Mediumsteel and gilt brass with fishskin

Dimensions99.1 × 84.1 cm (39 × 33 1/8 in.), 1 lb, 11 oz (weight)

ClassificationsArms and Armor

MarkingsReverse of ricasso with stamped mark of Weyersberg crowned head. At hilt, back edge marked "IRON: PROOF".

Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection

Terms

Object number2014.428

DescriptionGently curving steel hollow-ground triangular section blade becoming elliptical to spear-shaped point. At about 1/3 length below hilt & extending to about 2/3 of length, both faces of back edge bordered by deeply cut groove. Both faces similarly etched with trophied groups & scrolling foliation on once blackened ground with American eagle & motto "E Pluribus unum" (obverse), "U.S." (reverse)

Gilt brass 3/4-basket hilt with pierced base plate having scrolling foliation & carved with oak leaves. Thick short rear comma-shaped quillon bent slightly towards back of blade. Tall D-shaped knuckle guard pierced at end for sword knot & plugged into Phrygian helmet-shaped pommel carved with oak leaves at its base. Wooden grip swollen at mid-height, tapering to pommel & spirally wrapped with black fishskin, twisted & plain brass wire.
Label TextBy the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, America was fully able to produce swords domestically, although many blades were still being imported from Germany, and the designs were copied from France. All three of these sabers were based on the U.S. army pattern of 1850, which derived from French military swords of the 1840s. Of the two Federal swords here, one was produced at the Ames factory, America's leading swordmaker at the time. The other was assembled in America, but has a German blade by Weyersberg, a family who were making swords as early as the 1500s--the firm still survives today under the name WKC. At the outbreak of war, the Confederacy was able to commandeer some Federal arms, but additional production was often makeshift. The Confederate sword here was produced at the converted facilities of the Nashville Plow Works--an ironic reversal of the Biblical injunction to beat swords into plowshares. ProvenanceCollection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.

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