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My new "old" Sword (literally)


cannon jockey
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cannon jockey

While I'm not a big sword person, I have acquired a few as wall hangers or photo props--mostly cheap repro's such as 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 enough to use 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 and even eBay, I was suddenly facing sticker shock of more than a grand on anything but what could otherwise 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 never did.

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 center of grip.  The M1840 was patterned after a Napoleonic Hussar saber and started service during the Mexican American war.  It was generally referred to as "The Old Wrist breaker"   Just prior to the start of the ACW, Ames and other sword makers began experimenting in a slightly scaled down version of the M1840 which became the M1860.  The blade width was reduced from 1.25 inches to 1 inch and the overall length was shortened about 1.5 inches.  This scaling down resulted in both a lighter sword and scabbard.   As mentioned the grip for the M1840 was relatively straight sided while the M1860 had a bulge in the middle.   A side by side grip comparison shown below.

 

M1840 on left--M1860 on right.  Notice also that generally the wire wrap covers all the exposed leather on the M1840 while it stops short at upper forward edge of the pommel on the M1860

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I realize that both were used during the ACW but the lighter M1860 was obviously the most popular and dominant. In fact, it remained the official cavalry saber right up until the early 1900's while most sword makers had quit manufacturing the M1840 by 1861

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 appears to have never been sharpened and still has what appears to be the original factory polish. The blade edge is pristine and nick free. The maker's stamps on the ricasso appear to be as fresh as the day they were stamped but there were no inspector's stamps anywhere.  The scabbard was also in almost pristine shape with just some light staining here and there. 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 sword except for the later M1860 style grip shape and style of construction. 
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The marks on each side of the ricasso appear to be as fresh as the day they were stamped with just a hint of old dried oil showing in the recessed parts


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Note the the demarcation line between the polished part of the blade and the 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 each M1840s made in 1865 by Ames and 638 more by Shifflin & Lewis in 1862 but none by Emerson & Silver.  It also indicated nobody else produced any past 1860

However, 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 from Emerson & Silver between 1863 and 1864 for their volunteer cavalry. It also showed the original listing price for the sold listing which was over 2 and a half times what I had paid in the auction.    I called them to ask about the listing but they didn't even show it still in their system.  However by providing them with their item number they were able to tell that the listing was from 2009.

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 state officials 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 a Hussar-style heavy saber which the M1840 was originally patterned after.

Here are some studio shots of some of the 3rd New Jersey Hussars showing both their ornate uniforms and what could be heavy sabers.  Of course it should be mentioned that not knowing how tall or large any of these men are, it's difficult to say for sure whether the swords are M1840s or M1860s.

 

Because of their fancy uniforms, they were nicknamed "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 on the left 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.  His sword may be an officer's model of some sort so it could be anything.    The corporal on the right is wearing his cape and evidently was a man of means--sporting privately purchased thigh-high boots. New Jersey is also on record as having purchased a quantity of Whitney revolvers, and that appears to be what he is holding.

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A star on the chest appears to be another affectation of the 3rd regiment.   

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I 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.

 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far without being totally bored

 

Cheers

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What you have is a New Jersey Militia state variation.  These "N.J." property marked swords will often be different from the US Federal regulation Heavy Cavalry and Light Cavalry sabers.  They have slight variations in that they were made from various new old stock (NOS) parts (Parts is Parts) since they were not inspected by the Federal Government to meet the Federal Government requirements.  They may even have rejected US Gov. parts that did not pass inspection for some non-essential reason.  I have seen them made with different, whatever is available in the parts bin, grips, blades, scabbards, etc.  I saw a N.Y. marked Cavalry sword with only one suspension band and ring at a show a few months ago.  

 

Don't worry about your sword as it is a legitimate CW period NJ Militia sword that was bought by the state and met their requirements.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I’m pretty sure I sold them that sword when I liquidated the Civil War portion of my collection in 2008.

 

I found it at Black Angus flea market outside of Phily around 2001.

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