HANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS

1 THE CONFEDERATEREPRINT COMPANYO O O OFCONFEDERATESWORDSbyWilliam A. Albaugh, IIIF oreword byRichard D. SteuartHandbook of CONFEDERATE Swordsby William A. Albaugh, IIIO riginally Published in 1951by Pioneer PressHarriman, TennesseeReprint Edition 2016 The CONFEDERATE Reprint CompanyPost Office Box 2027 Toccoa, Georgia and Interior byMagnolia Graphic : 978-1945848001 ISBN-10: 19458480063 TABLE OF CONTENTSO O O OPREFACE .. 5 FOREWORD .. 7 ONE .. 23 The Sword of Gen. Robert E. Lee TWO .. 25 James Conning Mobile, Ala. THREE .. 29 Tallassee, Ala. FOUR .. 31L. Haiman & Bro., Columbus, .. 33L. Haiman & Bro., continuedSIX .. 37 Macon, Ga., E. J. Johnston & Co., W. J. McElroySEVEN .. 41 Thomas, Griswold & Co., New Orleans, .. 43 Thomas, Griswold & Co., continuedNINE .. 47 Thomas, Griswold & Co., continuedTEN .. 49 Thomas, Griswold & Co., continuedELEVEN .. 51 Fayetteville, OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS4 TWELVE .. 55 Louis Froelich, Kernersville.

2 57 Kraft, Goldschmidt & Kraft, Columbia, .. 61 Kraft, Goldschmidt & Kraft, continuedFIFTEEN .. 63 Columbia, .. 65 Gen. Wade Hampton s SwordSEVENTEEN .. 69 Nashville Plow Works, Nashville, .. 71L. T. Cunningham, College Hill Arsenal, Nashville, .. 75 Memphis Novelty Works, Thos. Leech & Co., MemphisTWENTY.. 77 Memphis Novelty Works, continuedTWENTY-ONE .. 81 Boyle Gamble & MacFee, Richmond, .. 83 Boyle Gamble & MacFee, continuedTWENTY-THREE .. 85 Boyle Gamble & MacFee, continuedTWENTY-FOUR .. 87 Boyle Gamble & MacFee, continuedTWENTY-FIVE .. 89 CONFEDERATE Naval CutlassTWENTY-SIX .. 91 Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS5 TWENTY-SEVEN .. 93 Tredegar Iron Works, continuedTWENTY-EIGHT .. 95 Virginia Armory, Richmond, .. 97 Virginia Manufactory Sabres, Richmond, .. 99 CONFEDERATE Foot Officer s SwordTHIRTY-ONE .. 103 CONFEDERATE Foot Officer s Sword, continuedTHIRTY-TWO .. 105 CONFEDERATE Field-Officers SwordTHIRTY-THREE.

3 107 CONFEDERATE Artillery (?) SwordTHIRTY-FOUR .. 109 CONFEDERATE Short SwordTHIRTY-FIVE .. 111 Short Artillery Sword (Foot)THIRTY-SIX .. 115 Short Artillery Sword (Foot)THIRTY-SEVEN .. 117 CONFEDERATE Naval CutlassTHIRTY-EIGHT.. 119 Robert Mole & Sons, Birmingham, EnglandTHIRTY-NINE .. 123 Robert Mole & Sons, continuedFORTY .. 125 Robert Mole & Sons, continuedFORTY-ONE .. 127 Robert Mole & Sons, continuedHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS6 FORTY-TWO .. 127 Isaac s & Co., London, EnglandFORTY-THREE .. 131S. Isaac s Campbell and Co., London, EnglandFORTY-FOUR .. 135 German-Made CONFEDERATE SwordFORTY-FIVE .. 137 Unmarked CONFEDERATE Officer s SwordFORTY-SIX .. 139 Unmarked CONFEDERATE Officer s SwordFORTY-SEVEN .. 141 CONFEDERATE Cavalry SabreFORTY-EIGHT .. 143 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFORTY-NINE .. 145 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY .. 147 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY-ONE .. 149 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY-TWO .. 151 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY-THREE.

4 153 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY-FOUR .. 155 Unmarked CONFEDERATE SabreFIFTY-FIVE .. 157 Unmarked CONFEDERATE Cavalry SabreFIFTY-SIX .. 159 Homemade CONFEDERATE SwordHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS7 FIFTY-SEVEN .. 161 Homemade CONFEDERATE Officer s SwordFIFTY-EIGHT .. 163 CONFEDERATE Naval CutlassFIFTY-NINE .. 165 SWORDS of CONFEDERATE Manufacture in National MuseumSIXTY .. 167 SWORDS Stamped 9 PREFACEO O O OLittle has been written on the subject of Confed-erate SWORDS , beyond a brief article which appeared inThe CONFEDERATE Veteran of January 1926 by Richard , author of the foreword of the present work. The-odore T. Belote, in his bulletin No. 163, put out by theNational Museum, describes several CONFEDERATE short work which follows does not by anymeans describe all the types or manufacturers of swordsfor the Confederacy. It is not intended as a history, butis only a pictorial and brief written description of thoseswords which we have seen during our years of are unquestionably many SWORDS which wedo not list, and of which we have not heard, but this littlebooklet may serve as a starting point for those that volume is dedicated to the memory of John& Ira Albaugh of Maryland; my great-grandfather, andgreat-granduncle who served in the 1st Virginia Cavalryunder Gen.

5 J. E. B. Stuart, and who gave their lives for theConfederacy; one at Kelly s Ford, Va., in 1863, and theother at Bunker Hill, Va., in is given to the gracious assistance of MissIndia Thomas, and Miss Eleanor Brockenbrough, of theHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS10 CONFEDERATE Museum in Richmond, Va., in the permit-ting of access to the priceless relics in their Richard D. SteuartO O O O Forth from its scabbard pure and bright,Flashed the sword of Lee. Father RyanAnd thousands of other SWORDS just as pure andbright if less expensive flashed in the Southern sunlightin the four years of warfare which marked what has beencalled the American Civil War, or the War between theStates. Poets may dream of the beauty of these stainlessblades, drawn in a Lost Cause, but the matter of fact his-torian and collector would like to know whence camethese SWORDS ?The outbreak of the war in 1861, found stored inthe Federal and State arsenals, thousands of old sabres,relics of the revolutionary War, War of 1812, and MexicanWar.

6 They were clumsy, unwieldy weapons, with broadblades, heavy iron scabbards, wooden grips, and ironguards. Similar SWORDS formed the armament of most ofthe various home militia companies throughout the in private homes were many fine SWORDS ,relics of other wars, preserved as heirlooms, but of littleuse for actual were no sword factories in the South at theHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS122,10719,9515,363138,8133,5154,26 2 Officers swordsNon-comm. officersMusicians swordsCavalry sabresHorse Artillery sabresFoot Artillery swords1,3526,88992,05053,9865,250300begi nning of the war. SWORDS had been manufactured atthe Virginia Manufactory, or Richmond Armory, in theearly years of the century, but apparently, their manufacturewas discontinued about the time of the War of like dueling pistols, hunting rifles, andfowling pieces, Colt, and other revolvers were importedfrom Europe, or purchased from Northern Manufacturersby military outfitters in the South, such as Hyde & Good-rich, of New Orleans; Courtney & Tennant, Hayden &Whilden, of Charleston, ; and Canfield Brothers ofBaltimore, were also a few men, like James Conningof Mobile, Ala.

7 , who apparently made a few presentationswords, or imported them in the rough, ornamentedthem and marked them with their the outbreak of the war, several SouthernStates and the newly formed CONFEDERATE Governmentsent agents to the North to purchase weapons. SWORDS ,and sabres, were included in these purchases, but few ofthem reached the many SWORDS used in the CONFEDERATE Armywere captured from the enemy, a glance at the types usedin the Union Army is interesting. General Ripley, Union Chief of Ordnance, reportedJune 30, 1862, that since the outbreak of the war, theWashington Government had purchased the following:American Made European MadeHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS13 Col. George L. Schuyler, was sent to Europe bythe Washington War Department and made extensivepurchases of arms. In Sept. 1861, he wrote to the Secretaryof War, that he had contracted for 20,000 light cavalrysabres of the Montmorency pattern.

8 Washington also let large contracts for sabres inthe North. Perhaps the largest of these Northern sword-makers was the Ames Manufacturing Co., of Chicopee,Mass., an old firm of cutlers. They turned out excellentcavalry and artillery sabres of a pattern which remainedunchanged and was the United States Army regulation untilafter the Spanish American War of 1898. Among otherNorthern sword makers was Tiffany, New York jeweler,who made fine weapons. The CONFEDERATE Governmentalso sent agents to Europe in search of arms. General JosiahL. Gorgas, CONFEDERATE Chief of Ordnance, reportedFebruary 3, 1863, that Maj. Caleb Huse had bought abroadand shipped to the South by blockade runners, 16,178cavalry sabres. There is no record, though, to show whencethey came. The blockade runner Fingal, landed at Savan-nah in October, 1861, 500 cavalry sabres, and 250 swordsof English United States Consul at Hamburg, Germany,reported April 5, 1862, that the British blockade runnerBahama s cargo included 57 boxes of cavalry swordsmarked and 16 boxes marked That the business of running European armsthrough the blockade to the Confederacy continued untilthe last is shown by the announcement of the NavyDepartment in Washington on March 2, 1865, of thecapture off the Florida coast of the British schooner Deliawith a cargo of pig lead and English cavalry sabres were among the bestHANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS14swords used in the South, and thousands of them wereimported.

9 They were called Enfield sabres, and wereadopted in 1853 for the British cavalry. Like the Enfieldsabre bayonets, the grip was formed of two pieces ofleather, or gutta percha riveted to the metal. Isaacs & Co.,of London furnished many of these sabres to the keep the record clear, however, it should be said thatnot all the Southern troopers liked these English , in his book Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie, saysthe 4th Kentucky Cavalry was issued these heavy Englishsabres which were unpopular (page 183).Beautiful ornamented SWORDS for officers weremade in England and sent through the blockade by RobertMole & Sons, of Birmingham; Firmin, of London, an oldfirm of military outfitters, and of the SWORDS bearing the name of Courtney& Tennant, Charleston, S. C., were made in England. TheCharleston firm did not manufacture SWORDS were also made in Walsoneid, of Solingen, made many SWORDS for manufacture of SWORDS was undertaken bymany Southerners at the beginning of the war.

10 Debow sReview, for March-April, 1862, says: McKennie & Co., of Charlottesville, Va., is mak-ing 6 SWORDS a week. T. D. Driscoll, Howardsville, Va., is making 28swords a week. W. J. McElroy & Co., of Macon, Ga., is making20 infantry SWORDS , 20 naval cutlasses, 20 sergeant sswords, and 20 bowie knives per week. General Gideon Pillow, in a letter written fromMemphis, Tenn., May 31, 1861, to General Anderson, says: HANDBOOK OF CONFEDERATE SWORDS15 We have a thousand sabres under way, none finished. Ina few days we shall be receiving 50 a day. These were probably made by Thomas Leech &Co., of the Memphis Novelty Works. As Memphis wastaken by the enemy in June, 1862, the industry must havebeen short-lived, although after the fall of Memphis, Leechdid continue his arms-making activities Richmond, SWORDS and sabre bayonets weremade by Boyle Gamble and MacFee. In the RichmondExaminer of September 2, 1861, there is a note that thefirm s stock of steel had been badly damaged by fire theprevious day.