AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 83 



through James Y. Smith, Governor, in conformity with a Kesolu- 

 tion of the General Assembly passed at the Jan. Session 1866." The 

 swords just described were bequeathed to the National Museum in 

 1924 by Mrs. Frank Wheaton. 



The presentation swords of the period of the Civil War, which 

 have just been described, represent the largest group of such weapons 

 in the National Museum collection and include specimens of excep- 

 tional artistic and historical interest. The personal range of them 

 is also large, since it includes swords of various types that were 

 presented to officers of various rank from general to lieutenant. 

 This feature of the collection lends to it an unusual interest and 

 renders it particularly illustrative of the period to which it belongs. 

 The military swords that now remain to be described include 

 weapons of the regulation type carried by United States Army 

 officers during the latter part of the nineteenth century, together 

 with three presentation swords of that sanie period. 



MILITARY SWORDS, 1870 TO 1925 



The apex of the development of the American military sword was 

 reached during the period of the Civil War, to which the swords just 

 described belong. The weapons of this type that remain to be de- 

 scribed belong to the fifth and final period into which the history of 

 the American sword has been divided in the present account. The 

 types of swords made during this period are comparatively few in 

 number and do not rank so high in historic interest as do those al- 

 ready described. This is, of course, due to the fact that a long 

 period of peace followed the Civil War, and the manufacture of 

 swords on a large scale in the United States terminated at the close 

 of that conflict. The fifth period in the history of the American 

 sword marked the termination of the monopoly formerly possessed 

 by private sword-making firms. During this period the manufac- 

 ture of swords was begun at the national armory in Springfield, 

 Mass. The weapons manufactured there in 1878 included the fol- 

 lowing: General officer's sword, staff and line officer's sword, light 

 Artillery saber, light Cavalry saber. Cavalry officer's saber, and the 

 cadet sword. 



GENERAL AND STAFF AND LINE OFFICERS' SWORDS, AND CADET 

 SWORDS, 1873 TO 1902 



Both the general officers' sword and the staff and line officers' 

 sword of this period were of the same type as the staff officers' sword 

 introduced in 1860. The blade in each case is long, straight, slender, 

 and diamond-shaped. The obverse is etched with letters " U. S." 

 and with floral and trophy designs. The reverse of the blade is 



