AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 49 



In 1861 he joined the Confederate Army and was appointed colonel 

 of the Twelfth Georgia Volunteers. He was made brigadier gen- 

 eral in 1862 and major general in 1863, During the Battle of Gettys- 

 burg in 1863 he commanded a division. He died in Richmond, Va., 

 in 1873. His sword was presented to the National Museum in 1931 by 

 Hancock Dorr. 



SWORD OWNED BY BRIG. GEN. GABRIEL R. PAUL 



A sword of almost the same type as the one just described is one 

 in the National Museum collection that was presented to Brig. Gen. 

 Gabriel R. Paul, United States Army, by his friends in the city of 

 St. Louis. The blade of this sword '''^ is of the double-edge variety 

 with a narrow, deep central groove. The obverse is decorated in 

 silver chasing with the United States arms and a trophy, consisting 

 of a bow, quiver, and arrows, the whole flanked by floral sprays. 

 The reverse is similarly decorated with a trophy consisting of flags, 

 drums, and a liberty cap. The grip is 6-sided, finished in silver, and 

 engraved with scroll designs. The pommel is a gilt medieval helmet 

 with plume, and the quillons are formed of two triangular pieces of 

 scrollwork united in the center on each side of the blade by a plain 

 triangular shield. The obverse of the scabbard, which is brass, is 

 decorated with an eagle on thunderbolts and with a series of floral 

 and scroll designs. The reverse is engraved in 22 vertical lines: 



" The gallant and meritorious conduct of Captain Gabriel R. Paul, 

 7th Infantry, U. S. A,, throughout the Mexican AVar and especially 

 at the Battle of Chapultepec on the 13th of September, 1847, has 

 won for him promotion to the rank of major and has elected from 

 his early friends and associates of the city of Saint Louis in the 

 presentation of this sword a token that they honor him as a man 

 and as a soldier, September 6, 1848." 



The recipient of this sword was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1813, 

 and was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1834. 

 He served in Florida during the Seminole War, 1839-1842, and sur- 

 prised a camp of Seminole Indians near Tampa Bay in the latter 

 year. In 1846, he was commissioned captain and served with distinc- 

 tion during the Mexican War. He was wounded at the Battle of Cerro 

 Gordo and brevetted major for his gallant conduct at Chapultepec. 

 During the period between the war with Mexico and the Civil War 

 he was engaged in a number of expeditions on the western frontier, 

 and early in the latter conflict he was made colonel of the Fourth 

 New Mexico Volunteers. He was made brigadier general of Volun- 

 teers in 1863 and participated in the Battles of Fredericksburg, 



f* Length, 95.3 cm. Blade, 79.2 cm. long, 2.8 cm. wide. Marked " N. P. Ames, Cutlers, 

 Springfield, Mass." PI. 19, fig. 1. 



