24 BULLETIN 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



weapon is made of ivory decorated with horizontal ridges. The 

 pommel is a brass button, and the guard is formed of a slender 

 brass strip with two branches. The scabbard is made of plain black 

 leather. These two sabers form a part of the Alfred F. Hopkins 

 collection. 



SABER OWNED BY LIEUT. BENJAMIN MOOERS 



A more ornate saber of this period in the National Museum collec- 

 tion is one that was carried during the Revolution by Lieut. Ben- 

 jamin Mooers, of the New York Militia. This saber ^^ has a long 

 heavy blade with a wide shalloAv groove on each side. The grip, 

 which is unusually large, is made of a plain highly polished ivory 

 and is surmounted by a plain silver convex strip, which terminates 

 in a smooth pommel. The knuckle guard consists of a narrow flat 

 silver strip, which terminates above the blade in a quillon of the 

 same type. The scabbard is made of black leather with three large 

 silver mounts, two of which are engraved with floral designs. This 

 saber, which was also used by Lieutenant Mooers during the War 

 of 1812, was presented to the National Museum in 1904 by Mrs. Frank 

 H. Mooers. 



HESSIAN SABERS OF THE REVOLUTION 



In addition to the sabers just described the National Museum col- 

 lection includes several very heavy sabers of antique design, intended 

 for the use of enlisted men, which belong to this period. These 

 weapons are German in type and were probably carried originally 

 by Hessian troops. They were later captured by the Americans 

 and used by them against the foreign invaders. These sabers " all 

 have very long blades with a single deep groove near the back. The 

 grips, which are covered with black leather and wound spirally with 

 heavy wire, are surmounted by plain convex iron strips, which ter- 

 minate in plain pommels of the same type. The guards are similar 

 heavy iron strips, which expand into oval openwork counterguards 

 at the intersection with the blade and terminate above the blade in 

 ])lain quillons ending in disks. The Alfred F. Hopkins collection 

 includes three sabers of this type, and a number of others were trans- 

 ferred to the National Museum by the War Department. 



SABER OWNED BY COL. WILLIAM DUDLEY 



During the period between the close of the Revolution and the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century, very few swords seem to have 

 been manufactured in the United States. The National Museum 



" Length, 94.2 cm. Blade, S3 cm. long, 4 em. wide. PI. .3, fig. 6. 



" These sabers vary In length from 101 to 113 cm. The blades vary in length from 86 

 to 99 cm. and in width from 3.3 to 3.5 cm. PI. 4, figs. 1-3, 



