AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 23 



without the loss of a man. It was in recognition of this exploit 

 that Congress gave him a vote of thanks and the sword described 

 above. He afterwards participated in the attack on Stony Point, 

 and served in various other localities until the close of the conflict. 

 After the Revolution he became one of the first settlers in the terri- 

 tory northwest of the Ohio River and took a prominent part in the 

 establishment of a colony in this locality. In 1801 he was appointed 

 Indian agent and spent the remainder of his life in that service. 

 He died at the Cherokee Agency in Georgia in 1823. His sword was 

 presented to the National Museum in 1912 by Return J. Meigs, 4th. 

 The sword just described is of special interest because it is one of 

 10 similar swords that Col. David Humphreys, of the Continental 

 Army, was authorized to procure in Paris in accordance with acts 

 of the Continental Congress presenting swords to 10 Continental 

 officers in recognition of services during the Revolution. In 1784 

 Colonel Humphreys was appointed secretary of the United States 

 legation in Paris. In March, 1785, he wrote to the President of the 

 Congress that before leaving America he had made application to 

 the superintendent of finance for the sword that had been presented 

 to him by Congress.^^ The superintendent of finance had then 

 authorized him to have made in Europe the medals that had been 

 presented by Congress during the War and also the swords, one of 

 which was intended for Colonel Humphreys himself. The swords 

 were all to be of the same general design with silver hilts bearing 

 on one side the arms of the United States and on the other an inscrip- 

 tion indicating the source of the gift and the name of the recipient. 

 This plan was carried out in connection with the sword of Colonel 

 Meigs, which is the only one of the 10 mentioned by Colonel Hum- 

 phreys at the present time in the possession of the National Museum. 



OFFICERS' SABERS OF THE REVOLUTION 



The National Museum collection includes three officers' sabers of 

 the period of the Revolution and a number of the ponderous weapons 

 believed to have been carried by the dragoons of that period. The 

 first of these" is without personal significance. It has a medium- 

 sized blade with a wide shallow groove on each side. The grip is 

 made of ivory and is decorated with fine spiral grooves. The pom- 

 mel is a plain silver ball. The guard is a thin flat strip of silver 

 with an openwork quillon of the same type. The scabbard is made 

 of black leather decorated with scroll design and bears two silver 

 mounts. A second officer's saber ^® of this period has a long heavy 

 blade with three narrow grooves near the back. The grip of this 



" See Loubat, J. F., Medallic history of the United States, vol. 1, p. 12. New York, 1878. 

 " Length, 79.5 cm. Blade, 64.5 cm. long, 3.5 cm. wide. PI. 3, fig. 4. 

 ^ Length, 97.5 cm. Blade, 82.8 cm. long, 4 cm. wide. PI. 3, fig. 5. 



