AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SWORDS 91 



United States Army, by citizens of Pottstown, Pa., in 1901. The 

 blade is long, straight, and diamond-shaped. The obverse is deco- 

 rated with a medieval trophy and fine and intricate floral and scroll 

 designs in gold chasing, and is inscribed " John R. Brooke " in 

 silver chasing. The grip is 4-sided; the top and bottom are faced 

 with gold plate and the sides with mother-of-pearl; and the whole 

 is encircled with nine turns of gold wire. The pommel is a gold- 

 mounted globe decorated with arabesque designs in relief. The 

 guard is a 4-sided strip decorated with oak leaves and bearing in the 

 center of the lower portion a 5-pointed star; the whole terminates 

 above the blade in a quillon of the same type. The counterguard 

 is double-heart-shaped with the reverse side hinged. The obverse 

 side is decorated w^itli the United States anns in relief and the 

 reverse consists of openwork sides and a solid center inscribed " J. 

 R. B." The scabbard is finished in gilt and decorated on each side 

 with three heavy scroll designs in high relief. The reverse side is 

 engraved in three lines : " Presented to Major General John R. 

 Brooke by the citizens and M. E. Richards, Post 595, G. A. R. 

 Pottstown, Pa., Jan. 14th, 1901." Two rings on the upper side are 

 united by a very heavy gilt chain. This sword was presented to the 

 National Museum by General Brooke in 1919. 



The adoption of a single type of sword for the use of all United 

 States military officers in 1902 was the final step in the process of a 

 reduction of the number of types of swords used in that branch of 

 the service, which began after the close of the Civil War. The 

 history of the United States military sword may logically be re-' 

 garded as belonging to the nineteenth century. During that period, 

 as the United States army was expanded and new branches of the 

 military service were established, new designs of swords were adopted 

 for the use of the officers and enlisted men of each of these branches. 

 This process culminated during the period of the Civil War. Fol- 

 lowing the close of that conflict the reverse process ensued, with the 

 result that in 1902 a single type of officer's sword was retained. It 

 seems extremely unlikely that the sword will ever regain its impor- 

 tance as a military weapon and as a badge of authority. The fact that 

 service swords are no longer of military importance will preclude 

 the further production of presentation sw^ords. The museum value 

 of these two types of objects in the future will thus be greatly 

 enhanced. 



AMERICAN NAVAL SWORDS, 1800 TO 1900 



The history of the early American naval sword is less complex 

 than that of the military sword of the same period. This is due 

 to the fact that the naval service has employed a much smaller 



