94 BULLETIN 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SWORD OWNED BY COMMODORE SAMUEL WOODHOUSE 



A very fine example of the United States naval officer's sword ^* 

 of the first half of the nineteenth century in the collection was owned 

 during that period by Commodore Samuel Woodhouse, United 

 States Navy. The blade, which is in general type much like the one 

 just described, is curved and marked by a wide shallow groove. It 

 bears on each side near the grip a foul anchor, a circle of 13 stars, 

 and an oak spray. The grip, which is made of ivory, is deeply 

 engraved with geometrical designs and is surmounted by a bronze 

 strip, which terminates in an eagle-head pommel. The guard is a 

 slender brass strip, and the quillons are rectangular bars of brass 

 terminating both above and below the blade in acorns. A large oval 

 hinged shield decorated with two oak sprays, crossed, is attached to 

 the obverse of the quillons. The scabbard, which is made of wood 

 covered with leather, is reinforced by three brass mounts, one of 

 which bears an anchor on a button, surrounded by 13 stars ; the second 

 bears an anchor, and the third an oak spray. 



The owner of this sword entered the Navy as acting midshipman 

 in 1800 and served on the frigate Constellation during the engage- 

 ment between that ship and the French frigate Vengeance in 

 February of that year. In Maj^, 1801, he was appointed midshipman, 

 and in 1808 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He reached 

 the grade of commander in 1816 and that of captain in 1827. He 

 died in 1843. His sword was presented to the National Museum in 

 1925 by Dr. Samuel W. Woodhouse, jr. 



NAVAL CUTLASSES, 1800 TO 1840 



The National Museum collection contains a number of naval cut- 

 lasses of the early part of the nineteenth century. One of these is 

 said to have been owned by Commodore Stephen Decatur. This 

 weapon has a curved blade with a narrow deep groove near the 

 back.^° The grip is made of hardwood and is decorated with 

 parallel horizontal grooves on all four sides. The pommel consists 

 of a bronze eagle's head, the neck of which fits over the end of the 

 grip. This weapon is at present without a guard of any kind. It 

 probabl}^ originally bore at the juncture of the grip and the blade 

 a narrow steel strip, which terminated above and below the blade in 

 plain quillons. The scabbard is a plain sheath of black leather with 

 a brass tip at each end. This cutlass was transferred to the Na- 

 tional Museum in 1923 from the Military Service Institution. 



" Length, 83.4 cm. Blade, 68.2 cm. long, 2 cm. -nide. Inscribed " W. H. Horstmann 

 & Co." PL 29, fig. 4. 



8^ Length, 85.5 cm. Blade, 71 cm. long, 3 cm. wide. PI. 29, fig. 3. 



