AMERICAN AND EUEOPEAN SWORDS 143 



The owner of this sword was born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 

 1839, and was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 

 1861. During the early period of the Civil War he served with the 

 Army of the Potomac, and in 1863 he was appointed brigadier 

 general of Volunteers. He served with marked distinction as a 

 Cavalry officer during the remaining period of the war and partici- 

 pated prominently in many of the engagements in Virginia which 

 finally resulted in the surrender of General Lee's army at Appo- 

 mattox Court House, April 9, 1865. In March of that year, he 

 received the brevet of brigadier general, United States Army. In 

 1866, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Seventh United 

 States Cavalry and during the next 10 years he commanded a number 

 of imjDortant expeditions against the Indians. In June, 1876, he was 

 attacked by an overwhelming force of Indians near the Little Big 

 Horn River in Montana and slain with his entire command. The 

 unhappy fate of General Custer and his men made a profound 

 impression upon the public, and his exploits in connection with the 

 Indian warfare have formed the theme of many writers on military 

 subjects. This sword was lent to the National Museum by Mrs. 

 Custer in 1912. 



The Spanish series includes three officers' swords of the latter 

 part of the nineteenth century of artistic design. One of these is a 

 general officer's sword®" with a straight 2-edged blade, the lower 

 part of which is 6-sided. The upper part bears a narrow deep 

 groove at top and bottom, and the obverse is inscribed " Fca. de 

 Toledo, 1875." The grip is covered with black fishskin, wound with 

 fine brass wire, and surmounted b}' a plain iron strip, which termi- 

 nates in a lion-head pommel. The guard is formed of a bronze strip 

 with two branches, which unite at the blade with a narrow oval- 

 shaped counterguard. Betw^een these two branches is installed a 

 star surmounted by a crown, the whole within a laurel wreath. The 

 scabbard is nickel plated. 



A second Spanish sword ^® of this period has a long slender curved 

 blade with a long narrow^ deep groove at the top and a short narrow 

 deep groove at the bottom. The obverse is decorated with floral 

 designs and crossed cannon below a crown. The grip is covered 

 w^ith fishskin and wound with wire. The pommel is button-shaped 

 and is decorated with sprays of laurel leaves. The guard is formed 

 of a circular bronze strip with three branches, which inclose at the 

 top a bronze medallion bearing a sunburst upon which is imposed two 

 crossed cannons surmounted by a crown. The scabbard is nickel 

 plated. 



8^ Length, 99 cm. Blade, 86.4 cm. long, 2 cm. wide. PI. 43, fig. 8. 



«s Length, 91.5 cm. Blade, 77.5 cm. long, 2 cm. wide. Marked " Fabrica de Toledo, 

 1875." PI. 43, fig. 9. 



