130 BULLETIN 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



deep curve and broad central groove but without decorations of any 

 kind. The grip is covered with leather, is wound with 12 turns of 

 copper wire, and is surmounted by a heavy brass strip decorated in 

 relief with urn-shaped sprays of laurel and oak leaves. The pommel 

 is circular with a convex end and is decorated with laurel wreaths. 

 The guard consists of a heavy brass strip with two branches, which 

 unite with the quillons at the blade. These parts, together with two 

 oval shields, one on each side of the blade, are decorated in relief 

 with sprays of oak, holly, and laurel. The scabbard is made of 

 steel with three brass mounts, the two upper ones being decorated 

 with lions' heads. The lower mount is decorated with a nude stand- 

 ing figure of Ulysses, a lion's heart in his left hand. 



When General Jackson died he bequeathed this saber to a personal 

 friend, Brig Gen. Robert Armstrong, of the Tennessee Militia, who 

 had commanded a company of artillery during the war Vvdth the 

 Creeks in 1813-14. General Armstrong was dangerously wounded 

 at the Battle of Talladega, January 24, 1814, but recovered and 

 rendered distinguished services at the Battle of New Orleans. A 

 year after the death of General Armstrong in 1854, his family pre- 

 sented this sword to the Congress of the United States, and it was 

 deposited for safe-keeping in the Department of State. In accord- 

 ance with a joint resolution of Congress approved February 28, 1922, 

 it was transferred to the National Museum. 



EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY INFANTRY SWORDS 



The collection includes a number of examples of the French infan- 

 try sword, or hanger, which was adopted for the use of enlisted 

 men about 1800. This is a short sword " with a heavy, slightly 

 curved, broad blade without a groove. The grip is a heavy flat- 

 tened brass cylinder decorated with fine vertical grooves and sur- 

 mounted by a plain brass strip. The guard consists of a 4-sided 

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

 same type with an elongated end. Examples of this sword have 

 been presented to the National Museum by Miss Lydia E. Smith 

 and Mrs. Caroline E. Bates. 



ENGINEER OFFICERS' SWORDS 



There are also in the Museum two examples ^^ of a French engineer 

 officer's sword of the early part of the nineteenth century, the hilts 

 of which bear a marked resemblance to those of the United States 

 Army Infantry swords of the 1840 model. The blade of the engi- 

 neer's sword, however, is diamond-shaped and has a deep groove 



"' Length, 71 cm. Blade, 59.5 cm. long, 3.5 cm. wide. PI. 38. 



38 Lengths, 91 and 97.2 cm. Blades, 75.7 and 81.1 cm. long, 2.1 and 2.3 cm. wide. 

 PI. 36, figs. 2, 3. 



