SWORD USED BY CONFEDERATE NAVAL OFFICER DURING THE CAPTURE OF THE U.S.S. WATER WITCH

N. P. Ames, Springfield, Massachusetts. Obverse ricasso stamped with spread eagle above N. P. AMES / SPRINGFIELD; reverse with UNITED / STATES / 1833. The front face of the crossguard finely engraved in period script: “Used by Masters Mate A. C. Freeman C.S. Navy in capturing U.S. Steamer Water Witch June 4th 1864.”  25 5/8 in. overall, 18 7/8 in. blade.

The Model 1832 short sword, adapted from the French couteau de briquet, was the standard sidearm of U.S. foot artillerymen in the antebellum period and remained in Federal depots at the outbreak of the Civil War. This particular example’s inscription connects it to the celebrated Confederate boarding attack on the U.S. side-wheel gunboat U.S.S. Water Witch in the early hours of 3–4 June 1864, in Ossabaw Sound near Savannah. There, Confederate naval boats under Flag Officer William W. Hunter swarmed, boarded, and carried the vessel after a short, violent struggle; she was subsequently commissioned into Confederate service and later destroyed during Sherman’s advance. The named Master’s Mate A. C. Freeman is recorded in Confederate naval rolls for the Georgia/Savannah station; the engraving here commemorates his participation in the coup de main. The presence of an 1833-dated Federal blade on a weapon associated by inscription with Confederate service is not unusual: such swords circulated widely, were captured in quantity, and were popular as hard-hitting boarding sidearms.

A rare artifact from one of the Confederacy’s few successful naval boarding raids. 

Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.