PRESENTATION M1850 STAFF & FIELD OFFICER’S SWORD GIVEN TO CAPT. H. C. CUTTER OF THE "CHARLESTOWN CADETS" OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 

A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP DURING THE CIVIL WAR ERA 

M1850 Staff & Field Officer’s Sword. N.p., ca. 1869. Overall length approximately 39 in.; blade approximately 32 in. long.

The scabbard is inscribed: “Presented to Capt. H. C. Cutter by the / Charlestown Cadets & Friends / May 24th 1869.” Affectionately known as the Charlestown Cadets after the Boston neighborhood, the 5th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia was an infantry regiment raised in peacetime and called into federal service three times during the Civil War. In its first two tours, the 5th saw action at First Bull Run and Goldsboro Bridge, along with several lesser engagements. During the third of these terms, a newly enlisted twenty-year-old Private Henry Clark Cutter (1845–1929), serving in Company H, was stationed with the regiment in and around Baltimore, Maryland. As part of the Eighth Army Corps, Middle Department, the volunteer militia helped defend the approaches to Washington, D.C., against Confederate forces under Jubal Early.

After 100 days spent suppressing secessionist activity and guarding polling places—service praised by General Lew Wallace of the Eighth Corps—the men of the 5th returned to Boston and were mustered out on 16 November 1864. Cutter, having been promoted to corporal during that hundred-days service, remained with the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia and continued to rise through its ranks over the following years, succeeding Company A Captain George F. Chapin in October 1866 and holding that rank until 1871.

Complete with its German silver scabbard, the sword is an exceptionally high-grade example, richly embellished with gold gilding to the elaborate mounts and drag, the interior and exterior of the guard, the clean German silver grip, and the pommel. In a thoughtful detail, the top mount has been hand-engraved with a pair of interlocking “C”s for the Charlestown Cadets. Though darkened, the blade retains ornate acid-etched decoration with foliate motifs and martial figures on each side: on the obverse, a woman armed with two swords, one entwined with a snake; on the reverse, a helmeted Greco-Roman figure bearing spear and sword. Additional motifs on the obverse include a Federal shield, a pair of flags, and a Liberty pole surmounted by a Phrygian cap. Some of the etching on the reverse is worn and indistinct, though the unaffected areas remain remarkably clear. The pale buff leather washer is present.

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.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Swords, Knives, Bowie Knives, Knife, Blades]