CONFEDERATE SABER INSCRIBED TO UNION GENERAL GREEN CLAY SMITH

Curved, single-fullered blade, the obverse ricasso stamped “THOMAS, GRISwold & Co. / NEW ORLEANS,” the cast-brass hilt with Phrygian-helmet pommel cast with laurel, retaining its original leather-covered wood grip bound with twisted brass wire; together with the firm’s characteristic sheet-brass scabbard fitted with two carrying rings and shoe drag. Overall length 41 1/4 in.; blade length 35 in. Inscribed “Brigd Genl., G. Clay Smith.”

Produced by Thomas, Griswold & Company, the premier sword cutlers of wartime New Orleans, this saber is, on its own merits, an exceptional example of Confederate manufacture. The firm’s period of activity was brief, effectively ending with the fall of New Orleans in April 1862, and surviving swords bearing its mark have long been counted among the most desirable edged weapons of the Confederacy. The present example displays the features most closely associated with the maker: a crisply struck ricasso stamp, a cast-brass hilt of distinctly Southern character, the original leather grip with twisted brass wire wrap, and, most notably, the firm’s signature sheet-brass scabbard, one of the most recognizable hallmarks of Thomas, Griswold production. The sword is firmly within the top tier of Confederate officer’s sabers to survive from the war.

However, its historical interest and rarity is considerably deepened by the inscription to Brigadier General Green Clay Smith, a prominent Union officer from Kentucky whose career reflects the divided loyalties and political complexity of the border states. Born in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1832, Smith came from a distinguished political family and entered the war already marked by public service and military ambition. He rose through the volunteer ranks to become colonel of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry and was later appointed brigadier general of volunteers, serving in the western theater at a time when Kentucky’s allegiance remained of enormous strategic and symbolic importance to both North and South. After the war, Smith continued in public life, serving in Congress and later as territorial governor of Montana, further securing his place as one of Kentucky’s notable nineteenth-century figures.

That a Confederate saber of such quality should bear Smith’s name gives the piece an especially compelling narrative. Although the exact circumstances by which it came into his possession remain unknown, the inscription strongly suggests that it was preserved as a wartime trophy or commemorative relic and thereafter associated with Smith personally. Such a history would be entirely consistent with Civil War practice. Captured swords occupied a special place in the culture of the conflict, functioning not merely as spoils but as potent symbols of battlefield success, personal courage, and the transfer of martial honor from one side to the other. In this instance, the symbolism is especially striking: a saber fashioned in one of the Confederacy’s principal urban centers, surviving to bear the name of a Union general from a slaveholding border state whose loyalty to the Union carried profound military and political significance.

Newly surfaced from the collection of Pat Booth, it stands not only as an outstanding product of Thomas, Griswold & Company, but also as a vivid relic of the contested world through which Green Clay Smith made his name.

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, Cutlass, Cutlasses, Blades]