M1850 foot officer's sword presented to Captain Leonard Wood, Co. A, 9th Massachusetts Infantry. Philadelphia: W.H. Horstmann & Sons.  

30 5/8 in. single-edged slightly curved spear point blade with central fuller and narrow fuller along the spine. Overall 37 1/2 in. 

Gilt cast brass guard with floral motifs. Grooved wood grip covered in shagreen with two-ply twisted wire. Accompanied by woven acorn-style bullion wire sword knot. 

Obverse ricasso etched: "W.H. / Horstmann / & Sons / PHILADELPHIA" Blade decorated with acid-ectched panels of patriotic and martial themes. 

In original brass-mounted leather scabbard with two suspension rings. Scabbard throat engraved: "Presented to / CAPT. LEONARD WOOD / by / Members of / Co. A. 9th. Regt. / M.V.M. / and their Friends." 

This sword was presented to Leonard Wood (1830-1886) of Leominster, Massachusetts, when he was the Captain of Company A of the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, probably in the year before the outbreak of war. When war did erupt, the 30-year-old butcher was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant on 12 July 1861 into Company A of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry. On November 11th, he was transferred to Company K and promoted to Captain. 

As the regimental history of the 15th Massachusetts reports; "The military nucleus around which the Fifteenth Regiment was organized is to be found in three companies of the Ninth Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia as it existed in the years before the war...In the year preceding the war, there were five companies in the Ninth Regiment: Company A of Leominster...The militia companies were the pride of the communities in which they existed. The military spirit found here an opportunity for exercise and soldierly ambition was fostered." (Ford, p. 15). 

Remarkably, in the carte-de-visite portrait held by the Massachusetts Commandery of MOLLUS and published in his file on the HDS Civil War Database, Wood is pictured in uniform with a sword with bullion sword knot cradled in his arm. The hilt and knot appear identical to the sword presented here. It would certainly be expected that Wood would carry the fine presented sword with him to war. 

Attached to the Army of the Potomac, they saw heavy action at Ball's Bluff, losing 2 officers, 12 killed, 57 wounded, and 8 officers and 219 missing. In the spring of 1862, they moved to Fortress Monroe and joined the Siege of Yorktown. That autumn, they were bloodied at Antietam, where they assaulted the Confederate left, crossing the Cornfield and engaging in a fierce exchange of fire. Before the end of the year, they would fight once more at the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg.

"His wife was dangerously sick, and he applied for a ten days leave of absence and obtained the approval of all intermediate officers till it reached General Sumner's headquarters. The paper was returned "disapproved," with some general remarks appended that no family exigency could be urgent enough to relieve an officer from his duty.  Captain Wood felt that the duty he owed to his family imperatively demanded his return home; therefore he forwarded his resignation, which was approved at all intermediate headquarters, "but was sent back by General Sumner with an order dismissing Captain Wood dishonorably from the service." Everyone who was associated with Captain Wood knew him to have been a brave, conscientious and faithful officer." (Ford, pp. 233-234) The author, Andrew E. Ford, includes his own diary entries from the time, which record the shock of Wood's dishonorable discharge and his men's response: "Captain Wood was serenaded by the men of the regiment. - Tuesday, January 20. Captain Wood left the regiment. He made a speech before leaving, and it was a good one. The boys gave him three rousing cheers." (Ford, p.233). 

His wife, Julia Persis Allen Wood (1829-1891), would survive her illness, though on of his two daughters, Cora Maria Wood would perish on 20 December 1864. Wood was deeply involved in civic affairs in Leominster. He was "for many years an active part of the social, religious and business life of Leominster. Before the rebellion he was engaged in the provision business of North Leominster." (Emerson, p. 102).  He also served as deacon of the Congregational Church of Christ and Superintendent of the Sunday School. (Emerson, p. 57).  In 1866, a Soldier's Monument was erected in Leominster and the procession was led by Captain Wood who was Marshal of the day. (Emerson, p. 109).

A lovely Horstman foot officer's sword with rich history.  

References: 

William A. Emerson. Leomeinster, Massachusetts, Historical and Picturesque. Gardner, Massachusetts: Lithotype Publishing Co., 1888. 

Andrew E. Ford. The Story of the Fifteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War 1861-1864. Clinton, [Massachusetts]: Press of W.J. Coulter, Courant Office, 1898. 

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]