HISTORIC MEXICAN WAR SILVER HILT PRESENTATION SWORD OF GEN. GEORGE GORDON MEADE, VICTOR OF GETTYSBURG, COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

Bearing battle honors for Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and Monterey, this is one of just two Meade swords in private hands: highly embellished, engraved, and extremely well documented, presented to Meade by “his fellow citizens of Philadelphia” in 1847, in “tribute of their regard for his gallant conduct in the several actions in Mexico in which he was engaged.” Meade himself referred to Palo Alto as his “baptism of fire,” and he later  received a U.S. Army brevet, “for gallant conduct in the several conflicts at Monterey, Mexico.”

Paid for by public subscription, this sword was produced by Ames on order from Bailey & Company of Philadelphia, recorded in the Ames manuscript notebooks, and described in contemporary newspaper reports during its exhibition with five other swords intended for presentation to US Army officers in the Bailey & Co. store window to admiring crowds. Mexico was Meade’s first active campaign and combat experience, and also that of the Corps of Topographical Engineers in which he served on the staff of Zachary Taylor, providing essential scouting, mapping, and survey data for his strategic position at Corpus Christie, his advance to the Rio Grande and the battles from there to the taking of Monterey.

The sword is a presentation-grade M1840 Foot Officer’s Sword with solid silver hilt and scabbard mounts. The pommel is set with a clear, faceted gemstone and decorated with acanthus leaves and other foliate motifs and the mother-of-pearl grips inlaid with rectangular, foliate engraved silver panels. The knucklebow is cast and chased with upper and medial rosettes and leaves, meeting at the quillon block a plain reverse folding counterguard and obverse fixed guard with applied gilt eagle superimposed on an elaborate panoply of arms. The blade is regulation spadroon form, bright etched with patriotic, martial and foliate motifs: eagle, liberty cap, etc., with the maker’s name etched inside a wreath, “N.P. Ames Cabotville Mass.”

The gilt brass scabbard is decorated ensuite with matching foliate motifs and fitted with upper and lower silver ring mounts bearing at either end raised abstract foliate motifs, and bears a shield-shaped retailer’s plaque on the reverse reading, “Bailey & Co. Chestnut Str. Phila.,” who paid Ames $120 for it. Engraved on obverse in a long foliate and c-scroll bordered cartouche between the ring mounts is: “2^nd Lieut. George Meade. Topo / graphical Engineers, United States / Army, from his fellow Citizens / of Philadelphia.” The battle honor of “Palo Alto” appears the border scrollwork at left and “Resaca de la Palma & Monterey” with the date “1846” at lower center, all mentioned in the newspaper accounts.

Meade graduated West Point as 19^th of 56 in the Class of 1835 and was assigned to the 3^rd US Artillery. He took part in the relief of Fort Brooke in Florida in January 1836 in the Second Seminole War, but was largely sidelined by illness, assignment to escort duty, and later transfer to Washington, D.C., and to Massachusetts. He submitted his resignation in late October 1836. Before taking up his artillery duties, however, he had improved his engineering skills as an assistant surveyor on the Long Island Railroad during a three-month leave and after resigning spent almost six years doing land, coastal and river survey and mapping work before rejoining the army in 1842 as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers, which had been given charge of government boundary surveys.

In September 1845, still a Second Lieutenant, he was posted to the staff of Gen. Zachory Taylor at Corpus Christie in Texas and was frequently Taylor’s only Topographical Engineer officer. He played a key role in scouting and mapping the area, up and down the Neuces River, and then served in the most advanced elements of Taylor’s army, plotting the line of march to the Rio Grande, where he helped lay out Camp Texas, and scouted river crossings, operating in remote areas with a small escort and subject to harassment and attack by enemy scouts and guerrillas. With the beginning of open warfare he got to prove his competence on the battlefield of Palo Alto as well: “I was in the action during the whole time, at the side of General Taylor, and communicating his orders. I assure you I may justly say I have had my ‘bapteme de feu.’ An officer of the General’s staff had his horse shot under him, not two yards from me, and some five horses and men were killed at various times right close to me.”

During Taylor’s subsequent advance to Camargo, Ceravalo, and Monterey, Meade was once again in the most advanced elements of the army, scouting with a small escort, mapping the area of operations and plotting out the line of march for the main force, in some cases preparing the roads. On reaching Monterey as part of Worth’s advance on the city from the west on Sept. 20 he reconnoitered and mapped Mexican outposts, earthworks and fortifications, taking part in the fighting on Sept. 21, and most notably in helping guide troops up the slopes of Mt. Independencia at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 22 to seize the fortifications on top. Worth praised his “intelligent zeal and gallantry.”

When Taylor’s generous terms to obtain the surrender of Monterey caused political problems at home and President Polk shifted his support to Scott and operations in central Mexico, Meade was assigned to General Patterson, serving under Scott, and thus missed Taylor’s victory at Buena Vista. He was present at Vera Cruz, landing with Patterson’s forces, but was left with nothing to do by Patterson, and Scott responded to his complaint on the subject by ordering him back to Washington. His brevet to First Lieutenant offered some official recognition of his services, but Taylor’s recommendation for promotion, perhaps because it came from Taylor, went nowhere, and he would not make First Lieutenant until 1851. It would take another war for his abilities and service to be fully recognized by the country as they had been by the citizens of Philadelphia.

Meade’s subsequent service needs no repetition here. This is a remarkable opportunity to acquire a sword owned by one of America’s best known military commanders, presented to him for actions at the very beginning of his career.

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] [Veterans, Veterans’ Organizations, Fraternal Organizations]