Gettysburg Battlefield recovered Non-Commissioned Officer’s (NCO) Sword.  This NCO sword was an early battlefield pick-up and was an artifact of the famed Shields Museum in Gettysburg.  The brass hit and blade have a dark patina, with light pitting throughout the blade.  Markings on the ricasso are dark, but legible, “N.P. Ames Cabotville 1848” and “US  W.D.”  W.D. are the initials of government inspector William Dickerson.  The Ames Sword Company operated from Cabotville prior to relocating to Chicopee, Massachusetts in 1848.  No scabbard is present, nor is the blade washer.  Markings are not visible on the knucklebow.  Brass grip of simulated wire turns has approximately 1/8” lateral movement but is otherwise well held together.  The shell-shaped guard section (on the N.P. Ames side) is missing.  The smooth and matching patina suggests that this was a wartime modification for the sword to sit more comfortably on the NCO’s hip.  On the lower third of the blade, visible in faint white paint is written “Gettysburg 1863.”  For contract date 1848, Ames delivered 1,750 NCO swords to the government in 1848 and 1849.  Such swords were typically carried by non-commissioned officers (sergeants, first sergeants, sergeants major and color guards).  This sword comes with a letter of provenance on its purchase and passage through its owners since the demise of the Shields Museum.

Ott Shields amassed one of the earliest and well known collections of Gettysburg artifacts.  In 1918, he opened a private museum that featured the “Shields Collection,” one of the few documented Gettysburg collections obtained by local families (Rosensteel; Danner; Wert; Mumper; Ziegler, etc.).  The Shields Museum closed in the 1980s and the collection was sold at auction on November 16, 1985.  Offering over 600 lots “comprised mostly of Gettysburg battlefield pick-up relics,” the auction attracted several hundred Civil War collectors, dealers, and museum buyers.

A truly superb Gettysburg relic!  [JC/LD]

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