CONFEDERATE RETRACTABLE PIKE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION

CONFEDERATE RETRACTABLE PIKE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION

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$3,750.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1292-01

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Call 717-334-0347,
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Primitive, but cheap and easily made, pikes were recognized as a stop-gap measure until better arms could be obtained and were made throughout the south by small and large manufacturers with various blade forms, including the bridle-cutter, clover-leaf, and simple double-edged spear point. This is perhaps the most ingenious: a pike with retractable blade, often called one of “Joe Brown’s pikes,” after the Georgia governor who published a plea to the “Mechanics of Georgia” on February 20, 1862, to start making pikes in large numbers, along with side knives, to arm an infantry reserve who might close quickly with enemy troops once frontline troops had gotten to close range.

This design is sometimes attributed to a “Rev. Dr. Graves,” purportedly a Methodist preacher from Vermont living then in Georgia. In any case, Rodney Brown (American Polearms) felt the attributed pattern was actually the spring-loaded style of pike mentioned by Josiah Gorgas, CS Chief of Ordnance. The manufacture of so many long springs being too difficult, the springs were omitted and the blade was manually extended or retracted.

The pike shaft measures about six feet long, is oval in cross-section and composed of two hollowed pieces of pine that together form a shaft about 2 inches across and 1 inch deep with the shorter sides rounded. These halves are held together by a 1 ½ inch long brass nose cap, which is slotted for the blade to emerge, a heavy iron butt cap, and two intermediate brass bands about 1-inch wide, all held in place by screws. Two long leaf springs with catches are mounted by screws between the middle bands, one facing up and one down.  The retraction channel measures 15 1/2”, including the flat edge areas of the leaf spring catches.

The blade runs back and forth in the hollow shaft. Measuring about 1 ½ inches wide and 14 ½ inches long, it is double-edged with median ridge, spear pointed, and has a rear extension with short handle that juts upward and runs in the slot cut along the middle of the pike shaft between the two middle bands. Mounted between the bands are two leaf springs with catches, the lower one holding the blade extension handle in its retracted position, and allowing it to move forward when released, to be caught and held in the extended position by the upper leaf spring catch.

The pike rates about excellent for condition, with a nice untouched patina to the wood, brass, and iron. The wood is very good, solid, and shows a coat of dark stain with just minor scratches. The blade is smooth metal with a bright finish, very good point, and evidence of hand forging, filing, and sharpening. All screws are complete and accounted for with no notable stripping or scratching.

This is an interesting weapon, primitive yet cleverly designed, showing both how hard-pressed the south was for weapons, and how inventive they could be in meeting that need. It merits a place in any Confederate arms collection and could be the centerpiece of a pike display.   [cm][ph:L]

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