This is the earliest pattern of the 1902 officer’s sword produced at the Springfield Armory that utilizes a German silver scabbard (dating it prior to 1905,) a German silver guard, a horn grip, and with the earliest, 1903-1904, blade etching with a four-line address on the reverse running parallel to the blade, reading: “Springfield / Armory / Springfield / Mass. U.S.A.”

The sword is in excellent condition, with guard, grip and scabbard about perfect. The German silver has a muted silver tone. The scabbard has no dents or bends. The blade etching is vivid with long, frosted panels on either side with rounded bottoms and Arabesque terminals. The obverse motifs include a tall panoply of arms and flags at bottom, floral scrolls, a U.S. eagle with wide spread wings, U.S. shield on its breast, and E Pluribus Unum ribbon overhead, followed by more floral scrolls above and below a second panoply that includes, arms, flags and a U.S. shield. The reverse has similar foliate scrollwork with a panoply at bottom and near the upper end a Roman fasces, the bound rods and ax symbolizing the Republic, in an oval wreath, with the central motif of an Old English “U.S.”

The 1902 officer’s sword was a universal pattern for all officers except chaplains, and replaced the old “1860 Staff and Field Sword,” actually an 1872 version of the 1860 Staff Sword, that was deemed, “too light for slashing, not stiff enough for thrusting and unsuited for mounted cavalry or artillery use” (in Kellerstedt’s summary,) which pretty much covers all the bases. This is a very scarce, pre-World War One, example of the very earliest type of this regulation sword, made at Springfield 1903-1904, and in excellent condition.    [sr]

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