Check out how far the ring has cut into the mount!


  The ring has extreme wear in two places

The foot officer’s sword shown below was made and marked by Boyle, Gamble & Macfee of Richmond, Virginia. The maker’s name and address make it one of the most sought after Confederate swords. It is also one of the rarest. All of these that I have examined were sheathed in the early Boyle, Gamble/ Boyle, Gamble & Macfee scabbards with first or second model mounts. This leads me to believe that they were only produced early in the War. This accounts for their scarcity.

The example shown here is an excellent specimen; the leather grip wrap remains in virtually new condition, as does the single brass wire wrap. It even retains its original throat washer. The blade is still bright with the exception of some minor spotting. The sword is still sheathed in its original leather scabbard with second model mounts. Rather than the very earliest examples with a back seamed scabbard this has the more traditional "top seamed” scabbard, but in this case, it is turned to the down side. This may have been transitory to the maker or it may have simply been the choice of the officer who carried it, because all it required to change it was to reverse the mounts and drag. Neither the sword nor the scabbard has any repairs, though the scabbard mounts have been slid up an inch to compensate for the leather’s shrinkage. The sword is as natural and untouched as they can possibly be.

The second model mounts and the bottom seamed scabbard suggests that this was made in late 1861. The extreme amount of wear to the upper ring mount and the wear on the drag, show that this sword traveled many, many weary miles of Virginia road.

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