Early Boyle & Gamble Confederate Foot Officer’s Sword

The foot officer’s sword shown below was made by Boyle, Gamble & Macfee of Richmond, Virginia.  All of these that I have examined were sheathed in the early Burger, Boyle, Gamble/ Boyle, Gamble & Macfee scabbards with first or second model mounts.  This is the earliest of the Burger Style scabbards, (Boyle & Gamble took over Burger production) Comparing this sword’s scabbard with the Burger Brothers scabbard production leads me to believe that this was made as early as March 1861.  This accounts for their scarcity.  They were later produced with the Boyle, Gamble MacFee name cast into this same guard.

The example shown here is an excellent specimen; the leather grip wrap remains in beautiful condition, and the single brass wire wrap remains tight. The hilt is as tight as when it was manufactured.  The grip shape is neither Burger Brothers or Boyle & Gamble; it has a Mitchell & Tyler shaped grip.

The blade is slightly darkened; it has never been cleaned nor repointed; it is smooth and nick free.  The spine is not flat like a Burger, but it is wide like a Burger and is slightly rounded.

The sword is still sheathed in its original leather scabbard with the earliest Burger model mounts. It is also back seamed like the Burger scabbard rather than the later top seamed Boyle & Gamble mounts.  The scabbard is strong enough to hold its own weight. The patent finish has some crazing but is virtually complete and tight. The top mount is missing the cap and I can barely see traces of one ever being attached, but I assume that it originally had one that was poorly installed.

None of the above is to imply that the sword is made of parts, not at all, it is certainly as it left the factory.  All these makers are inexorably intertwined and this appears to be a missing link in the process, that was manufactured during the transitory period of these companies in the spring of 1861.

For the Richmond sword collector this is an historically important example.  For the general Confederate sword collector, it is simply and incredibly fine example of a Richmond foot officer’s sword.