December 10, 2019 Edged Weapon, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2019
A very nicely inscribed presentation sword given to an officer wounded in action at Williamsurg, Virginia, in 1862. The sword is a Schuyler, Hartley and Graham marked US regulation model 1850 sword for officers of the staff and field. The brass hilt has the regulation cutout floral designs with a floating "US" in the counterguard. The pommel has a wreathed foliate design on its face and an American eagle in an oval surrounded by stars on the pommel cap. The grip has a regulation sharkskin wrap, shading from gray into white, bound with a single twisted brass wire. The knucklebow is cast and chased with floral designs for its entire length. The outer rim of the counterguard is professionally engraved, "Capt. James H. Hughes, Co. C, 6th Regt. N.J. Vol." The blade pad is in place under the guard. The blade is beautifully etched on either side for twenty inches from the guard, including the ricasso. The obverse bears a deeply stamped "1862" in a scroll and foliate panel, over which three bands of geometric and floral motifs cross the blade. Above that three sections of floral scrolls terminating in an Arabesque finial, provide two scenic panels. The uppermost is a stand or panoply of arms including sword, bayoneted muskets, flag, drum and halberd. The lower panel is a battle scene extending for seven inches. The leftmost portion shows a column of troops conducting an assault to the left. The right of the panel shows the troops from a different vantage point, charging to the right against an enemy gun emplacement. Soldiers with caps, knapsacks and bayoneted muskets are led by sword waving officers, two of whom on the right are mounted, one waving a striped flag with star in the canton. An enemy officer directs fire against them with his sword. One soldier on the ground points a pistol at the attackers, who overrunning the guns. The reverse has an etched ricasso with a central blank curved edge panel surrounded by mock Arabic lettering, over which the blade etching picks up with lattice and to designs. The Schuyler, Hartley and Graham firm name is etched in shield cartouche and carries an unusual "N.J." address. Foliat scrolls lead to a trophy or arms with muskets, cannon, cuirass, fasces, and banners on spearpoint poles. A broad, slanted "U.S." makes up the central panel, mixed with floral scrolls and three stars above, over which a somewhat startled looking bridled horse's head peers down, with pistol and sabers overhead and stirrups hanging below. The panel finishes with more floral scrolls and an Arabesque finial.
The blued steel scabbard has cast and engraved mounts, all with deeply cast scroll upper and lower edges, and a plain brass throat. The drag has a small separately applied American eagle on the obverse, with floral motifs underneath and mixed floral and geometric designs on the reverse. The middle mount has trophy of arms with shield upon swords, axes, etc. The reverse is geometric and floral. The upper mount has a deeply cast and chased American eagle on the obverse and a "U.S." engraved on the reverse in a geometric border, as is the eagle on the face.
Between the upper mounts is a silver plaque engraved, "Presented to / Capt. James H. Hughes / by/ Company C 6th Regt. N.J.V. / Passaic Guard Jersey City."
Hughes enlisted 9 September 1861 as a Captain and was commissioned as of the same date. The regiment was brigaded with three other New Jersey regiments in what was known as the Second New Jersey Brigade and assigned to Hooker's Division of the Third Corps, Army of the Potomac. On 5 May 1862 Hooker caught up with Confederate forces retreating from Yorktown at Fort Magruder near Williamsburg. Hughes was wounded in action in a fierce, pitched battle that effectively opened the Peninsular Campaign, caused the regiment at least thirty-four battle deaths, and took a heavy toll among its officers. Hughes was compelled to resign his commission as result of his wounds on 11 July 1862. The respect in which Hughes was held by his men is told by the quality of this sword. Hughes has suffered some slight indignity at the hands of history, however: his middle initial was wrongly transcribed, and then spread, in some records as "B," causing some difficulty among researchers, but the general index card to his service record file has it right. CONDITION: Scabbard has lustrous blue shading slighly toward brown. The brass mounts are a reddish gold. The silver plaque is excellent. There are no dents or dings to the scabbard. The hilt matches the scabbard mounts in tone, though slightly subdued on the face of the guard. The blade etching on either side and along the back edge is crisp and legible though the frosting is soft. Minor gray spots among the etching. A few more on the obverse above the etched panel. Some gray and brown spots for three or four inches along the edge and some slight freckling just beyond the etching on the reverse. This is an impressive sword with a nice Army of the Potomac and New Jersey connection. It is especially nice that Hughes' name and regiment are engraved on the guard as well as on the presentation plaque, assuring that they have been together forever. (SR)