The American Army Sword Website
Collectors have one thing in common. They are story tellers. Whatever they search for and find has a story to discover. The things they collect may be baseball cards, antique automobiles, dolls or swords. I collected swords and the stories of my swords are about the history of our great country. When I hold a great sword in your hands, I remember that it was the prize possession of some soldier many years ago and the sword played its role as the United States of America became the greatest nation in the world. As I hold it, I wonder what happened to its owner and what battles the man and the sword had experienced.
The motivation that made me a collector started on Pearl Harbor Day! In the olden times, West Point cadets were not allowed to own three things - a wife, a horse, and a mustache. There were two prized possessions that they were allowed to own before graduation - a fine pair of riding boots and a real U.S. Army Saber with their name on the blade. Well, Pearl Harbor was attacked and World War Two started. Instead of riding boots and a sword, I got a pair of combat boots and a carbine! With them came a trip on a troop ship to Italy. Many years passed. At the Army War College, in 1965, the urge returned to own my own saber. I wrote to Norm Flayderman in New York City. He did a thriving business selling weapons of many kinds. He sent me my first sword, an enlisted Light Cavalry Saber Model 1860. Many thousands of these were made during the Civil War. When I unpacked that saber and learned about it, I was hooked! I became a sword collector.
The discipline of my collection required that every sword be an American fighting sword used by army troops after the American Revolution and that every sword must be over one hundred years old. The collection has no replicas, presentation, Masonic or naval swords. From 1965 until 1971, I served in Washington DC except for a year in Vietnam. During those years, I searched for swords in Virginia and Pennsylvania. I used the excellent reference book by Harold L. Peterson to identify my swords. He is the foremost authority for sword collectors. The title of the book is, "The American Sword 1775-1945". In this notebook, when I write (HLP 14), it means that I refer to the Peterson book, page 14. I highly recommend that anyone who finds this notebook interesting read the Introduction and Preface of Mr. Peterson's book. There are several remarks there whereby he gives credit to the Corcoran Gallery of Art and other collectors. He mentions the authority on Confederate swords, William A. Albaugh III.
This webpage is prepared to present the thirty-four swords in my collection. Below are pictures of the collection displayed on a wall of my home. The swords are given letters and numbers. Pictures of each sword are entered with discussions and explanations.
Albert Caswell Metts Jr.
(210) 342 5010
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