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Foot Artillery Sword, 1832 (HLP 42)
The Roman Armies fought with a short sword in close combat.. This foot artillery sword must have been designed for the same reason. It followed a similar sword in the French army. Interestingly, the Confederacy had a similar one with Confederate markings and the Republic of Texas had one with the Star instead of an eagle. Probably, the artillery soldiers found it more useful to dig in the spades of the big guns than to use it for self defense. The sword served the foot artillery until about 1870. The hilt is cast brass, the grips have scalloped decorations, and three rivets hold the tang of the blade. The pommel is decorated on both sides with an American eagle and shield. One side of the straight blade has “N.P. Ames, Cabotville, 1847”. The other side is marked “US, SK”. The quillon has “SK” on one side with “JWR” on the other. Although this is a foot artillery sword, regulations of 1834 and 1839 stated that this sword would also be used by the infantry.
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