I'm posting this with a Colt 2nd gen 1860 Army to keep it firearms topical, but it's really to show off my new model 1840 "heavy" cavalry saber. The pistol is out of the 1979 Colt produced 200th anniversary of the US cavalry set so it includes grips with a facsimile inspector's cartouche. I won the sword in an online live auction back in February before the Kung-flu panic started in the US. Still, I won it for very little money compared to what the normal ACW common non-officer model sabers go for.
This is an M-1840 "heavy" cavalry saber and was made by the Emerson & Silver company of Trenton N.J. New Jersey raised a lot of cavalry troops during the ACW and at least the first three regiments of volunteers coincidentally trained at Fort Bayard in Trenton.
A full-strength Union regiment would have consisted of 12 troops of 100 men each not including officers and support. This is one of only 2700 each of the M-1840 "heavy" sabers ordered from Emerson & Silver by the state of New Jersey between 1863 and 1864--made at a time when all of the new cavalry sabers, being produced by companies such as Ames and Horstman, were the much more popular model 1860 "light" cavalry model. I guess the state was giving their volunteers a choice of the "heavy" or the "light" saber. The M-1840 was the standard cavalry saber during the Mexican war and was nicknamed "the old wrist breaker". It continued to be used in the ACW alongside the newer M-1860 but soon fell out of favor as the M-1860's became available starting in 1861. The M-1860 was just a scaled-down version of the M-1840, but was the most produced, and used, by the Union during the war and became the standard right up until the start of the 20th century. It was also copied in the South and of course, confiscated by capture or when found on the battlefield.
The blade on this example has never been sharpened nor marked up after it left the factory. The scabbard is almost as nice--with just a few spots of oxidation staining. In fact, the sword appears to have been unused and possibly never issued--a rarity for a period manufactured piece.
Being from the South, I would much prefer to have a Confederate used sword, but my bank account just can't handle what such pieces sell for now.
Cheers