Arms, Armor & Militaria

29" slightly curved spear point quill-back blade with a nearly full-length unstopped median fuller. Blade 1.125" wide at ricasso with a flat spine. Sword 34.5" in overall length with a 5.5" hilt, with a gilt brass guard with US in the face and a grooved wooden grip covered in shagreen with 14 wraps of twisted wire. Blade with script Klingenthal manufacturing mark on spine. Blade with 15" acid etched panels with flowing foliate themes, panoplies of arms and martial motifs. The sword is accompanied by a browned metal scabbard with gilt brass mounts with the upper mount engraved To/Lieut. W.S. Collier/from the Udine Boat Club. Two framed images accompany the sword as well, one a large nominally 12.5"x18" poster style image of the members of the Udine Boat Club that is probably a copy of a lithograph, matted and framed with an overall size of 18.5"x23.5". Collier is pictured in the lower right of this poster. The second image is apparently a close up reproduction of the Collier portion of the first image and is matted and framed in a nominally 9"x9" frame. This sword was originally purchased from Norm Flayderman and was listed in his Catalog #104. A copy of that listing, along with copies of service records, pictures, research, etc is included in a large binder that accompanies the sword.

William S Collier (1839-1889) had been involved in the pre-war Pennsylvania militia company the Duquesne Grays during 1860 and 1861 and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in Company C of the 12th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on April 25, 1861. The 12th PA spent their service primarily in railroad guard duty in the area of Cockeysville, MD. He, and the balance of the 90-day regiment, was mustered out on August 5 of the same year. That same day he was mustered for service in the 4th US Infantry, and was promoted to 2nd lieutenant Regular Army from that same rank in the volunteers. On November 25, 1861 Collier was promoted to 1st lieutenant. The 4th US was initially part of the infantry reserve of the Army of the Potomac but in May of 1862 was transferred to the Department of the East with the balance of the army. They would remain with the Army of the Potomac through the balance of the war and would fight in most of their major campaigns. From May to August they saw service during the Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days before Richmond and at 2nd Manassas. They fought at Antietam during the Maryland Campaign and were at Fredericksburg to round out 1862.

Their 1863 campaign season began with the Mud March in January followed by Chancellorsville in May. The regiment saw its peak action at Gettysburg and then saw the regiment sent to New York for the suppression of the Draft Riots. At Gettysburg 1st lieutenant Collier was commanding officer of Company K, breveted captain for his service at Chancellorsville. He received his official promotion to captain nearly a year later on June 29, 1864. In 1864 the 4th US took part in Grant's Overland Campaign and fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor before seeing duty during the Siege of Petersburg. The regiment remained in service at Petersburg until it fell. On April 2, 1865 Collier was breveted to major for his service. After the war he remained in the regular army, seeing service out west and finally resigning on April 27, 1880. He died in Pittsburgh on June 15, 1889.