Sale 1293
| Cincinnati
| Cincinnati
Lot 33
Estimate$8,000 – $12,000
To request further details about this lot, please email [email protected]
Tim Carey
Associate Vice President, Head of Department, Arms, Armor and Militaria
Ms. Emma Fulmer
ATF Manager, Senior Coordinator, Arms, Armor & Militaria
32.75" slightly curved single-edged spear point blade, 1.1" wide at the ricasso, wth a 22" stopped median fuller and a 16" secondary fuller along the spine. 38.25" in overall length with a 5.675" gilt brass hilt with US in the face of the guard. Grooved wooden grip with shagreen covering and thirteen wraps of multi-strand wire. Blade with inset disc marked PROOF on the obverse and etched IRON PROOF on the spine. Blade etched with 16.5" panels including foliate, patriotic and martial themes, panoplies of arms, a large US as the central feature of the reverse and a {Spread-Winged American Eagle} surmounted by E Pluribus Unum in a ribbon as the central theme on the obverse. The sword includes its silver plated steel scabbard with gilt brass mounts with the following inscription on the face of the upper mount: Presented to / Lieut. H. A. Johnson / By the Members of / Co. B / 3d Regt/ Me Vol. In a different hand, on the upper rear of the mount are a list of Johnson's battle honors, which reads: 1st BULL RUN + MONOCACY / YORKTOWN + FREDERICKSBURG / WILLIAMSBURG + CHANCELLORSVILLE / FAIR OAKS + GETTYSBURG / GLENDALE + KELLY'S FORD / MALVERN HILL + BRANDY STATION / 2nd BULL RUN + ORANGE GROVE / CHANTILLY + WHITE OAK SWAMP / SEVEN PINES + PEACH ORCHARD / SAVAGE STATION + MINE RUN / WILDERNESS. The lower portion of that mount reads: Captured at / Battle of the Wilderness / May 5, 1864 / Returned by / Capt. J.C.B. Smith / 12th SC Regt / June 4th, 1875.
Hannibal Augustus Johnson was a 20 year old resident of Hallowell, ME when he was enlisted as a corporal in Company B of the 3rd Maine Infantry on June 4, 1861. The third Maine was one of the backbone regiments of the Army of the Potomac and fought at nearly all of the their major engagements from the 1st Battle of Bull Run through Cold Harbor, before the regiment was mustered out on June 28, 1864. The list of battle honors inscribed on Johnson's sword attests to the numerous engagements that he was personally involved in during the war. Johnson rose through the ranks with promotions to sergeant and then 2nd lieutenant of his company. He was captured during the heavy fighting that the 3rd Maine was involved in on July 2, 1862 in the Peach Orchard. Here Johnson was captured by the Confederates but quickly exchanged. On May 5, 1864 Johnson was captured at the Battle of the Wilderness by elements of Company D of the 12th South Carolina Infantry. It was at this time that his sword was taken from him by Captain John CB Smith of that regiment. Johnson would be imprisoned initially in Macon, GA and then in Columbia, SC.
Sometime around November 15, 1864 Johnson escaped from his confinement and over the next few weeks traveled the dangerous path back to Union lines, eventually arriving in Knoxville, TN on January 10, 1865. As his regiment had been mustered out of service in June of the previous year, Johnson sought a new assignment and was commissioned a 1st lieutenant in company D of the the 1st Maine Battalion of Infantry on April 4, 1865 and was appointed the Acting Adjutant the following day. Johnson was mustered out of service on April 5, 1866.
Nearly a decade later, per the inscription on the sword, Confederate Captain John CB Smith tracked Johnson down and returned the captured sword to him, all of which is attested to in the inscription on the rear mount of the sword. Johnson and Smith would remain friends in the post war period until Smith's death in 1898. Johnson went on to write "The Sword of Honor" about this Civil War experiences and the story of the sword's return to him. Johnson was active in the GAR in the post war period, and died in Massachusetts on July 3, 1913.
A huge binder of research and copied period documents accompany the sword including copies of images of Johnson and his captors, copies of service records and other research. A copy of "The Sword of Honor" is also included.
Very good. The blade is mostly bright but has lost most of its original polish and luster with age, dulling with time. The metal shows some scattered surface oxidation and discoloration which is most notable around the ricasso. Guard with traces of gilt and the brass lightly cleaned. Grip with moderate wear to the shagreen with some of the grip wood exposed along the seam line. Wire intact with a few areas of minor loosens. Scabbard with some wear and showing minor dents on the mounts, with the drag showing more significant impact marks. Scabbard retains much of the silver washed finish.
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Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.
