While a bit unusual looking for American weaponry, the Foot Artillery Sword was used from 1832 through the Civil War. These two examples from the collection are a standard M1832 model issued to U.S. Army soldiers as well as a rough Confederate copy. While called a sword, these typically would not have been used in any type of combat, but instead were used more in the manner of a modern machete for such tasks as clearing brush. The M1832 was based heavily on the 1816 French artillery sword which in turn was inspired in its design from the ancient Roman gladius short sword. Owing to its non-combat reputation, the French nickname for the sword was the “cabbage cutter”.
The M1832 foot artillery sword is 25 inches long, with a 19-inch blade. The brass hilt is solid brass, and has a unique fish scale grip based on the original French design. The museum’s sword is stamped 1834, and was produced by the Ames Manufacturing Company from Springfield, Massachusetts. An eagle is visible above the manufacturing stamp as well as on the pommel. The Confederate copy of this sword has the same basic dimensions but has no ornamentation or marks. It also features a ringed grip as common in French versions after 1831, but the blade is much more basic than the M1832, with only a hint of a fuller (groove) on the side of the blade. Unfortunately the museum does not have records tying either of these two swords to any particular person, unit, or campaign but showing them side to side illustrates some of the differences between Union and Confederate manufacturing during the Civil War.
