Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent early-production example of the classic U.S. Navy Model 1860/61 boarding cutlass manufactured by Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts during the first year of Civil War production. Dated 1861 and serial numbered 2M / 255, representing No. 2,255, this example is particularly desirable for retaining its original leather-covered wooden grip with twisted wire wrapping, a feature originally fitted to these cutlasses but removed from most examples during later Navy refurbishment.

The U.S. Navy adopted this distinctive cutlass at the beginning of the Civil War as a replacement for earlier patterns. The design was closely derived from the French Model 1833 naval boarding cutlass, whose deep half-basket guard earned the informal French nickname “cuillère à pot,” or “soup ladle,” from the shape of its protective brass guard. The American version retained the same broad concept while incorporating features and markings specific to U.S. Navy manufacture.

The curved 26 inch blade's ricasso is marked on one side with the banner style address, which is almost faded away -

MADE BY
AMES MFG
CHICOPEE
MASS

And on the other side it is faintly marked with 1861, the first year of manufacture for these. There is no inspection marking we can find on the cutlass, however there may be one under the heavy oxidation on the blade. The blade is in fair shape, however it has some heavy oxidation which has not been cleaned, and there are some areas of heavy pitting and some very minor edge nicks. The serial number 2M/255 is stamped under the crossguard, for 2,255, one of the earliest we have ever seen.

The handle is in good shape but there is some heavy wear and some wearing away of the leather, showing the bare wood underneath. The wire wrap is well-retained, something we have only ever seen a few times.

The Model 1860 designation traditionally applied to this cutlass is somewhat conventional. Naval historians have noted that the precise date of formal adoption is uncertain because surviving Navy contracts from the period are not always specific enough to distinguish between the older pattern and the newly introduced cutlass. As a result, the weapon is variously described by collectors and institutions as the Model 1860, Model 1861, or Model 1860/61. The Smithsonian itself catalogs the type as the Ames Manufacturing Co. Model 1860/1861 Navy Cutlass.

The pattern proved extraordinarily durable. Although introduced at the opening of the Civil War, the Model 1860/61 remained in U.S. Navy inventories long after the conflict. Museum research notes that examples could still be found aboard Navy vessels and at training stations even around the beginning of World War II, despite the adoption of a newer cutlass pattern in 1917.

This example is particularly significant for the combination of its 1861 blade date, exceptionally low serial number 2,255, faint early Ames banner marking, original brass half-basket hilt, and surviving leather-and-wire grip configuration. The heavy blade oxidation and localized grip wear document a long working life, while the retained wire wrapping preserves a construction feature removed from many Navy-held examples during later refurbishment. As an early first-year production Ames cutlass, it is an especially strong representative example of the edged weapon carried by U.S. Navy enlisted personnel during the American Civil War.