Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very nice example of a U.S. Civil War issue Private Purchase U.S. Marine Corps Model 1840 Non-Commissioned Officer's sword, retailed by Horstmann of Philadelphia. This sword has an early "wide" blade, which was imported from Germany, very common on private purchased swords.

The sword measures 37 1/2" overall, and has an all-brass hilt, with a "double scallop" cross guard, and a "D" hand guard enclosing the knurled  hand grip. This sword features the distinct Horstmann NCO sword turned down counter guard. The M1840 NCO sword was the Marine Corps regulation until the change in 1859, which called for Marine Corp NCO's to use a sword patterned after the 1850 Foot Officer Sword. We estimate that this sword was made in the 1850s, just prior to the Civil War.

Comes complete in its straight brass-mounted leather scabbard with intact frog hook, though the leather has cracked completely through in two places. These were repaired, however the upper repair broke again, so the scabbard is once again in two pieces.

The 31 3/8" straight blade's ricasso is marked on one side with the Horstmann company marking -

One the other side it is marked with the manufacturer's logo of a Königskopf (King's Head) on the blade ricasso, the logo of Gebrüder Weyersberg, Waffenfabrik, founded in 1787 by the brothers Johan William and Peter to manufacture sword and knife blades. By 1850 they were located on Kölnerstrasse in the Ohligs area of the City of Solingen. From 1859 onward they operated a factory on Hochstrasse in the same area. Called "The City of Blades", Solingen is a world-renowned edged weapon area, with a history dating back to the middle ages. The Weyersberg family itself had a history of swordmaking going back at least 6 generations. The company had numerous contacts and customers in Europe, and supplied weapons to Napoleon's army, as well as to the Prussian and Russian armies during the 19th century.

The sudden death of Hermann Weyersberg in 1883 caused a management issue, and the manufacturing portion of the company was amalgamated with W.R. Kirschbaum to form the well-known firm of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Co. As part of this agreement the sales and trading portion of Weyersberg continued under numerous brand names. For more information please see J. Anthony Carter’s work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS.

This sword is in excellent condition, with the expected wear from age, and little sign of field use. The blade still retains almost all of it's original polished bright steel finish. There is just a bit of staining and runner wear near the tip of the blade. The hilt is in great shape, and still has much gilding present on the blade side of the cross guard.

This is an absolutely genuine U.S. Civil War issue M1840 USMC NCO sword, offered in great condition. Ready to display!

Dimensions:
Blade length: 31 3/8”
Blade style: Single Edged Straight with Fuller
Overall length: 37 1/2”
Handguard: 4 1/2”W x 6”L
Scabbard Length: 33" (broken in two)