Identification of American Swords
Sword Identification and Related
Of the United States of America

Help us keep this Identification Service alive.
Visit our Shopping Site pages and buy from us direct or visit our Books for Sale pages and buy research materials from one of our affiliates. Proceeds and commissions from these sales - in part - go towards the purchase of additional reference materials and acquisition expenses. You can also order this service online from our Identification Request Page or send a check or money order with your identification request or as a token of gratitude if this site has proven to be helpful to you. If you send a check or money order, please note on the document that it is intended for the "Research Fund".
Additionally, if there is anything that you would like to see on the following pages - in a weaponry identification sense - please feel free to request such and I will try to add additional information as soon as possible.
Please note - buying an item or sending funds does not guarantee a response. Due to overwhelming response to this website, I may not answer directly; I may simply post new material on the website in hope that a published response will answer your question(s).

• If you E-mail or snail-mail any images to me for use in identification of an item, I reserve the right to use - without further contact - those images on my website, without compensation to you (other than my efforts to assist you, however minimal the result may actually be).
• Please do not send single e-mail image files larger than 250kb, or no larger than 500kb total for multiple images; I will not open them.
• Do not send images in compressed file format(s) such as ZIP extension files; once again, I will not open them.
• Send image(s) in JPG/JPEG format only.

Research materials I have available are quite substantial; however, on some items, information within those materials might be quite sparse. If you choose to snail-mail images, please make sure you have copies or your originals retained for yourself. We do not return images in any format and they become the property of Arms to Armor - The History Store without compensation to you for any use - past, present, or future.

If sending a check or money order, please mail, payable to:

The History Store
P.O. Box 160
Llano, Texas 78643

If you have a specific identification question, please see our Identification Request Page.

If you are wanting to buy antique or collectible swords, please visit our Online Store and view our Swords for Sale page.

You can also buy research materials from one of our affiliates at our Books for Sale pages.

Artillery

Cadet

Cavalry

Field & Staff

Infantry

Medical & Payroll

Militia

Miscellaneous

Musician

Navy & Marines

NCO

Society

Below are the images of the major military swords - and some civilian swords - commonly found in the USA. Only images of the hilts - or distant views - of these swords will be made available; I will not display images of inspector's or maker's marks as that might encourage spurious reproduction.
My intent is to help the novice collector, not to line the pockets of pseudo antique dealers.
The best advice I can offer to the novice collector is, "READ BOOKS."
There are a number of wonderful books available and below I have listed some of my favorites; I also occasionally have some of these titles for sale."
One cannot fully appreciate American Swords without knowing their origins; therefore it becomes necessary to study European swords. Resultantly, some of these books are dedicated to European arms, while others are mixed with European and American arms.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

• General Officers - straight sword, gilt hilt, silver grip, brass or steel scabbard.

• Officers of the Adjutant-General's, Inspector-General's, Quartermaster-General's, and Subsistence Departments, Corps of Engineers, Topographical Engineers, Ordnance, the Judge-Advocate of the Army, Aides-de-Camp, Field Officers of the Artillery, Infantry and Foot Riflemen, and for the Light Artillery - the sword of the pattern adopted by the War Department, April 9, 1850; or the one described in General Orders No. 21, of August 28, 1860, for officers therein designated.

• Medical and Pay Departments - small sword and scabbard, according to pattern in the Surgeon-General's office.

• Medical Cadets - the sword and belt and plate will be the same as for non-commissioned officers.

• Officers of Cavalry - sabre and scabbard now in use, according to pattern in the Ordnance Department.

• Artillery, Infantry, and Foot Riflemen, except the field officers - the sword of the pattern adopted by the War Department, April 9, 1850.

• The sword and sword-belt will be worn upon all occasions of duty, without exception.

• When on foot, the sabre will be suspended from the hook attached to the belt.

• When not on military duty, officers may wear swords of honor, or the prescribed sword, with a scabbard, gilt, or of leather with gilt mountings.

West Point Cadet Name Searches

I have various information on West Point Cadets - graduates and non-graduates - from 1802 to 2002. If there is a name on your sword - and that name is registered as a West Point Cadet - I can very likely supply basic information on that individual. I charge $10 to search, non-refundable. If a record is found, I will forward that information on to you via e-mail; if no record is found, I will e-mail you to that effect. Follow this link to request a West Point Cadet Search.