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LOT 1010
Outstanding Historic Presentation Grade Gilt Ames Model 1860 Staff & Field Officer’s Sword and Scabbard Inscribed as Presented to Medal of Honor Recipient Colonel Nelson A. Miles of the 61st New York Volunteers in September 1863. - The sword has a 32 1/4 inch blade with classical floral and martial etching with frosted backgrounds and “Ames
Mfg Co./Chicopee/Mass.” etched above the right ricasso. The
gilt brass hilt has standard “US” and floral designs and a black leather and twisted wire wrapped grip. The gilt scabbard is engraved with scrollwork and patriotic martial designs, the rear below the throat is marked “AMES MFG CO/CHICOPEE/MASS,” and the section between the suspension bands bears the historic inscription: “Presented to/Conl N.A. Miles/61st N.Y. Vols./ by his friends of Westminster Mass/Sept. 1863.” It is surrounded by “Seven Pines/Mavern Hill” to the left, “Fredericksburg,”
to the bottom left, “Fair Oaks/Antietam” to the right, and “Chancellorsville” on the lower right.
As discussed in the introduction to this section, Miles quickly rose through the ranks during the American Civil War and was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 61st New York effective May 31, 1862. He took command of the regiment after Colonel Barlow was wounded by artillery fire at Antietam. He was promoted to colonel of the regiment on September 30, 1862, and was then wounded in the assault on Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg that December and was then wounded severely in the Battle of Chancellorsville in May
of 1863 while leading the regiment and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down and expected to die. He received the Medal of Honor years later for his actions in the battle. He was taken home to Massachusetts and underwent
surgery to remove the bullet and bone fragments and began his recovery and was eager to return to command despite
not being able to walk unassisted. While recovering, he was
an acting brigadier general at Huntington, Pennsylvania, but was unable to participate in the combat of the Gettysburg campaign due to his injuries. He was recommended for promotion to brigadier general. Records indicate he returned to the field as commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, II Corps of the Army of the Potomac on July 31, 1863, with the rank of colonel. Among the units under his command remained the 61st New York led by Lieutenant Colonel K. Oscar Broady. His brigade then participated in the campaign in Virginia that fall and winter. He was finally promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in May 1864 and then major general of volunteers
in October 1865. At the end of the war, he had the honor of serving as commandant of Fort Monroe at Hampton, Virginia, where the captured Confederate president was held prisoner and was accused of mistreating Davis, who Miles likely viewed as a traitor. Miles had Davis’s irons riveted on his ankles and did not allow him visitors or books aside from the Bible.
The “friends of Westminster” that presented the sword would have been residents of his hometown back in Massachusetts. He was born on his family’s farm in Westminster in 1839. His father, Daniel Miles (1799-1875), was the son of Revolutionary War hero Joab Miles (1741-1832) of nearby Petersham, Massachusetts. Colonel Miles’s elder brother Daniel Curtis Miles (1827-1912) had been the one who brought Miles home when he was wounded and essentially left for dead. In a sad twist of fate, Daniel was later found dead by Nelson in 1912 when he died of heart failure while on a walk.