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“It is not death therefore that is burdensome, but the fear of death.”
LOT 1142
Civil War W.H. Horstmann & Sons Model 1840 Foot Officer’s Sword with Scabbard Inscribed to Union General and First National Rifle Association President Ambrose E. Burnside - The sword has a 32 3/4 inch blade with 17 inch etched panels with oak leaves, acorns, patriotic motifs, and floral patterns along with the etched “W.H./ HORSTMANN/* SONS/PHILADELPHIA” marking over the Gebruder Weyersberg “King’s Head” maker’s mark. The brass hilt has some floral decoration and a folding languet and has a sword knot. The scabbard has floral and eagle and shield engraving. The reverse between the suspension band is inscribed: “To Genl. A. E. Burnside from the/friends of Co F of Newport/1st Regt. R. I. D. M.” Included excerpts from Rhode Island newspapers
in August 1861 record Burnsides reception and a parade in Newport, including the presentation of a sword. Mayor Robert Cranston’s address included: “I have now one other duty to perform. It is my peculiar pleasure, in behalf of the friends of company
F in the 1st Rhode Island regiment, to present to you this sword and this full set of personal and horse equipments for a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army. In delivering you this sword I know full well that whenever your country calls upon you to defend her constitution and protect this glorious Union and enforce its laws promptly and justly, that [this] blade will be drawn, and as long as your arm is nerved it will never
be sheathed until the Union is preserved and the laws are vindicated. I place it in your hands with the greatest confidence.” Burnside’s remarks included, “I shall cherish these gifts as among the most precious that I have ever received. May I never as a soldier or citizen commit any act that shall disgrace this sword. I will use it only in the defense of the country. As I have said to my old regiment, I have no wish beyond the permanency of this government; but I do not feel like sheathing my sword until the integrity of the country is restored.”
This sword was previously on loan to the National Park Service and displayed at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center from November 10, 2012, until late January 2013 (copies of documents included) and news reports claimed it to be “believed to be Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s favorite” and “likely the one Burnside carried at the Battle of Fredericksburg.”The latter apparently based on a drawing from December 14, 1862, but the sword in the drawing appears to be a Model 1850 given the curved blade and scabbard design and known photographs of him with a sword of that model. However, he is holding a Model 1840 similar to this one in a the photo titled “Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside of 1st Rhode Island Infantry Regiment and General Staff
U.S. Volunteers Infantry Regiment with gauntlets and sword” from c. 1861 and a c. 1861 Brady studio portrait, both in the Library of Congress (E. Anthony carte de visite and modern prints included), and an engraved portrait from “The Life and Public Services of Ambrose E. Burnside: Soldier, Citizen, Statesman” by Benjamin Perley Poore also shows him wearing a sword of this pattern. He was also photographed with a different Model 1840 with an ivory grip. The Rhode Island State Legislature also presented Burnside a very elaborate sword while he was stationed at New Bern in North Carolina in June of 1862 in response to his victory at Roanoke Island.
Major General Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-81) graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1847 and resigned in 1853 to pursue the production of the Burnside breech-loading rifle. He sold his design before the design became a success
in part due to a factory fire. The Burnside carbines were ultimately used widely in the Civil War, including by men under his command, but he made little off of the design in
the antebellum era. Instead, prior to the war he worked in the railroad industry as the treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad where he worked under George B. McClellan. Abraham Lincoln was one of the railroad’s lawyers. When the southern states seceded and then attacked Fort Sumter, Burnside returned to
the military, initially as the colonel of the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the regiment inscribed on
this sword. He was soon given command of a brigade and
led them at the First Battle of Bull Run before receiving command of a division. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in August 1861 and was in command of the North Carolina Expeditionary Force which met with success
in the Burnside Expedition that captured Elizabeth City. He received a promotion to major general in March 1862 after his victories at Roanoke Island and New Bern which were the first major Union victories in the Eastern Theater of
the war. He was offered the command of the Army of the Potomac but demurred. At Antietam, Burnside oversaw the poorly planned attempt to attack the Confederate line by crossing “Burnside’s Bridge” leaving his men
under fire. His delays in breaking through combined
with McClellan’s fear of a counter attack are considered significant factors in why the bloody battle was ultimately largely a stalemate rather than a decisive victory. Lincoln blamed McClellan and put Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac, and this time Burnside accepted.
At Fredericksburg, Burnside confirmed that he was not up to the task of commanding an entire army. The president had urged Burnside to capture Richmond as quickly as possible. The Army of the Potomac was hampered by delays in constructing pontoon bridges in order to allow attacks across the Rappahannock as well as Burnside not taking advantage of natural fording points in the river much as he had failed to do at Antietam. Again, the Confederate forces under Lee
had time to prepare to meet the Union assault from high ground. After suffering heavy losses, some Union breakthroughs were achieved, but they were not followed up and ultimately the battle ended with a Confederate victory and 12,653 Union casualties. A subsequent offensive also ended in failure after it was hampered by rain, and Burnside resigned. He remained with the army as the commander of the IX Corps and was sent to the Western Theater where he captured and held Knoxville, Tennessee, before being transferred back east for the Overland Campaign reporting directly to General Ulysses S. Grant.
- General Ambrose Burnside
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