Beschreibung:

32.5" single-edged slightly curved spear-point blade with 5" false edge and nearly full-length stopped median fuller. 6.75" gold gilt hilt with beaded crown pommel cap and beaded globe finial. Cast gilt grip with stippled surface with six wraps of wide gilt decorative banding, cast as alternating rows of laurel leaves and smooth bands with stars. Flowing gilt upper quillon in the form of a classic helmet plume with a feathery base and forward swept beaded finial. Knuckle guard stippled and gilt with flowing foliate themes and oval center escutcheon set with an amethyst. Obverse grip set with three additional amethysts. Gilt folding clam shell-style counter-guard. Obverse ricasso with Weyersberg King's Head logo. Above the ricasso, the two-line dry needle etching reads non script: Bailey & Co / Philadelphia. Silver washed Damascus patterned blade with gold gilt acid etched panels including a Grecian urn with foliate sprays and additional foliate themes surrounding a large US within a sunburst on the obverse and flowing foliate patterns on the reverse that feature a spread-winged American Eagle with a ribbon in its beak that reads E PLURIBUS UNUM as the central panel. Spine of sword etched with flowing vines and gold gilt as well. Scalloped red wool throat washer at hilt. Sword is contained in a gold gilt metal scabbard with highly ornamented brass mounts with beaded boarders that thematically connects with the beading on the pommel cap and quillon of the sword. Upper mount with two rings, bidding mount with a single ring. Scabbard body engraved with flowing foliate scrolls and sprays. Central panel between the two suspension mounts is engraved as follows: Presented to / Ten. Rufus King / By the 19th Ind. Vols at their Camp on Arlington Heights, VA / as a toke of respect for him as a Solider & a Gentleman / March 4, 1862. Bailey & Company presentation swords are exceptionally rare, and this is a truly stunning example in outstanding condition. Born in New York City, Rufus King (1814-1876) was the first of four commanders of the feted Iron Brigade comprised of the 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, and 24th Michigan - hardy Midwestern farmers whose fighting spirit would be canonized as a theme of Army of the Potomac lore. King hailed from a highly respected and prosperous family with roots going back before the Revolution. Rufus King is inextricably linked with the famed Iron Brigade. Much of the Iron Brigade's vaunted reputation can be attributed to the plethora of Civil War Centennial literature that reintroduced the American Civil war to a broad base of captivated readers in the early 1960's. In fact, the Iron Brigade missed the entirety of the Peninsula campaign and was not engaged in any of the swirling Seven Days' fighting during June and July 1862. Rufus King commanded the iron brigade for only a short time before being promoted to division command and, in reality, it was the second brigade commander, John Gibbon, who "must get much of the credit for the high degree of military efficiency" attributed to the brigade. It was also Gibbon who equipped the brigade with its trademark 'Black Hats', the iconic Hardee hat with upturned brim favored by the Regulars. Rufus King excelled in the organization of the early Iron Brigade drawing upon his West Point education - he was Class of 1837 commissioned into the elite topographical engineers - and the four years he soldiered as Adjutant General of New York from 1839 to 1843. Setting aside his avocation as editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, King became among the first of the volunteer brigadier generals when he was commissioned on May 17, 1861. King's Brigade as it would be known was not born until October 3, 1861 when the three Wisconsin regiments were joined with the 19th Indiana in Washington, D.C. to form the nucleus of future Iron Brigade. The 2nd Wisconsin had been in the eastern theater the longest, from June 20, 1861, and was the onl