The University Museum

Field Officer’s Sword

January - March, 2007

The Artifact of the Month is a field officer’s sword used in the Civil War by Union Army soldier, Colonel George Williamson McKeaig of the 120th Illinois Infantry.  McKeaig began this regiment in 1862 and it was comprised of men from the southeastern part of the Illinois.  Roby, C. and Co. of West Chelmsford and North Chelmsford, Massachusetts made this field officer’s sword.  The blade itself is etched in a floral pattern with the initials US on one side and an eagle and shield on the other side of the blade.  The handle is covered in ray or sharkskin and then wrapped with wire.  The sword represents a long tradition of military technology which, during the Civil War, was on its way to becoming obsolete due to the use of guns that lessened the need for hand-to-hand combat in which the sword would have been employed.

Artifact of the Month information was obtained from an object research paper by Jennifer E. Earls, Introduction to Museology, Fall 1998.