Ohio Finds: Civil War Presentation Sword

William Huston Williams was born in Portsmouth, and at the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 39th Ohio Infantry at Camp Colerain and Camp Dennison near Cincinnati. 

Williams and the 39th saw considerable action as part of the Army of the Mississippi, before winding up their service alongside William Tecumseh Sherman in Atlanta. 

After being discharged, Williams returned home, where he worked as a painter and contractor, until his health began to fail. Williams had several stays in the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Sandusky, where he died and was buried in 1915. 

This 32-inch sword was one of many like it imported by the Union and marked for Clauberg, a renowned manufacturer of edged weapons in Solingen, Prussia (now Germany). This is typical of presentation swords, which were of a higher quality than the standard service weapons, and they were often paid for and inscribed by the men who served under an officer or by the officer’s family or friends. Williams’ sword was presented to him by his neighbors. 

Sold: $5,015

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