1861 Eagle Base Ball Club Civil War Sword

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This rarefied artifact combines the genesis of the National Pastime with the rise of the internecine war that nearly sliced our country in half. It was the War Between the States, after all, that dispersed and popularized baseball, transforming it from a regional, little-known game to a bona fide national phenomenon. The new-fangled sport was enjoyed at encampments, on battlefields, and in prisons. It was a shining light of brotherhood and spirited competition for men whose lives were otherwise filled with bloodshed, rot and death.Early in those grave years, the seminally important Eagle Base Ball Club of New York bestowed this sword and scabbard upon Union soldier Robert H. Ellis. The Eagles had formed as a "town ball" team back in 1840Â--preceding even the origin of the now-hallowed KnickerbockersÂ--and by 1852 had converted to playing the more formalized "base ball" with other organized clubs. In 1857, the Eagles met the Gothams in a formative championship at Hoboken's fabled Elysian Fields. Their great match was depicted in the publication Porter's Spirit of the Times as one of the first-ever woodcut engravings with a baseball theme.As for Ellis, although his direct connection to the Eagles is unknown, his military career is well-established. He enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant Quartermaster on October 1, 1861, at New York City, and he was commissioned into New York's 61st Infantry (the "Clinton Guards") on October 16Â--a mere two days prior to the presentation of his sword by the Eagle Base Ball Club. Ellis later fought at the battles of Harper's Landing and Antietam before being discharged for disability on September 26, 1862. Had he continued to serve, he would have joined his comrades-in-arms at Gettysburg, w the 61st sustained heavy casualties and w a monument to the regiment proudly stands today.Ellis' 1850-model foot officer's sword is 38" long (sheathed) and was made in 1861 by a top-rate producer of Civil War swords, Christopher Roby of West Chelmsford, Massachusetts. It is truly a work of art, with exquisite engraving that utilizes the U.S. insignia amid a patriotic and floral design on both sides of the blade. T is also a unique Roby stamping, done in a more flourished style than the stamp that appears on the scabbard. It is important to emphasize that the Eagles did not select an ordinary standard-issue scabbard, but rather an elite upgrade intended for presentation purposes. Its elegant inscription reads, " Presented to Quarter Master Robert H. Ellis 1st Regiment Clinton Guard by Members of the Eagle Base Ball Club October 18th 1861. " The sword is accompanied by an exhaustive evaluation/authentication/restoration report prepared in 2006 by Civil War armaments expert Richard Listenberger. In the report, Listenberger attests to the following:Â* The sword is a 100% authentic and legitimate, U.S. 1850-model (still produced in 1861) Civil War foot officer's sword.Â* The baseball engraving is period to the sword's manufacture and hence was not merely added at a later date to an original sword.Â* Nothing on the sword is mismatched or has been falsified.Â* The sword and scabbard are original to one another.Â* Maker marks are consistent with available research information apart from the rare and possibly unique two-line Roby stamp on the scabbard.With regard to restoration, Listenberger sympathetically repaired the hilt grip, removed rust and pitting from the blade, ameliorated the scabbard, and finally cleaned the brass hilt and scabbard fittings while retaining approximately 60% of the original patina.T are only two other extant Civil War baseball swords. The first is a naval Ames-made sword that was presented to E. Boss by the Dexter Base Ball Club of Providence, Rhode Island, on December 10, 1864 (once part of the Rucker Collection, it has not appeared publicly in 12 years). The second sword was given to Lieutenant George P. Phelps by the Atlantics Base Ball Club of Brooklyn on March 30, 1865 (this one last sold in 2005 for... read more

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