Identified Union Berdan Sharpshooter's Swords
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APPRAISER:
You brought in quite a collection of swords, all related to one individual. Who is he to you?
GUEST:
This is my great-grandfather Captain John Hetherington. He was a Berdan sharpshooter in the Civil War. This sword is kind of the family legendary sword. He was wounded, and this is a picture of how he was carrying the sword when he was struck by the bullet. All I was ever told was that this saved his life. When the bullet hit his hand, a piece of the sword lodged in his hand, and that's why he had to leave the Army. And eventually, it crippled his hand right up.
APPRAISER:
He was one of the original guys that enlisted in one of the four companies that they recruited up in New York. You couldn't just sign up to be a Berdan sharpshooter. They had a test. Those guys had to hit a target that was about ten inches around at 200 yards, and they had to put ten rounds in that consecutively. And if you could pass that test, you could be a Berdan sharpshooter. So they weren't employed like regular infantry. They were sent out in company-size elements and in smaller groups. These guys were the designated marksmen of their era. So they would be looking specifically for Confederate officers, the members of artillery crews, they were important as skirmishers, and doing all this work, they had a very, very high casualty rate. It was a dangerous business to be a Berdan sharpshooter, as your relative found out.
GUEST:
(chuckling): That's right.
APPRAISER:
So when we did a little digging into his history, we find that he enlists as a private, he's promoted to sergeant not too long thereafter. In late '62, he ends up being commissioned a second lieutenant. He was recommended specifically to be elevated to captain of the company by Berdan himself, which is wonderful.
GUEST:
Oh. (murmurs)
APPRAISER:
So what we see here in his sword collection are three of the swords that we typically see for Civil War officers, but it's unusual to have them all together for one individual. This is a private purchase sword made in Germany-- this is kind of, if you go to the corner store and buy the cheapest sword you can get...
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
...and still be an officer, that’s what you would end up with. And then this, by regulation, he didn't have any business having. This is the 1850 Staff and Field, but they're private purchase swords. There's nothing stopping you from buying one and getting it. This is an 1850-foot officer's sword. This is not a pretty sword, but as we learn here, this sword is a lifesaver. On Jerusalem Plank Road at Petersburg, he's carrying this sword, and we can see on the back end where the bullet has actually wrecked the thing. And it probably never left the scabbard after that day. Absolutely incredible stroke of good fortune. This is a photograph that was taken after the war.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It's a cabinet card image. From a collector's point of view, there are certain things that always rise to the top. If you're going to find something out in the world that relates to the Civil War, boy, you'd be very lucky if it's something from Berdan's. You also have a nice framed document that gives us a, a history of his service. You've got the photograph which puts it all in context, and these three swords. If I was cataloguing this for an auction, I would put an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
(softly): Oh, wow.
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