This saber has a 36 1/4 inch curved blade with martial and scroll etching two small marks on the right ricasso and unclear marking along the etched spine. The brass hilt has patriotic and foliate designs and the Gorgoneion toward the pommel. The sword has a shagreen and wire wrapped grip. The brass scabbard has foliate designs on the mounts and is inscribed "Presented to/Lieut. Volney V. Smith/by company [blank space] 1st Mounted Rifles/as a token of their esteem/Aug. 27th 1862." Volney Voltaire Smith (1841 or 1842-1897) was the son of Oregon Democratic territorial representative and U.S. Senator Delazon Smith (1816-1860). He enrolled on August 13, 1862, in New York and mustered in as the 1st lieutenant in Company K of the 1st New York Mounted Rifles (7th New York Cavalry) for three years and resigned in May 1863. His exact service thereafter becomes unclear, but he is identified as being shot through the legs in 1864 and later served as the provost marshal of Camp Nelson in Kentucky before becoming captain of Company C of the 114th U.S. Colored Infantry on June 24, 1864, in Lexington, Kentucky. The 114th traveled to the Ringgold Barracks in Texas in 1865. He subsequently moved to Arkansas and worked in the press as well as with the Freedmen's Bureau. He became the Lafayette County clerk in 1868 and became the lieutenant governor in the contested Arkansas election of 1872 which led to the Brooks-Baxter War. He claimed to be the governor but was unable to take the seat, and President Grant then assigned him to the consulate at St. Thomas. He later returned to Lewisville, Arkansas, and had a law career until being confined to an insane asylum in 1897.

Fine with distinct etching and scabbard inscription, untouched well-aged attractive patina visible on the hilt and scabbard, silver-gray patina and pitting on the fine blade, and mild overall wear.