Horstmann & Sons presentation Staff & Field Officer Sword with gold plated Clauberg blade, silver Lady Liberty hilt and engraved scabbard. The scabbard is inscribed: "Presented to Capt. Jacob W. Clark / by the Members of the 59th Regt N.Y.V.". The sword has a 32-inch, spear point blade with a single stopped fuller. The Damascene blade is embellished with gold washed etching. The acid etched panels feature fine dry needle foliate decorations with stands of arms near the hilt. A panel on the obverse of the blade is etched with the motto: "Always Ready". The reverse is etched with a spread eagle with an "E PLURBUS UNUM" ribbon in its beak. The back of the blade is etched with gold washed acanthus leaves and "IRON PROOF". The reverse ricasso is stamped with the Clauberg standing knight trademark and "SOLINGEN" address. The hilt features a highly detailed silver figure of Lady Liberty. The figure wears a gold liberty cap, a mantle of stars and a breast plate set with a semi-precious stone. Liberty holds a sword in her right hand and a sheaf of wheat in her left hand. The gold-plated brass guard has a single branch and a dolphin head quillion. The guard features intricate, pierced, foliate decorations set with nine semi-precious stones. The silver plated scabbard has highly detailed, gold-plated, foliated mounts set with twelve semi-precious stones. The lower portion of the scabbard is decorated with an elongated U.S. shield with thirteen stars. The gold-plated drag mount is decorated with relief foliated engraving surrounding a "US" monogram. The drag features "US" in relief surrounded by relief cast foliate decorations. The hilt has a gold bullion officer's sword knot. The sword is complete with a walnut, nine-inch by forty-four inch, French fitted, case with maroon velvet lining. A presentation Model 1850 Staff & Field Officer's Sword with a very similar Liberty hilt and scabbard identified as assembled by Horstmann & Sons is illustrated on pages 493-494 of "CIVIL WAR ARMY SWORDS" by John H. Thillmann. This particular sword is pictured on page 288 of "AMERICAN SWORDS AND MAKERS VOL. II" by Richard H. Bezdek. A Model 1850 Staff & Field Officer's sword with an identical hilt is pictured on page 586 of Bezdek's "AMERICAN SWORDS AND MAKERS VOL. I". Consigner information indicates that Jacob W. Clark enlisted as a private in Company H of the 59th New York Volunteer Infantry on October 3, 1861. Clark was wounded at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. Clark re-enlisted as a Veteran Volunteer in December 1863. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in February 1864. On May 12, 1864, Lieutenant Clark was wounded and captured at the "Bloody Angle" at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Clark was held as a prisoner of war at "Camp Asylum" in Columbia, South Carolina. The 59th New York Volunteer Infantry was mustered into service in November 1861 and served with the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula Campaign in June 1862 until the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The regiment lost 14 officers and 129 enlisted men killed in action or mortally wounded and 127 enlisted men died of disease.

Excellent. The blade retains nearly all the damascene finish and 95% of the attractive original gold wash. Wear is limited to some pitting concentrated on the tip of the blade and a small spot of pitting on the back of the blade at the edge of the engraving. The intricate brass guard has more than 90% of the gold-plated finish. The silver Liberty figure retains the crisp detail with some slight tarnishing. The scabbard mounts, drag and drag mounts also have 90% of the original gold plated finish. The silver-plated finish on the scabbard body is in excellent condition. The inscription and engraved U.S. shield on the scabbard body are crisp. The scabbard and drag have no dents or handling wear. The case exterior is in excellent condition with minimal wear. The velvet interior is excellent; wear is limited to minor compression marks from the hilt and scabbard mounts. This is an excellent example of a very high quality, cased Staff & Field Officers presentation sword with gold-washed Damascene blade and highly detailed silver Liberty hilt. It would be hard to improve on this magnificent and historic Civil War sword.