The St. Louis Greys were formed in 1832 and were one of the most prominent volunteer militia units in the State of Missouri. Originally formed for general anti-Indian duty, for the Black Hawk War in particular, the Grays remained active in the state as a parade and honor guard unit and served as the nucleus of the "Saint Louis Legion", a city-wide corps of volunteer military units. During the Mexican-American War, the Legion organized and mustered themselves for service so quickly that they had to be ordered back to the city until the official request for troops came in. Following the Legion's return from the War c.1847-1848, the Greys once again became the sole volunteer military unit in the city while the others gradually rebuilt to full form. The occasion of January 8th, 1855, was a large militia parade through the city to commemorate the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson's decisive final action against the British in the closing days of the War of 1812. This parade prominently featured several companies of the Greys, and David I. Morrow commanded Company C. Reports from the day state that the Greys formed up in line as one of Morrow's sergeants made the presentation of a sword that had been commissioned in November of the previous year. The recorded speech praises Captain Morrow's gentlemanly qualities but provides little insight into Morrow's actual actions. Aside from records that put him as captain of Company C of the Greys as early as 1852, little information is available on the recipient of the sword other than that he was a resident of the St. Louis area and an officer impressive enough to inspire such a fine presentation sword. Records indicate a David I. Morrow born in 1817 was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis in 1857. During the lead-up for the Civil War, the Greys and other units of the Missouri militia were players in the high-stakes game of union and secession and served as the main strength of Governor Clairborne Jackson, a "crypto-secessionist" who tried to keep the state from contributing to the Union war effort since he didn't have the political muscle to force secession. This brought him into conflict with Captain Nathaniel Lyon, acting-commander of the U.S. Army Western District, who organized his own "underground" militia force (largely consisting of pro-Union German immigrants, including veterans of the 1848 revolutions) to oppose Jackson's volunteers. In turn, this led to the Camp Jackson Affair (aka the Camp Jackson Massacre in Southern circles), when Lyon and his '48ers launched a pre-emptive move against a Jackson's militia before they could raid a Federal arsenal, disarming the assembled units (including the Greys) and paroling them. This incident triggered riots and unrest in St. Louis and drove many "conditional unionists" into the arms of the Southern cause; however, it was considered instrumental in keeping the state from joining the South wholesale. After leaving their parole, the militiamen went wherever their conscious and patriotism led them. The Greys became a component of the Confederate 1st Missouri Infantry, which saw heavy action at the Battle of Shiloh, Iuka, and 2nd Corinth and then the Atlanta Campaign after merging with the 4th Missouri due to heavy casualties. Members of the Morrow families of Missouri fought on both sides of the conflict. The sword is a fine militia weapon, measuring 39 inches in length and featuring a 32 inch straight single fuller blade with a double-edged lozenge profile and a fine damascus pattern overall, with panels of etched martial and patriotic designs on the lower half embellished with gold wash and niter blue panels, with a tiny stamp (possibly a Weyersberg "king's head" trademark) on the right ricasso being the only identifying mark; American swords of this grade were often prepared by jewelers and silversmiths by taking an unmounted Solingen blade and equipping it with the best furniture they could produce. The hilt is an elaborate multi-part cast and sculpted work of silver finished brass, with the guard marked "BALL & BLACK" between the prominent languets and scroll accented quillions, with the reverse engraved and sculpted into the face of a bearded man, and the obverse bearing the presentation inscription "Presented/BY/Compy C, St Louis Greys/To their Captain/David I Morrow/as a token of their respect and esteem for him/as a Gentleman and a Soldier/St Louis, Jan 8th 1855". The grip section of the hilt is decorated with raised leafy scroll designs on the front and back, with stripes of alternating smooth and scales textures on the sides, with the pommel shaped as a two faced bust of a bearded man and a young woman. The scabbard is finished similarly to the hilt, with a sculpted scalloped tip, fixed floral pattern suspension bars, and the Ball & Black merchant marks above the hallmarks of Charters, Cann & Dunn, a New York firm that did work with Ball & Black. Both sword and scabbard fit in a black leatherette presentation case, which is lined with French-cut purple velvet interior, a superbly engraved silver address card for Ball, Tompkins & Black (Tompkins name stopped being used in the company name in the 1850s) inside the lid, and a vintage newspaper clipping describing the circumstances of the January 8, 1855, presentation of the sword (typed copy of said text also included).