This dagger is 12 3/8 inches overall with a just under 8 inch spear-point blade. The hilt is silver with tortoiseshell scales and silver studs. One side of the silver hilt of the dagger is inscribed "Presented to/Lt. Col. C. L. Peirson/39th Ms. Inf./Aug. 18. 1862." The sheath is silver and leather and has a small handmarked "H" on the mouthpiece. There are no visible maker's marks or hallmarks. Charles Lawrence Peirson (1834-1920) of Salem, Massachusetts, was a civil engineer before the war after graduating from the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard in 1853. He served as a corporal in the Massachusetts 4th Battalion and then in the 20th Massachusetts Infantry as a lieutenant and adjutant in 1861. He was taken prisoner at Ball's Bluff and then held at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, for three months. He would have received this dagger as he joined up with the 39th Massachusetts as they were preparing to head off to war. The 39th Massachusetts Infantry was organized between August 13 and September 2, 1862, and was initially lead by Colonel Phineas Stearns Davis. The men mustered in for a three-year enlistment. After Colonel Davis was mortally wounded on July 7, 1864, at Petersburg, Lieutenant Colonel Peirson became the commander. Peirson was wounded three times during the war: in the Wilderness, before Spottsylvania, and at the Battle of Weldon Railroad. The later incident is recorded in included copies of records and in the diary of John H. Dusseault who wrote: "August 18. We turned out at 3 A. M. This was the day of the ‘Battle of Weldon Railroad,’ sometimes called that of ‘the Six-Mile House,’ or ‘the Globe Tavern.’...We had proceeded about a mile and a half in dense woods, when Hill's Rebel Corps charged on us. (The Yellow house was behind us now.) Ayer's Division gave way, letting the enemy come around our left flank. There was nothing for us to do but to fall back or be captured. The Rebel line in front of us was within forty feet. The order was accordingly given to fall back. All were lying down flat on the ground at the time, the Rebels in the, same position, also, but ready to shoot as fast as we stood up. Colonel C. L. Pierson was already badly wounded in the bowels by a minie ball. He was able to stand long enough to give the command, and then fell. Immediately as I rose a bullet hit me in the right side. It broke the eighth rib and entered the lower lobe of the lung. I was taken off the field along with the colonel to the field hospital just back of us...Our side was beaten for a time, but after being driven about one-quarter of a mile, the men re-formed and held the enemy." Peirson's wound took a great deal of time to heal in part due to infection and ended his service in the war, but he survived. He was discharged on January 11, 1865, and received brevet promotions to colonel and brigadier general on March 13, 1865, for "gallant and meritorious conduct" at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania and Weldon Railroad respectively. He later received a full promotion to colonel through Congress. In private life, he was a successful businessman with a hand in multiple ventures, including in the iron business Stevenson & Peirson (later C.L. Peirson & Co.), the Union Bank in Boston, Suffolk Savings Bank, Lowell Machine Shop, Atlantic Cotton Mills, and others. After retiring in 1905, he took up history and wrote "Ball's Bluff: An Episode and Its Consequences to Some of Us." He was a member of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Historical Society, New England Historic Genealogical Society, commander of the commandery of Massachusetts in the Loyal Legion of the United States, and Royal Society of Arts. He lived at 191 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and had a summer home at Prides Crossing.

Very good with a crisp inscription, attractive aged patina on the silver, mottled gray patina and light pitting on the otherwise very good blade, slightly bent tip, dented sheath silver, absent stud from the mouthpiece, some flaking and a small hole visible in the leather, and general mild overall wear.