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“I do not want no pardon for what I was and am. And I wont be reconstructed, and I don’t care a damn.” -from poem by General William H. Payne
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Civil War W.H. Horstmann & Son’s Officer’s Sword and Scabbard Inscribed for Confederate Brigadier General William H.F. Payne - This is one of three swords inscribed for Confederate generals from Virginia in this sale from the same collection. Each of these swords includes a copy of the research paper “The Payne/Hunton Family Swords of Gen. William Henry Fitzhugh Payne, CSA & Gen. Eppa Hunton, CSA” by Nancy Dearing Rossbacher, the managing editor of “North South Trader’s Civil War Magazine” and “The Civil War Collector’s Price Guide.” The paper covers all three swords and details how they are related. William Fitzhugh Payne (1830-1904) and Eppa Hunton (1822-1908) were related through the marriage of General Hunton’s son Eppa Hunton Jr. (1855-1932) to first Minerva “Erva” Winston Payne (1861-1897) and later Virginia Semmes Payne (1867-1941), both daughters of General Payne. Rossbacher notes that the swords were passed down through the family. Both men were prominent Confederate generals from Virginia and saw action during the war, with Payne in particular being wounded and captured multiple times and then returning to the fight and never relenting in his dedication to the Confederate cause and his hatred of Yankees. The three would make an excellent display in a private or public Civil War collection.
This sword appears to be the second sword mentioned by Confederate Brigadier General William H. F. Payne in “Payne’s Letter of December 13, 1903 to the Alumni Association of Virginia Military Institute” reprinted in “I Am a Good Ol’ Rebel: A Biography and Civil War Account of Confederate Brigadier General William H. F. Payne” by Robert Houghtalen and in the included documentation. In the letter Payne wrote, “I have another sword of another Yankee officer captured by me at the First Battle of Manassas.” Unfortunately he does not give as many details as he did for the other sword he captured. The sword has the post-war inscription: “Brig. Genl. W.H. Payne./Army of Northern Virginia/4th Va. Cavalry/CSA/1861-1864.” The 31 1/2 inch lightly curved blade is decorated with etched floral, patriotic, and classical martial designs and has “W.H. Horstmann/&
Sons/PHILADELPHIA” on the right. The gilt brass hilt has floral patterns and a wire wrapped shagreen grip. The leather scabbard has brass fittings, and the throat piece has “HORSTMANN/&/SONS/MAKERS/PHILADA” in raid letters on a scroll.
Before the Civil War, William Payne studied at the University of Missouri, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia and practiced law in Virginia. Payne had originally enlisted as a private, served as a captain in the Black Horse Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. In command of the Black Horse, Payne and his men were part of Stuart’s operations on July 15, 1861, that tricked Union General Robert Patterson into thinking a force as large as 35,000 opposed him rather than less than 10,000. From July 18-21, the Black Horse were assigned to act
as scouts and videttes along Bull Run, and they engaged the retreating Union forces on the 21st and captured sixteen pieces of artillery, even after the bridge collapsed, and helped cement the historic Confederate victory at First Manassas by running down and chasing off the routed Union troops. Captain Payne was invited to breakfast with President Jefferson Davis in response to his success. They were also assigned to be the personal scouts and bodyguards of General Joseph E. Johnston.
Payne was promoted to major in the 4th Virginia Cavalry. At the Battle of Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign, he was captured by the Union for the first time after being left for dead on the battlefield after being shot in the face. Payne wrote,”...I was wounded - indeed reported by Gen. Stuart as killed; and his report has never been altered...I was left between the lines, and was almost drowning in my own blood. One man remained with me- Dr. Pendleton, of Louisiana, who, when he saw me fall, immediately sprang from his horse, and, being a physician, thrust his fingers into my mouth and caught the arteries that had been broken by the ball which had torn out my right upper teeth, glancing along through my tongue and passing out over the jugular veins.”
General William Henry Fitzhugh Payne