Object Record

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1 of 1977

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Metadata

Object Name

Sword

Catalog Number

1979.009.00001a

Date

1863

Description

Presentation sword: slightly curved blade with quill back, etched with floral designs, stands of arms and trophies, "Gen'l Robert E. Lee, from a Marylander 1863" on obverse, "Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera" (Help yourself and God will help you) on reverse, all decorations gilded; back of blade inscribed with the maker's name, "Devisme à Paris." half-basket hilt of gilded brass bearing in high relief floral designs, draped figures, a snake intertwined throughout branches, and a shield bearing a Latin cross; lion's head pommel with backstrap suggesting fur; ivory grip wound with 10 turns of 3 twist gilt wire. Blued metal scabbard (.1b) with ornamented gilded brass mounts.

Material

Metal

Dimensions

L-40.5 inches

Owned

Robert E. Lee

Owner Regiment

Army of Northern Virginia

Made

Devisme, Paris, France

Event

Surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, April 9, 1865

Provenance

Gen. Robert E. Lee owned this sword and scabbard during the war. It was a gift from an unnamed Maryland Confederate sympathizer in 1863 (one possibility is Samuel H. Tagart, of Baltimore, Maryland; Lee stopped at his home both before and after the war); it is believed Lee would not name the donor for fear of Federal reprisal upon him. This is the only known example of an edged weapon made exclusively for the South and which bears Confederate inscriptions from the maker (Devisme of Paris, France). Lee wore this sword to the surrender at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865.

"The much talked of surrendering of Lee's sword and my handing it back, this and much more that has been said about it is the purest romance. The word sword or side arms was not mentioned by either of us until I wrote it in the terms...." (Ulysses S. Grant, "Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant", 1886, p. 494)

Mary Chesnut noted in her diary entry of February 26, 1864: "Mrs. Lee showed us a beautiful sword, recently sent to the General by some Marylanders, now in Paris. On the blade was engraved, 'Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera.' "

People

Lee, Robert E.

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