Lot 147
Confederate Lieutenant Colonel George Mathews Edgar's Model 1851 Foot Officer's Sword, back of blade marked Chatellerault, 1848, wire-wrapped horn grip, pierced guard with foliate design, French touch marks on ricasso, iron scabbard with worn drag. Provenance: Directly from the great-grandson of Lieutenant Colonel George M. Edgar. Note: George Mathews Edgar was born in West Virginia in 1837; he was thus in his early 20s when he was a student of Stonewall Jackson's at Virginia Military Institute, and 24 when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He fought with other VMI cadets with the 26th Battalion, Virginia Infantry. As a major in the Battle of Lewisburg he was shot through the side and captured by the Ohioans. He convalesced and was eventually exchanged, returning to his battalion as a lieutenant colonel. Fighting under Colonel Patton, Edgar led soldiers at New Market, White Sulphur and later, at Cold Market, where he was speared by a bayonet right shoulder and again taken prisoner. He once again fooled his captors into thinking he could no longer fight and was released. Recuperating throughout the remainder of the year, he rejoined his battalion in early 1865 Thus, this is Edgar's third and last sword of action. After the war, Edgar became a prominent educator, serving as President of both Florida State University and the University of Arkansas. He died on October 13, 1913 and was buried at Paris, Kentucky.
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