GUEST: This sword came down through my family from my father's family. They were German, they lived in Missouri. He was 11 when he came from Germany with his family, and in 1862, he joined the Union Army, the 30th Missouri Infantry, and they were sent to Louisiana and Mississippi. And so this was presented to him by his Louisiana friends as a token of their esteem in 1864.
APPRAISER: The presentation reads, "Presented to Lieutenant Louis Bierwith "by his Louisiana friends as a token of their esteem, July of 1864." The 30th Regiment of Infantry of Missouri was a Union regiment. They were known as the Shamrock Regiment, which meant that the majority of them were probably Irish.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: So it's interesting what this German young man did to distinguish himself even within that group of men to be bestowed with such a magnificent gift.
This type of sword is known as a statue hilt because literally, the form of the hilt is in as a statue. This is the most elaborate form of Civil War presentation sword.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Particularly with the Union. Admittedly, it's not bejeweled as the most extravagant, which have diamonds and emeralds within it, but it involves a lot of detail. It has this beautiful blade, which...it has some condition issues. The blade isn't as sharp, the etching isn't as sharp as you want, and it was signed by Schuyler, Hartley, and Graham, which was one of the premier retailers of this sort of military equipment. The sword itself is actually probably of German manufacture.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Well, I was quite excited to see it. Just to curtail our enthusiasm over it, the condition issues like the missing sword that extends here and the wear to the etching, at auction, I would estimate that this sword would be worth $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST: Wow, great.
APPRAISER: And considerably more if it was in slightly better condition.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, thank you.
APPRAISER: So you have your research cut out for you to find out what he did for these people.
GUEST: I have more research to do, yes.
