Frank Sawyer Sword

Frank Sawyer Sword

Military Ohio

Daggers & swords

Civil War

8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.)

This sword was presented to Lieutenant Colonel Frank Sawyer after the battle of Antietam Creek, the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. It is inscribed, "From the officers of the 8th O.V.I. for gallant conduct at the battles of Winchester and Antietam, October 4, 1862." The sword is 42" x 4.5" (106.68 x 11.43 cm). Sawyer, a prominent Norwalk, Ohio lawyer, organized the Norwalk Light Guards that became Company D of the 8th O.V.I. On September 17, 1862, the Army of the Potomac was heavily engaged at the battle of Antietam Creek in Maryland. The 8th O.V.I., under Sawyer's command, charged across the field near the Rouletter farm and broke the enemy line. Sawyer then swung his men into line and began pouring deadly fire down the sunken road, inflicting heavy Confederate casualties. Nonetheless, the 8th regiment lost 162 men, more than half its number. Impressed with the 8th Ohio's bravery, Major General Edward Sumner named the brigade "the Gibraltar" and presented Sawyer with this sword.

unknown

Firelands Historical Society, Lt. Col. Frank Sawyer Collection.

1862

Kristina Kuehling

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Still Image

Norwalk (Ohio)

No

artifact

42" x 4.5" (106.68 x 11.43 cm)