This is a scarce maker marked Confederate pike by Samuel Griswold, a Connecticut native who moved to Georgia, manufactured cotton gins, and is best known among Civil War collectors for his partnership with Arvin Gunnison in the manufacture of Confederate Griswold and Gunnison revolvers. Early in the war Georgia Governor Brown was a proponent of pikes and bowie knives to arm his citizens: they were easy and quick to manufacture, and were turned out at many locations by local makers. The cloverleaf form of pike seems to have been particularly popular in the Macon area, with marked examples also known by Stevens and McElroy. The trefoil spearhead has a central, elongated, diamond-shaped, double-edged blade, and two shorter blades, all with median ridges, protruding to the sides at its base, which can function as guards, blades to cut a horseman’s bridle or drag him to the ground, and also serve as thrusting points if brought down from above or swept from the side.

This is a very good example, full length, 82.5 inches overall, and with the 10-inch head clearly stamped “S. GRISWOLD” across the bottom on one side, just a little light on the “S” and the “LD” only partly visible, but with no ambiguity to the mark. The head is secured by passing through an iron ferrule, with its tang visible on the edges of the shaft, which also has side straps extending along it for a distance to keep it from being cut. The metal is smooth, silver gray in color, with good edges shows only a couple of small nicks and a shallow bend to the tip of one cross blade.

The shaft is full length, has a good surface with nice patina, and tapers slightly at the end before widening with a ball butt.

Polearms could be issued to troops for drill purposes or until firearms could be obtained, though they might be useful in defending gun embrasures, etc. Governor Brown and others also pictured such lightly armed troops overtaking fleeing enemies on the battlefield, though this required the enemy first to flee. In any case, polearms, like side-knives, are a quintessential Confederate early war weapon with a variety of interesting forms and they make an impressive display.  [sr] [ph:m]

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