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PRESENTATION SAUERBIER CAVALRY OFFICER’S SABER OF LT. AARON SULLIVAN, 9th PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY, KILLED IN ACTION JULY 9, 1862, FACING JOHN HUNT MORGAN AT TOMPKINSVILLE, TENNESSEE

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This Sauerbier made cavalry officer’s saber bears an etched blade inscription from Company E, 9^th PA Cavalry to their 2^nd Lieutenant, Aaron Sullivan, who was killed in action July 9, 1862. The sword has a provenance going back to collector and dealer Don Ball, and a file with it indicates the sword was likely purchased from Louisville, KY, retailer J.J. Hurstbuhl, who added the etched presentation on the blade. After leaving Pennsylvania in November 1861 the regiment was first posted to Kentucky, before moving to Tennessee in March 1862, where Sullivan was killed in action July 9, 1862, at Tompkinsville.

The saber has an elegant gilt brass scabbard matching the hilt, with the hilt showing strong remnants of the gilding, and the scabbard showing a more muted brass color mixed with subdued gold from handling, though with some good traces of gilt between the mounts on the obverse and in the recessed areas of the floral motifs on the mounts. The hilt has the typical Sauerbier down-turned pommel, which is flat on top and show the blade tang fixed with a spanner nut. The brim of the pommel cap is cast and chased with floral elements, as is the face of the pommel, the upper knucklebow and both interior and exterior of the two guard branches for their full length to the counterguard, which is embellished with raised leaves and acorns on the quillon. The grip is leather wrapped and bound with triple wire. The blade pad is in place on the underside of the guard. The blade is unstopped and etched on the spine, worn but visible, and both sides. The obverse is ornamented with a stand of arms, an eagle with U.S. shield and foliate panel reading “UNION” all amid floral scrolls and vines, and some arabesque arches or points. The reverse uses similar floral motifs, but incorporates a long, flowing U.S. flag, “U.S.,” and a trophy of arms with flags, halberds, and Liberty Cap on a pole. The presentation is etched on the blade forward of the etched decorative panels, reading, “Presented By Co. E. 9^th Pa. Cav. To” on the obverse, with “Lt. Sullivan” in script on the reverse in the same position. On both sides the etching is well done on a frosted ground extending beyond the chevron’s ending the main panels, and end in flame points. The etching on both sides is fully visible and legible, showing some softening from age.

The scabbard has a few minor dings and is fitted with a narrow throat, and cast and chased upper and middle ring mounts and drag, all showing on the obverse flowing, overlapping leaves, with the drag including acorns as well, linking the decoration of the mounts with the quillon decoration of the saber. The leather grip is very good, with the leather showing little wear, and the wire just a tad loose in a couple of spots.

Aaron Sullivan (3/15/1831- 7/9/1862) was born in 1831, educated at Allegheny College, having once studied civil engineering, and then determined to pursue a legal career, but in 1861 was working as a clerk in Harrisburg, aiding in the financial support of his widowed mother. The 9^th PA Cavalry, “The Lochiel Cavalry,” recruited largely in south-central and southeast Pennsylvania and was officially organized Oct. 1, 1861. Sullivan mustered in Oct. 2 and was commissioned 2^nd Lieutenant of Company E as of Oct. 17. On November 20 the regiment moved to Pittsburgh and thence to Louisville, KY, to join the Army of the Ohio. They were posted at Jeffersonville, IN, just across from Louisville until January 10, 1862, when they were posted by battalion to various points in Kentucky, the 3^rd Battalion under Major Jordan, of which Co. E was a part, being stationed on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, where they remained until March 1862 when the regiment was ordered to Tennessee, thus giving a likely window for presentation of the sword of November 1861 to March 1862.

As they had been in Kentucky, in Tennessee the regiment was posted by battalion to guard against Confederate raiders and guerillas, with the 3^rd Battalion posted at Gallatin, where it saw active service against Morgan and others. It had some notable success at the beginning, taking part in a surprise attack upon Morgan’s forces at Lebanon, taking close to 300 prisoners and scattering the remainder, and then in a fight at Livingston in May. In June they moved from Lebanon to Tompkinsville, fighting at Moore’s Hill in June.

In July Jordan received word of Morgan’s advance from Knoxville on July 4, and attempted a surprise attack on Morgan at Celina on July 8 but found his camp empty, and apparently realizing he was outnumbered, fell back toward Tompkinsville, felling trees to delay pursuit. Morgan struck him on the morning of July 9, outnumbering Jordan’s estimated 230 men with about 900 men of his own regiment, a Georgia regiment, two companies of Texas rangers, and a section of artillery, all augmented by an estimated addition 200 guerrillas and others who reportedly joined him.

Jordan maintained his men were already up and saddled when Morgan struck, that he repulsed the initial attack and with organized troops cut his way through forces sent to surround him, and got a couple of miles lead with Morgan’s men pausing to plunder the camp. Sullivan had been tasked with command of the rearguard, obviously the point of greatest danger and was overtaken by Morgan’s men who were not only pursuing but had been sent to cut off retreat on the Glasgow and Burkesville roads. Jordan heard firing at the rear of his column and rode back to check:

“. . . I rode to the rear of my column and found that the firing proceeded from beyond a turn in the road some 200 yards behind my rear guard. Fearing that some of my men might have become separated from my command and were being attacked, I rode back to the turn, so as to be able to see, when I discovered Lieutenant Sullivan in the act of being murdered by some 20 of the enemy, who surrounded him. I at once turned my horse for the purpose of rejoining my command, when I found two of the enemy already in the road before me and in a moment they were increased to six, thus cutting me off from my men. I determined to try to force my way through them, with my pistol answering their shotguns, but I soon found that resistance would be madness and surrendered myself a prisoner of war. After I had surrendered I was fired upon at a distance of but a few feet, the charge, happily for me, missing its mark, but blackening the side of my face with powder.”

Newspaper reports added the detail that Sullivan had been shot through the head, some said by Texas rangers, others by Morgan himself, adding the detail that he had been wounded and was lying on the ground. (Some asserted also that he gallantly refused to surrender, but that his killing was barbarity nonetheless.) Whatever the circumstances, he was clearly cut off and outnumbered.  Most of Jordan’s men made it back, though scattered and with Jordan himself captured. Each side downplayed its losses and magnified those of the enemy. Morgan went on to complete his “First Kentucky Raid,” taking 17 towns in the next 24 days. Sullivan’s remains were later recovered and sent back to Butler, PA, for burial. His mother applied for and received a pension after his death. His sword, unless captured, was likely returned to her with his personal effects.

This is a great Union cavalry officer’s saber with a telling history.    [sr][ph:L]

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