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Gen. Grant's Sword Draws $1.6M Bid
AP ^ | 25 June 2007 | AP

Posted on 06/27/2007 9:30:48 AM PDT by BGHater

A diamond-adorned sword once owned by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant brought a winning bid of more than $1.6 million in an auction of Civil War items.

The sword given to Grant, who later became the 18th president, was one of the marquee items among the 750 to be auctioned Sunday and Monday by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

Another showcase item up for bid was Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's frayed battle flag, which was auctioned for $896,250. Another item of note was a "Bonnie Blue" flag carried by the 3rd Texas State Cavalry, which drew a bid of $47,800.

The priciest item was Grant's sword, which went for $1,673,000 to an unnamed bidder. It was presented by citizens of Kentucky in 1864 to honor Grant's promotion to General-in-Chief of all Union forces.

The silver and gold sword contains a 28-diamond monogram and is covered with intricate designs, including engraved battle scenes on its 33-inch blade.

Gary Hendershott, Heritage's director of Civil War auctions, described the sword as maybe the finest from the Civil War period.

"It's really a hallmark of American silversmith craftsmanship."


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: auction; civilwar; godsgravesglyphs; grant; sword
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To: stainlessbanner

problem in the West was multiple....failures to keep Missouri in the fold, losing Ft Donelson, Davis’s insistence on Bragg, not running the Yankees into the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing that night, Pea Ridge, failure to take initiative at Chattanooga and Chickamagua, Pemberton....Johnston not figuring out how to deal with the Big Black River in the Vicksburg campaign.....Forrest would have improvised and relieved Pemberton and put Grant and Sherman between them....truly a golden opportunity that was, not realizing that keeping Nashville early on would have been a big plus...., not using the TransWestern area more to their benefit.....not giving Forrest Braggs job...it goes on and on....the boys fought far better than many of their leaders in the West deserved


21 posted on 06/27/2007 11:59:09 PM PDT by wardaddy (George Bush....I want my money back I gave you. Trent Lott...kiss my Mississippi peckerwood butt)
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To: wardaddy
awesome! Don’t forget to remove your hat for all those men
on July 3rd .It’ll be 144 yrs since the day Vicksburg fell.
My GG was at the battle of Champion Hill and in the withdrawal at the end of that day found himself separated from his brigade (Loring’s) he fell back with Pemberton’s forces to first the Big Black and then into the city ,to endure the siege . After the fall , he along with every other was awarded a Union Parole and I believe he just went home....
Home to Attala Co. ,where he rests today .

I am very much obliged to gen. Grant for being so magnanimous in victory and offering a generous parole.
It was one of the last....

22 posted on 06/28/2007 12:05:45 AM PDT by LeoWindhorse
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To: wardaddy
the boys fought far better than many of their leaders in the West deserved

You might add that the men they were fighting were not the "pasty faced mechanics" from the east. These western Yankees were about as rugged and able as Western Johnny's they faced. The proof of this is the Black Hats that fought far better in the east than all their eastern comrades. Plus terrain differences, most rivers ran north and south in the west. Back east rivers mostly ran west to east.
23 posted on 06/28/2007 2:45:19 AM PDT by smug (Free Ramos and Compean:)
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To: wardaddy
Pemberton....Johnston not figuring out how to deal with the Big Black River in the Vicksburg campaign

Although Pemberton was born in the north his patriotism is unquestionable. I think in the Vicksburg campaign the biggest problem was his following Davis's order to defend Vicksburg, rather than Johnston's order to avoid capture and link up with him. Another problem in the west was how to defend a 2000 mile long front, vs a 300 mile front in the east. In retrospect the southern strategy might better to have been; Defend in the east, attack in the west.
24 posted on 06/28/2007 3:06:50 AM PDT by smug (Free Ramos and Compean:)
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To: wardaddy; LeoWindhorse; battlegearboat
Thomas Raspberry Byrd and others

My hat is off to your gggrandfathers and all the other men who fought so bravely.
25 posted on 06/28/2007 3:18:19 AM PDT by smug (Free Ramos and Compean:)
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To: lovecraft

You got it backwards. Grant chewed up and spit out poor dead southrons by the thousands, Sherman destroyed infrastructure.


26 posted on 06/28/2007 4:02:01 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: stainlessbanner

Grant was the right type of general for the Union armies at that time, you’ve got to admit. He didn’t have the tactical skill of a lot of his opponents (although I’ll admit he was a better general, in a lot of ways, than we Southerners tend to give him credit for) but he had the guts to stick out heavy casualties to pursue a good battle plan, to use his superiority in men and materiel to grind down the CSA armies he faced.

And agreed 100% about the CSA government neglecting the West. They were understandably scared of the threat just a few miles from their door, but weren’t farsighted enough to see that losing the West was losing the war. Given the size of the area and the relative forces, I’m not sure there was a whole lot they could’ve done to bring it to a different outcome, though.

}:-)4


27 posted on 06/28/2007 5:29:14 AM PDT by Moose4 (I'm not white trash. I'm a Caucasian recyclable.)
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To: smug

I’m not questioning Pemberton’s motives, I just don’t think he was the best for the job.

I confess too that J Johnstons defensive command never impressed much either.

The South...except for a few like Lee, TJ Jackson and Forrest and Cleburne never really grasped that they had to move around, lose capitals but keep the North fighting and fighting and hope to sue for peace over attrition or homefront displeasure. Lee knew this in MD and PA but wrongly assumed his army could do everything all the time....had he taken the high ground day one at Gettysburg as was hiw wont...he knows.

indeed the old NW union men were much better fighters


28 posted on 06/28/2007 7:31:36 AM PDT by wardaddy (George Bush....I want my money back I gave you. Trent Lott...kiss my Mississippi peckerwood butt)
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To: wardaddy
Grant was hell on wheels...an extremely capable Army commander...one of the best this nation ever produced

Grant understood one key element that the rest of the Union generals did not: the Union had the edge in every way, manpower and resources. All he had to do was fight them up front and, eventually, the South would lose.

29 posted on 06/28/2007 7:59:03 AM PDT by SeƱor Zorro ("The ability to speak does not make you intelligent"--Qui-Gon Jinn)
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To: BGHater

I would love to have it. I would melt it down and make a ashtray out of it.


30 posted on 06/28/2007 8:08:38 AM PDT by BigCinBigD (You "abort" bad missile launches and carrier landings. Not babies.)
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To: metesky
You got it backwards. Grant chewed up and spit out poor dead southrons by the thousands, Sherman destroyed infrastructure.

Maybe, and Lee and Jackson chewed up Yankees in their thousands. Just remember the hardest fight this country ever had was against Southerners. Outnumbered, under equipped, and under fed. Southerners killed more "Americans" than any enemy "we've" ever had.

Sherman caused destruction on the South's infrastructure on such a scale that many states have yet to come back from to this day. The Federal Gov't then had no problem waging total war on what it considered it's own people. But today, it cringes and protests when you put a pair of panties on a terrorist's head.

Grant I can respect, Sherman and Lincoln is another story. To me they are the first American war criminal and dictator respectively. At least Lincoln got his due.

31 posted on 06/28/2007 9:08:05 AM PDT by lovecraft (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: Moose4; wardaddy; smug; LeoWindhorse
There is a great book called "Two Great Rebel Armies" that compares/contrasts the Confederate East and West armies. It's a great little book, easy to read.
Some of the differences McMurray found between the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia:
    1. Politics of western states were divided, disorganized; eastern states were more united and aligned politicially
    2. Lack of resources - Tennessee had something like 4 old cannons for artillery in 1861, Virginia had many arms including the Harper's Ferry armory and Norfolk.
    3. Richmond - Lots of focus around protecting the capital city in the East. Naturally more troops were guarding the capital.
    4. Distance - The Army of Tennessee had alot farther to travel than the Army of No. Virginia
    5. Infrastructure - Many times trains had to be unloaded moved to a new train and reloaded heading when heading West. VA was the manufacturing engine of the South with rail lines and factories.
    6. Heritage - the Virginia Cavalier decendants were of high pedigree in militiary, arts, education, and first families; the Union did not have as refined lineage as the Virginian.
    7. Geography - In the west, the rivers ran North-South, right into the heart of the Confederacy; the Eastern theater rivers did not pose as big a threat. The Shenandoah Valley provided protection for ANV movements, the West had nothing similar.
    8. Psychological Advantage - The ANV won First Manassas and Beauregard proved Southerners could fight. The Army of Tennessee won a victory at Chickamauga (with Longstreet's help), but struggled in other major battles. (Forrest had Sherman's number, though)
    9. Militia - Lee organized Virginia's State Militia and mustered them into the CSA when appropriate. TN Gov Hiram appointed a politician (Bartow?) to organize the state troops and was not as effective as Lee had been in VA.

32 posted on 06/28/2007 9:22:08 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: smug
Hey smug - meant to ping you to 32.
Davis' orders were very vague and his commanders often misinterpreted them or decided they could not comply simply because the orders were open-ended.

Interesting strategy on the defend-east, attack-west. You and I actually know more about strategy and tactics than the generals fighting the war back then. One of the advantages of hindsight, I guess.

33 posted on 06/28/2007 9:29:18 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: endthematrix

thanks for the link - it’s a beauty!


34 posted on 06/28/2007 9:29:44 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: wardaddy
J Johnstons defensive command never impressed much either.

J Johnstons, has always confounded me. He was sometimes good sometimes woeful. He was letting Little Mac best him on the Peninsula, but was moving Brilliantly giving casualties while taking few in Georgia against Sherman. I've always felt that if Davis had left him in charge, Sherman would not have had such an easy time of it. Hood was a remarkable mistake by Davis.
35 posted on 06/28/2007 9:34:09 AM PDT by smug (Free Ramos and Compean:)
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To: stainlessbanner
One of the advantages of hindsight, I guess.

Yep, gives us a time machine and history books.....
36 posted on 06/28/2007 9:39:44 AM PDT by smug (Free Ramos and Compean:)
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To: BGHater

The husband of a friend of mine was at the auction. He said Custer’s flag was withdrawn because it didn’t reach the reserve.


37 posted on 06/28/2007 9:50:51 AM PDT by kalee (The offenses we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we write in marble. JHuett)
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To: nnn0jeh

ping


38 posted on 06/28/2007 9:54:44 AM PDT by kalee (The offenses we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we write in marble. JHuett)
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To: BGHater
An ebay auction of a modern-day reproduction of Custer's 7th Cavalry standard went for what I thought was a surprising amount recently. Shows the interest in anything connected with that phase of America's history.
39 posted on 06/28/2007 12:25:12 PM PDT by Ciexyz
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To: lovecraft
Sherman on the other hand is where we have a problem....IMHO :-).

And Sherman was a man of honor compared to 'Spoons' Butler, a/k/a 'Beast' Butler.

40 posted on 06/28/2007 5:10:26 PM PDT by PAR35
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