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Presentation sword: slightly curved blade with quill back, etched with floral designs, stands of arms and trophies, ”Gen’l Robert E. Lee, from a marylander 1863” on obverse, ”Aide toi et Dieu t’aidera” (Help yourself and God will help you) and reverse, all decorations gilded; back of blade inscribed with the maker’s name, ”Devisme à Paris.” half-basket hilt of gilded brass bearing in high relief floral designs, draped figures, a snake intertwined throughout branches, and a shield bearing a Latin cross; lion’s head pommel with backstrap suggesting fur; ivory grip wound with 10 turns of 3 twist gilt wire. Blued metal scabbard (.1b) with ornamented gilded brass mounts.
Gen. Robert E. Lee owned this sword and scabbard during the war. It was a gift from an unnamed Maryland Confederate sympathizer in 1863 (one possibility is Samuel H. Tagart, of Baltimore, Maryland; Lee stopped at his home both before and after the war); it is believed Lee would not name the donor for fear of Federal reprisal upon him. This is the only known example of an edged weapon made exclusively for the South and which bears Confederate inscriptions from the maker (Devisme of Paris, France). Lee wore this sword to the surrender at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865.