Nonregulation Staff and Field Officer’s Sword
Owner: Colonel Frank Wolford
From the collections of the
Kentucky Historical Society
Accession Number 1939.516
Nonregulation Staff and Field Officer’s Sword, c. 1863
37 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 4 1/2"
Union soldier Richard J. Frayne owned this sword. During the Civil War, some soldiers still went into battle armed with swords. However, new accurate and fast guns changed the tactics of war. Swords became a last line of defense, used when a soldier ran out of ammunition or his guns would not work.
