Thursday, April 19, 2007

Interpreting the meaning behind the sword. . .

A few weeks ago, I posted a short blog about the Mexican-American War diary of Captain James Nagle, and in that post I talked about the sword he was presented upon his return to Pottsville in 1848.

I was happy to see that fellow-blogger Gary Smailes, in his Victoria's Cross? Blog, picked up on the story on the sword, and delved deep behind the meaning of the sword's inscription and the reason(s) for its presentation.

Check out Gary's excellent post at:



Perhaps the greatest significance of the sword was that, although presented to him in 1848 in recognition of his services in Mexico, Nagle carried the sword throughout the Civil War, and was sure he was holding it when Matthew Brady snapped an image of him. . .Oh, and that sword was the one scuplted for his statue on the Antietam Battlefield.

Now, some very dedicated students (and very careful observers) of the Antietam National Battlefield may be scratching their heads. 'But wait a minute! There is no sword on the Nagle statue at Antietam!' they may say. . .

[This is a little foreshadowing about a big project I am just starting to work on. . .]

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