00:01 - Hey my name is Jim and I am a

00:03 - collector of Civil War edged

00:04 - weapons.

00:05 - And today we're at Manor

00:06 - College.

00:07 - We are having a Gettysburg

00:07 - symposium and I brought a couple

00:09 - of items from my collection

00:11 - which were owned or carried by

00:14 - men who actually served in the

00:15 - Battle of Gettysburg.

00:17 - I have three here and we can go

00:18 - through them.

00:19 - It's important to talk about

00:20 - their history, being citizens of

00:22 - Pennsylvania who also happened

00:23 - to fight through the war and

00:24 - also at the Battle of

00:25 - Gettysburg.

00:27 - The first sword you have down

00:28 - here was actually carried by a

00:30 - young man from Bethlehem.

00:32 - His name was Alexander Selfridge

00:34 - - who was a nephew of Colonel

00:35 - Selfridge, who was to Colonel

00:36 - the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry.

00:39 - And this is the model 1850 staff

00:41 - and field officer he would have

00:42 - carried at Culp's Hill on the

00:44 - day of the battle.

00:46 - Captain Selfridge was the

00:48 - youngest Captain in the Army of

00:49 - the Potomac at age 19 and was

00:52 - Brevet Major at the end of the

00:54 - war.

00:55 - After the war he moved to

00:56 - Philadelphia where he lived as a

00:59 - coal agent and eventually died

01:01 - at the age of 78 in 1922 and was

01:04 - actually buried back up at Nisky

01:06 - Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem.

01:09 - And as you can see, we have his

01:10 - history, a letter he wrote,

01:12 - copied, and is actually his name

01:15 - is actually on the monument at

01:16 - Spangler Spring.

01:17 - If you happen to get down to

01:19 - Gettysburg at the Spangler's

01:20 - Spring monument.

01:22 - So that is his particular piece.

01:25 - This sabre up here is a

01:27 - presentation sword that was

01:28 - given to - at the time - Major

01:30 - Oliver Knowles of the 21st

01:31 - Pennsylvania Cavalry.

01:34 - Major Knowles is interesting

01:35 - guy.

01:36 - Young man started out as a

01:37 - private.

01:38 - There was a detachment of

01:40 - Pennsylvania troopers who

01:42 - actually went to New York to

01:43 - help form the 1st New York

01:44 - Cavalry.

01:45 - At the beginning of the war,

01:45 - Oliver Knowles was a private -

01:48 - at that point - worked his way

01:50 - up to Lieutenant, and while

01:51 - Lieutenant to Pennsylvania -

01:53 - soldiers detached from the 1st

01:56 - New York Cavalry, and pretty

01:57 - much were part of the Gettysburg

01:59 - Campaign in the Cumberland

02:01 - Valley interdicting Confederate

02:03 - troops and supply trains.

02:05 - Colonel Knowles had a long

02:07 - history throughout the war and

02:09 - was eventually made Major when

02:11 - the 21st Pennsylvania Calvary

02:12 - was formed.

02:14 - When the troops or the men above

02:16 - him - the Colonel, Lieutenant

02:17 - Colonel - were wounded or killed

02:19 - in action, he was promoted to

02:20 - Colonel and eventually became

02:22 - Brigadier General age 23.

02:24 - Unfortunately, he died in

02:25 - Milwaukee in 1866 from cholera

02:29 - and is currently buried at

02:30 - Laurel Hill Cemetery in

02:31 - Philadelphia.

02:34 - And the third sword is this guy

02:36 - right here.

02:37 - He was Lieutenant Joseph Warford

02:39 - from Bucks County.

02:40 - The 109th Pennsylvania which was

02:42 - a Philadelphia unit at the time

02:44 - of Gettysburg.

02:44 - He was a Sergeant in Company A.

02:48 - And they were also at Culp's

02:48 - Hill and had a fine fighting

02:51 - record.

02:51 - After Gettysburg, he joined

02:53 - Sherman for his March to the

02:54 - Sea.

02:55 - Was promoted.

02:56 - And was wounded at the Battle of

02:58 - Atlanta.

02:59 - And honestly by the time he came

03:00 - back, towards the end of the

03:02 - war, the March to the Sea was

03:03 - pretty much over.

03:04 - Another interesting history of

03:05 - this guy, twice wounded.

03:07 - Once in each leg.

03:09 - And you think that would be

03:10 - enough, but after the war he

03:11 - actually signed up to be a

03:12 - career NCO and served with the

03:15 - Army Corps of Engineers with the

03:17 - U.S. Army out at Willow's Point,

03:20 - New York, on Long Island, until

03:22 - his discharge - I believe in

03:24 - 1889 - and unfortunately he was

03:27 - found dead in Trenton.

03:29 - Either died of natural causes or

03:31 - murder because his body was

03:32 - pulled out of the river off of

03:34 - Duck Island.

03:35 - He is actually buried out in

03:37 - Morrisville, Pennsylvania,

03:39 - across from Trenton.

03:44 - Along with the sabre for Major

03:46 - Knowles - actually Brevet

03:47 - Brigadier General Oliver Knowles

03:47 - - I actually have a memorial

03:50 - book that was written by him.

03:52 - Which is extremely rare.

03:54 - It was actually written by

03:56 - Samuel Bates, and, essentially,

03:59 - Samuel Bates wrote a book called

04:01 - Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania -

04:03 - of which, the only officer that

04:04 - he took -- that chapter out of

04:08 - that book was for Oliver Knowles

04:09 - - so he obviously thought very

04:11 - highly of Oliver Knowles.

04:12 - Very rare book.

04:14 - I can't imagine there was more

04:15 - than a couple of hundred in

04:16 - print.

04:17 - And I was very lucky to find

04:18 - this through a fellow collector

04:19 - who had it in his collection,

04:21 - over time.