Model 1850 Foot Officer’s Sword of General Luther Prentis Bradley / Sold

Model 1850 Foot Officer’s Sword of General Luther Prentis Bradley - Inventory  Number: SWO 090 / Sold

Very nice condition example with foliate handguard, retaining it original sharkskin wrap and original wire.  The ricasso portion of the blade bears the General’s name stamped in fine stamp “Bradley”.  The sword is accompanied by a signed affidavit stating that it was purchased from the estate of the General.  

Overall a very nice condition example carried by a Union General!

Appointed a lieutenant colonel in the 51st Illinois Infantry Regiment, Bradley fought with his regiment at the capture of Island Number Ten in New Madrid, Missouri, and at the occupation of Nashville, Tennessee.  

On October 15, 1862, he was promoted to colonel, and then he participated in the Battle of Stones River that winter.  He was severely wounded during the September 1863 Battle of Chickamauga where he commanded a brigade.

Bradley was then appointed a brigadier general in the Union Army, to rank from July 30, 1864. He participated in the Atlanta Campaign, during which he commanded a brigade in Newton's Division of IV Corps in the Army of the Cumberland. Bradley fought in Tennessee at the Battle of Spring Hill on November 28, 1864 and was once again wounded. His injury prevented him from leading his brigade during the Battle of Nashville that followed on December 15–16.

After the Civil War, Bradley resigned his commission, but in July 1866 he returned to active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel of the newly formed 27th US Infantry Regiment on July 28, 1866. He moved out west, where he oversaw the construction of Fort C. F. Smith in Montana and participated in the Indian Wars against the Sioux and Cheyenne in Montana, Nebraska, and Kansas. He married Lone Dewey in 1867. He became Colonel in 1879. Dewey accompanied him to various locations in the Indian Country from the beginning of their marriage until 1886. He was involved in the construction of several western forts used during the Indian Wars. He also attended the Centennial Exposition in 1876 as an official attendee for the Army.

From 1868 to 1872, Bradley commanded various posts in Nebraska and Wyoming.  He was transferred to the 9th Infantry Regiment in March 1869.  In 1873, he commanded infantry soldiers who accompanied engineers planning part of the Northern pacific Railroad.  Bradley then commanded two different districts in Wyoming from 1874 to 1876.  In 1877, he was in Nebraska and oversaw members of the Sioux tribe who had surrendered.

Bradley was present at Camp Robinson when Crazy Horse was killed.  Although Crazy Horse had stated his intentions to surrender, Bradley had orders to arrest the Indian fighter.  Crazy Horse resisted.  A soldier stabbed Crazy Horse with a bayonet and he died shortly thereafter.  

Bradley retired on December 8, 1886, after he reached the then-statutory age of 64. He died at Tacoma, Washington in 1910, and is buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Inventory Number: SWO 090 / Sold