Civil War Inscribed Sword Of Medal Of Honor Recipient 115th Illinois Volunteers for Sale

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Civil War Inscribed Sword Of Medal Of Honor Recipient 115th Illinois Volunteers For Sale

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Civil War Inscribed Sword Of Medal Of Honor Recipient 115th Illinois Volunteers :
$6000.00

Civil War sword of Medal of Honor recipient Samuel Hymer. Blade etched with marital and patriotic themes, panoplies of arms and foliate patterns. No maker mark is present. Pommel cap decorated with the Shield of Columbia and stars. Brass mounted, lap seamed browned steel scabbard is engraved between the suspension mounts on the obverse: 1st Lt. Samuel Hymer/Co "D" 115 Ill. Inf./Aug. 20th, 1863.

Samuel Hymer (1829-1906) was a 33 year old preacher from Bainbridge, IL when he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant into Company D of the 115th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on September 13, 1862. The company had actually been raised by the local circuit riding Methodist minister, Reverend Stephen M. Huckstep, and upon Huckstep's mortal wounding at Chickamauga on September 20, 1863 Hymer would succeed to the command of the company, being promoted to captain on December 9, 1863. The 115th Illinois would serve in nearly all of the major battles and campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee from the fall of 1862 through the end of the war, starting with the Tullahoma Campaign and ending with the Battle of Nashville. During their service they fought at Chickamuaga, the Chattanooga Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign (including the battles of Resacca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Altoona, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesborough, Lovejoy's Station and Buzzard Roost Gap) and would the be at the Battle of Franklin and subsequently Nashville. It was at the Battle of Buzzard's Roost Gap that Hymer would earn the Congressional Medal of Honor, while in command of a single company who was charged to hold a blockhouse that controlled a bridge between Tunnel Hill and Dalton, GA. The fighting was furious and the small contingent of Union soldiers managed to hold off a tremendously larger Confederate force for some ten hours before being forced to surrender.

Hymer's Medal of Honor citation for his actions that day reads: "With only 41 men under his command, defended and held a blockhouse against the attack of Hood's Division for nearly 10 hours, thus checking the advance of the enemy and insuring the safety of the balance of the regiment as well as the 8th Kentucky Infantry, then stationed at Ringgold, GA." Hymer and the balance of his surviving men finally surrendered and those who were ambulatory were sent to prisoner of war camps, including the notorious Andersonville. Hymer and his lieutenant were separated from the enlisted men and were initially confined at Camp Sorghum near Columbia, SC and were later transferred to Charlotte, NC as Sherman's army approached Columbia. Eventually Hymer and his surviving men were exchanged prior to the conclusion of the war. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Hymer was breveted to the rank of Major or his heroics at Buzzard's Roost. Hymer later went on to have a successful career as a Kansas legislator, was active in the GAR, and a member of the Odd Fellows after the war. He died of stomach cancer in 1906.

Provenance of this sword, I have a copy of the original Flayderman Catalog that lists and describes this sword from either the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.