The Mystery of the Civil War Sabre

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
In 1930, the water level of the Mississippi River had fallen to a 20-year low, and a bargeman trying to salvage coal found the unexpected. 

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Captain Joseph W. Morton (1840-1865)

August 20, 1930
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Along the mud flats of the Mississippi River an unexpected discovery was made. It was a gold-hilted sabre attached by a strap to a skeleton. A drought had dried the riverbed to a 20-year low, which left bare items normally covered by water. 

Phillip Wils Broussard, the bargeman who found it believed it had been pinned at the bottom by a snag. He was at work salvaging a barge of coal, which sank at the foot of one of the city's principal business streets more than 30 years before.

​The weapon was 3 feet long and made of the finest steel with bands of gold on the scabbard. It was identified as American made—one an officer would use. When the grime was wiped away, it was engraved with stars and stripes. A Massachusetts manufacturer's mark. "Jos. W. Morton" was engraved in English script on the gold hilt, and the waving flag was arranged to hide the number of stars in the corner. There was an American eagle standing on a standard from which numerous unidentified pennants waved, the old English capitals, "H.S.C." and what was a manufacturer's mark underneath with incomplete letters of: —OBY & Co.—Lichtenford, Mass.". Lastly there was an additional mark "iron proof." 

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Example of saber manufactured by Roby & Co. in Massachusetts (Source - GunsAmerica)

The war department clarified that Joseph W. Morton was not found in any official records in the federal or confederate lists, however this type of sword was used during the Civil War. There was speculation that the owner may have been British or an officer under "one of the other seven flags that flew over the Louisiana capital." There was a theory the body belonged to a member of Admiral Farragut's forces, which captured Baton Rouge and fired the Capitol building in 1862, when the Federal navy sailed up the river.

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The mystery of the Civil War saber captivated the readers in the South c.1930

Review of burial records find two Captain Mortons who hailed from Massachusetts and were buried in their home state. The first Capt. Joseph W. Morton belonged to the 4th Massachusetts Calvary and died of disease in December, 1864. His birthdate is unknown. The second Captain Joseph W. Morton was 24 or 25 years old when he died on December 17, 1865. He enlisted in 1863 and his rank at enlistment was 2nd Lieutenant. He was commissioned an officer in Company D, Massachusetts 4th Calvary Regiment on September 7, 1863, and promoted to full Captain on January 5, 1864. He was a POW, and died of a disease contracted in the Army.

Perhaps the skeleton attached to the sword was someone who stole it, or ended up with the item after Morton was taken prisoner. The skeleton was interred in an unmarked grave, and the whereabouts of the sword are unknown. The manufacturer was probably Roby & Co. which was based in Massachusetts. The most enduring mystery is perhaps how the man ended up at the bottom of the Mississippi River.

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