Captured Confederate D-hilt Bowie knife. [Kenansville, North Carolina]: [Louis Froelich factory]. With original metal and leather sheath with affixed period notes. First note with only remnants. Second note reads in full: "Presented to Mr. J.A. Anderson by his friend H.L. Briggs late Segt Baxters Fire Zouaves 72nd Regt. Pa. Vol." Measures ~19 1/2 inches overall. Blade measures ~14 1/2.

Exceptional captured Confederate D-hilt bowie knife. A trophy-of-war presented by Union veteran Harry L. Briggs to his friend, "Mr. J.A. Anderson." Experts have previously attributed this knife's manufacture to Louis Froelich factory in Kenansville, North Carolina.

Briggs was a member of the Philadelphia Greys and later, the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry, better known as Baxter's "Fire Zouaves". He enlisted early in the war on 10 August 1861 in Philadelphia as a private. Wearing modified Zouave-style uniforms, the 72nd PA saw heavy action in the Eastern Theater, including Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, before joining the Overland Campaign.

The knife's label and Briggs' heavy involvement in veteran's groups after the Civil War suggests it may have been displayed at a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post. Briggs made headlines in the early 1900s for being the last-living survivor of the Philadelphia Greys that saw service during the Civil War.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Bowie Knife, Bowie Knives, Swords, Arms, Armaments, Militaria, Guns, Uniforms, Accoutrements]