CIVIL WAR CAVALRY PRESENTATION SWORD TO LIEUT ALEX M GUTHRIE DATED 9- 8 -1863

Description

PRESERVING HISTORY, CIVIL WAR CAVALRY PRESENTATION SWORD TO LIEUT ALEX M GUTHRIE FROM HIS CHICAGO FRIENDS SEPT 8 1863
Fine condition Light Cavalry Officers Saber presentation engraved in 1863. Excellent condition in its original polished plain steel scabbard.The knucklebow is inscribed on the reverse
LIEUT. ALEX. M. GUTHRIE / from his Chicago friends Sep 8 1863.
Alexander Murray Guthrie (1842-1899) was a member of a prominent Pittsburg family and went to Chicago to study law with his uncle, John V. LeMoyne. According to his 1899 obituary, “when he reached his majority he obtained a second lieutenant’s commission in the First Independent battalion, Ohio cavalry, in which he served throughout the war.” This seems to be confusion with the 4th Independent Battalion of Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, one of two (4th and 5th) raised in the summer of 1863 for six months service, likely in response to John Hunt Morgan’s 1863 raid: several of the companies engaged in chasing him even before the battalion was formally organized. Guthrie was formally commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of Co. E of the 4th Ohio Cavalry to date 9/29/63 and his enlistment in the records is made to conform to that, but the outfit, organized as a battalion of five companies for six months service was actually mustered in from August 3 to September 21, 1863, at Cincinnati and sent to operate around Cumberland Gap, Kentucky, to provide security against attacks by Confederate guerrillas. A short regimental history maintains that while there were no large battles, there were several skirmishes. No battle deaths are reported, but CWData lists several men captured. They were mustered out in stages from Feb. 15 to March 14, 1864. Guthrie was among the last discharged, being mustered out March 12. He returned to Pittsburg by the end of the war, worked at the Exchange National Bank for several years, for a year acted as of secretary to his uncle, Admiral Alexander Murray of the Pacific Fleet, then returned to Pittsburg and eventually to New York, where he opened a company with his brother for the manufacture of crucibles for tool steel manufacturers. He was elected to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. in 1890 and was a member of several prominent clubs. He was married twice and survived by his second wife and daughter with his first.