Lance Strahl collects antique knives. He was on a typical browsing trip late last year in an antique store in Fredericksburg, where he lives, but he wasn’t really impressed with the items on display.
“So I asked the owner ‘Hey, do you have anything else?’” Strahl remembers.
He did. He pulled out the remains of a Civil War short sword that he had found with a metal detector in a field in Clarke County’s Berryville. All that was left of it was the blade and the tang (the part of the blade that extends into the handle), Strahl says; there were no markings on it to denote who made it, or even which side of the war its owner was on.
He paid $45 for the remnant of the sword, and began researching and restoring it. After about 10 hours of research and about 40 hours of work, he’s recreated a piece of history.
Not Much to Go On
That meant making a new handle and other parts, something Strahl wouldn’t have done if the history of the sword were clearer: “If you were to find something, let’s say, that had U.S. Cavalry stampings on it, that had some of the original fittings, that’s not something you’re gonna mess with. It’s a unique and historical piece as it is.”
But with nothing to go on, Strahl felt free to do his best. “It took some time to work out how I wanted to design the handle and the fittings for it.”
He fashioned the handle from the last oak tree from Mount Vernon that was alive at the time George Washington lived there (it had been struck by lightning and was scheduled to be cut down) and figured out the rest as best he could.
On one hand, Strahl says, the units known to have been in that area were all Union outfits; on the other, the fact that this sword had no markings on it — evidence of a handmade weapon — argues in favor of Confederate origin.
“It’s a mystery I would love to be able to solve,” Strahl says, “but I just don’t know if there are enough clues.”
‘Carrying on That Legacy’
Strahl, 32, of Fredericksburg, works for Mary Washington Healthcare, and makes custom knives on “lunch breaks, weekends and evenings,” as well as teaching classes on the craft.
“Carrying on that legacy, and sharing that with others, not just through the finished goods, but giving them the opportunity to do something with their hands.”
He was hoping the sword would end up in a museum, but in the end “there wasn’t really any interest,” so the sword was bought by a private collector.
And even though he’s not sure where it came from, he’s glad he was able to refurbish it: “I think a lot of it just speaks to the legacy of the individual small craftsmen that made things like that on both sides for the war effort.”
And a small craftsman himself, Strahl is gratified: “It’s awesome to be able to be part of the legacy of that artifact, as well as have that connection to someone 150 years ago, that was doing essentially the same thing that was probably just either some guy in a camp or some guy in a workshop making a essentially everyday tool.”
Featured image courtesy Lance Strahl.
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