My great debate

Hello all, I am working on an Federal Assistant Surgeons impression. I am having a great debate with myself right now as to what sword would be appropriate for this postion for formal occasions.
Mind you I have no intention of buying onE, as my impression will generally be in a field setting.
But, I digress.
The issue is would it be common for a Federal assistant surgeon's dress sword to be a sword close to what the vendors reference as a medical service sword, or would a Field or staff officers model be more appropriate.
any help or refrence's that you may know of would be greatly helpful

I hope this helps some? As for photos ... there a ton out there. Braceface has quite a few ... there is also the National Archives, Old-Picture.com and the Library of Congress.

http://www.medicalantiques.com/civil...vice_sword.htm

As for the type of sword ... most wore one like what's in the link above. However, there are some photos showing medical officers wearing a presentation sword.

regs call for a surgeons sword

Here's a photo of officers of the 69th NY at Ft Corcoran in Washington. It is believed that two of the bottom right four officers are surgeons. Take notice of the swords. The officer with the medical style sword is believed to be the Pay Master. The Pay Masters had the same style.

http://blog.thunderbaybooks.com/2011...fighting-69th/

http://http://blog.thunderbaybooks.c...fighting-69th/

I do not believe that you can go wrong with either model.

Cheers,
John Ferrannini
Asst. Surgeon
67th NYSV

You're right David! Regs call for a lot of things. But they were not always followed to a "T". That's why I choose a typical Surgeon's impression. What I bring to an event, will usually fit into my haversack (it makes it easier to get home quicker, hehehe). As for swords, the prices are about the same for a medical officer's sword as for other good, quality swords (especially the 1850 F&S officer's swords) so, I would go that route.

I guess I will have to thumb through the Pictures and decide what will work best for me. Would be awesome if I could find some surgeons who were known to be members of Ohio regiments.
As far as a quality maker/vendor, any suggestions there?

Hallo!

The Regulations were specific.

However, officers had to purchase their own, and practice (cost, druthers, circumstance) occassionally saw officers extending the "private purchase" side of things to include gifts/presentations, fraternal, militia, or foreign made swords in place of the "regulation."

IMHO, though, a surgeon or assistant-surgeon was NUG "better off" than say an infantry or cavalry lieutenant and also possibly less "martially" motivated.

Others' mileage will vary...

Curt

For ceremonial purposes, there is nothing wrong with purchasing a Medical Services sword. Like I said above, their prices are about the same as a F&S sword so, I would chose the MS sword.