American sword makers could not keep pace with the demand for edged weapons from the suddenly expanded Union Army after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, and importers stepped in to fill the gap. Hundreds of thousands of Cavalry sabers and NCO swords were imported from Europe during the conflict, most of which were stamped only with the maker’s name or left unmarked entirely to sell to both sides, and to speed time of manufacture. This US Civil War Union Confederate Import Rohrig & Co Solingen German Made M-1840 NCO Sword is in Fair Condition, with some light wavy bending to the upper portion of the blade, some scattered nicking to the blade edge, heavy pitting and dark patina at each side of the blade, some cleaning and scratching at each side of the blade, the first letter in the maker’s mark at the reverse ricasso having been obliterated by pitting, some scattered pitting, patina, and edge nicking to the hilt, and with moderate overall age wear evident. Otherwise, the sword is in fair shape, with no other damage. Most interestingly, it features a 32 3/8" spearpoint fullered straight blade, sports the classic brass “clamshell” and "D" guard (which distinguishes the NCO model), ringed handle, and ball "finial" pommel, and is legibly marked with two out of three characters of the original maker’s mark at the reverse ricasso, reading “& C”. Though the first character remains illegible, that mark undoubtedly once read “R &C” for Rohrig & Co of Solingen, Germany. The sword is distinguished as a European import by the lack of any American maker’s marks, US stamps, inspector initials, or dates, and there’s only one European maker with a short, one line mark such as this, and that would be R&C. An honest example of a rare, original US Civil War Union Confederate Import Rohrig & Co Solingen German Made M-1840 NCO Sword, and a great relic of the “War Between the States”. No scabbard included.