The US Cavalry was mainly used as a raiding and screening force early in the Civil War, and was often humbled by General Jeb Stuart's superb Confederate horsemen. When General Ulysses S. Grant assumed control of all Union armies in March 1864, he immediately sought to improve his mounted forces, and placed General Philip Sheridan at the helm. Though not a veteran "horse soldier", Sheridan possessed two ideal traits for a cavalryman: a slight, wiry build and a bold, fiery spirit. Under his command, the US Cavalry evolved into a hard hitting strike force, capable of spearheading large attacks, and eventually cornered Lee and his army at Appomattox. Union cavaliers in the Civil War were issued the classic M-1860 light cavalry saber. This US Union Army Civil War Emerson & Silver M-1860 Light Cavalry Saber is in Good Condition, with some light uneven bending to the blade tip, some light sharpening to the blade edge, some scattered chipping to the blade edge, some cleaning, scratching, pitting, and “salt and pepper” patina at each side of the blade, some scattered fading to the maker’s mark at the ricasso and the US, inspector, and date stamp at the reverse ricasso, the last digit of that date stamp remaining quite difficult to decipher, though the middle of the “4” remains just legible enough, some cleaning, nicking, scratching, polishing, and patina to the hilt, some chipping to the leather grip covering at the top right side, some scattered flaking to the leather grip covering, some loosening to the brass wire grip wrapping, and with some overall age wear evident. Otherwise, the saber is in fine shape, with no other damage. Most interestingly, it features a 34 3/4" upswept “in the white” blade with a wide fuller for most of its length and a narrow fuller contained within, sports an elegant darkened brass three "branch" guard and elongated neck pommel, and is marked at the ricasso with its mostly legible maker, the famous “EMERSON / & / SILVER / TRENTON / NJ”. The saber is fairly legibly "U.S" stamped with serifs at the reverse ricasso, along with the inspector initials, “D.F.M”, and the date, “1864”, boasts the classic brown leather covered wood grip with all of the original twisted brass wire wrapping, and even carries the original brown leather "bumper" pad at the blade/guard join. It's marked with the alphanumeric series “92S” at the bottom of the pommel, the meaning of which is unknown, and is complete with the original US Civil War M-1860 Iron Scabbard in Good Condition, with heavy overall cleaning, and with some overall scratching, patina, and age wear evident. Otherwise, the scabbard is in fine shape, with absolutely no dents, cracking, or other damage, and bears the original iron hanging rings at the upper left side. Lastly, this set comes directly from the personal collection of noted gun writer Rick Hacker, and a signed letter of authenticity from Mr. Hacker will accompany this piece. A fine example of a very rare, original US Union Army Civil War Emerson & Silver M-1860 Light Cavalry Saber.