Little is known about the exact design of the cadet swords ordered by the US Department of Defense from the Ames Manufacturing Company, and few examples have been found so far. The cadet swords were probably purchased by the United States Military Academy (West Point, New York) and the Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) in Lexington. Cadet swords were inspected and marked with the inspector's initials "USA" and the year of approval.
Ames also sold
this sword to other academies and private buyers until 1923. The Army Chief
(Records Group 156) sent the following correspondence to both N.P. Ames or
James T. Ames:
The final order from the War Department for Ames-made cadet swords is somewhat confusing, as the original order of 100 swords was not recorded. The only letter found on swords is:
War Department records show that James T. Ames delivered 100 cadet swords on July 25, 1856, in addition to other swords. As noted in Colonel Talcott's letter of August 22, 1849, the cadet sword cost $10.00 each. they are apparently of the same pattern as the model (1850) made in response to that letter. The civil war caused a delivery delay of 7 years.
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