26" blade marked Ames and on the reverse an anchor and dated 1861. Leather covered handle, brass cupped guard with brass pommel. Engraved on the cupped guard, To Andrew Theodore Long, Presented at The Army and Navy Football Dinner Dec 2, 1899. Given at the Rittenhouse Club by Dr Robert LeConte, Wm Bodine, C. Leland Harrison, Eugene Townsend, Arthur Howe, William Gaw, Clarence R. Lewis, John B Lennig, Charles Platt Jr, Paul D. Mills. A most unusual multifaceted naval artifact from the turn of the 20th century that, regrettably, lacks provenance and complete context. The recipient, Andrew Theodore Long (1866-1946) of North Carolina, joined the navy as a cadet in 1883 and retired as a relatively obscure Rear Admiral after a lengthy career that is largely undocumented. Long had been promoted Ensign in March 1889 and Lieutenant (jg) in July 1897 just prior to the Spanish-American War. The young officer had finished a two-year berth aboard the armored cruiser Brooklyn, but with the outbreak of war in 1898 was dockside in Philadelphia assigned to the old sail training ship Saratoga then employed by the Pennsylvania Naval Militia as a school ship. Advanced to Lieutenant in March 1899, Long would soon join the newly re-commissioned USS Vicksburg, a modern steel gunboat bound for a tour on the China Station in 1900. Perhaps the cutlass was intended an inside joke, symbolic defense against pirates that still menaced the bays and inlets of the Chinese coast. Still, none of the presenters’ inscribed on the guard were serving naval officers. The Rittenhouse Club still exists, founded in 1875 as an exclusive art and social retreat favored by they city’s well-to-do elite. The Rittenhouse Club hosted a dinner, probably for navy fans, during the football rivalry weekend but the reason for the cutlass’ presentation is lost to time. The classic Army-Navy game is one of gridiron’s oldest rivalries dating to 1890 and is always the last game of the regular season. December 2, 1899 was the first time the game was played at a neutral site, namely Philadelphia’s Franklin Field. Army beat Navy 17 to 5, but Navy still led the series 3-2. Lieutenant Long finally returned home from the extended Asiatic cruise in via Yokohama in 1904. In September 1920 the newly appointed Vice Admiral Andrew Long became Director of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C. and served in that capacity until June 1921. Afterwards, he assumed command of US Naval forces in Europe. As theater commander Admiral Long was a prominent figure associated with the Vinh Long catastrophe that occurred in December 1922. The Vinh Long was an old French transport that caught fire while transiting the sea of Marmora. An American destroyer officer, Lt. Commander Walter A. Edwards, commanding the USS Bainbridge was awarded the Medal of Honor for exemplary seamanship in rescuing 482 survivors. Admiral Long is seen in numerous official photographs from 1923 in company with his subordinate Lt. Commander Edwards and the President during the medal presentation. Through the later 1920s Admiral Long held a sequence of important positions as Chief of Staff to the CO, Atlantic Fleet, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and member of the General Board of the Navy. Admiral Long penned a manuscript memoir titled “Sixty Years Around the World” that was never published. He died in 1946. The admiral’s collected papers are held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Collection Number 00433). Condition: Blade is grey with some black staining. Markings are legible. Brass was cleaned and has re-patinated.
26" blade marked Ames and on the reverse an anchor and dated 1861. Leather covered handle, brass cupped guard with brass pommel. Engraved on the cupped guard, To Andrew Theodore Long, Presented at The Army and Navy Football Dinner Dec 2, 1899. Given at the Rittenhouse Club by Dr Robert LeConte, Wm Bodine, C. Leland Harrison, Eugene Townsend, Arthur Howe, William Gaw, Clarence R. Lewis, John B Lennig, Charles Platt Jr, Paul D. Mills. A most unusual multifaceted naval artifact from the turn of the 20th century that, regrettably, lacks provenance and complete context. The recipient, Andrew Theodore Long (1866-1946) of North Carolina, joined the navy as a cadet in 1883 and retired as a relatively obscure Rear Admiral after a lengthy career that is largely undocumented. Long had been promoted Ensign in March 1889 and Lieutenant (jg) in July 1897 just prior to the Spanish-American War. The young officer had finished a two-year berth aboard the armored cruiser Brooklyn, but with the outbreak of war in 1898 was dockside in Philadelphia assigned to the old sail training ship Saratoga then employed by the Pennsylvania Naval Militia as a school ship. Advanced to Lieutenant in March 1899, Long would soon join the newly re-commissioned USS Vicksburg, a modern steel gunboat bound for a tour on the China Station in 1900. Perhaps the cutlass was intended an inside joke, symbolic defense against pirates that still menaced the bays and inlets of the Chinese coast. Still, none of the presenters’ inscribed on the guard were serving naval officers. The Rittenhouse Club still exists, founded in 1875 as an exclusive art and social retreat favored by they city’s well-to-do elite. The Rittenhouse Club hosted a dinner, probably for navy fans, during the football rivalry weekend but the reason for the cutlass’ presentation is lost to time. The classic Army-Navy game is one of gridiron’s oldest rivalries dating to 1890 and is always the last game of the regular season. December 2, 1899 was the first time the game was played at a neutral site, namely Philadelphia’s Franklin Field. Army beat Navy 17 to 5, but Navy still led the series 3-2. Lieutenant Long finally returned home from the extended Asiatic cruise in via Yokohama in 1904. In September 1920 the newly appointed Vice Admiral Andrew Long became Director of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C. and served in that capacity until June 1921. Afterwards, he assumed command of US Naval forces in Europe. As theater commander Admiral Long was a prominent figure associated with the Vinh Long catastrophe that occurred in December 1922. The Vinh Long was an old French transport that caught fire while transiting the sea of Marmora. An American destroyer officer, Lt. Commander Walter A. Edwards, commanding the USS Bainbridge was awarded the Medal of Honor for exemplary seamanship in rescuing 482 survivors. Admiral Long is seen in numerous official photographs from 1923 in company with his subordinate Lt. Commander Edwards and the President during the medal presentation. Through the later 1920s Admiral Long held a sequence of important positions as Chief of Staff to the CO, Atlantic Fleet, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and member of the General Board of the Navy. Admiral Long penned a manuscript memoir titled “Sixty Years Around the World” that was never published. He died in 1946. The admiral’s collected papers are held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Collection Number 00433). Condition: Blade is grey with some black staining. Markings are legible. Brass was cleaned and has re-patinated.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
