Confederate Fighting Knife made from sword, recovered in Louisiana

This is a very interesting piece being offered; it is a Union Musicians Sword which appears to have been cut down to make a “fighting knife”. It measures 15 ¾” overall and the widest part of the blade is ¾”. This relic was dug years ago at Fort DeRussy, Louisiana. A very old typed paper label is attached to the blade with “Fort Derussy, Louisiana”, probably put on by the digger.

Fort DeRussy, located south of Alexandria, Louisiana, and four miles north of Marksville, was a Confederate earthwork stronghold during the Civil War. It was built in 1862 to defend the lower Red River Valley in Louisiana. Located in Avoyelles Parish, the fort, cemetery and water batteries were designated as a state historic site in 1994.The fort and the water battery were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

The fort was named for Colonel Lewis G. DeRussy, the oldest West Point graduate to serve in the Confederate Army. Born in New York City in 1795 to a French family who were refugees from revolutions in Saint-Domingue and France, DeRussy was educated at West Point Academy. He was a career officer in the US Army and engineer, first stationed in Louisiana in 1826, where he lived for nearly 40 years.

A portion of Rear Admiral David D. Porter's Mississippi Squadron captured the fort on May 5, 1863. Many areas were destroyed on May 9, 1863, by the USS Benton. The remnants of the garrison at the fort surrendered to the Union Army, led by General A. J. Smith, on March 14, 1864.

Like I said, this is an interesting relic that a Confederate soldier used during the Civil War. As seen in the pictures, it is dented and the blade has overall rust, but the entire piece is still solid and not chipping or flaking.