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Sword presented to Charles Wilkes, USN


This jeweled sword was presented to Captain Charles Wilkes by the city of Boston in 1862 in recognition of his service as commanding officer of the USS San Jacinto during the arrest of Confederate commissioners James M. Mason and John Slidell while they were en route to England on the British mail steamer Trent.


Division of the History of Technology, Armed Forces History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
Gift of Miss Jane Wilkes

 

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