Model 1851 leather and brass sword belt. Design of belt plate composed of a gilt eagle that is holding an "E Pluribus Unum" scroll in its beak and holding an olive branch and three arrows in its talons. The eagle is surrounded on either side by silver olive branches. Two brass hooks extend from the bottom of the belt. An estimated 400,000 foreign born soldiers, including German born Sgt. John Gottwallas, Co. C, 13th Indiana Cavlary (U.S.A.), fought in the Civil War. Like many soldiers, Gottwallas carried both regulation and non-regulation equipment and material that reportedly included this sword belt.
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