This sword has a rounded 26-inch blade made by Ames at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts in 1861.
The American Civil War mobilized millions of men and women and produced tons of weapons in a record period of time. When a service found a shortage of a particular weapon, a substitute was quickly found.
This is a rare example, a Model 1860 cavalry saber that has been deliberately shortened to the length of an 1860 naval cutlass. The Navy used these principally for practice and instruction, and this sword has a rounded 26-inch blade made by Ames at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts in 1861. The blade has many nicks from other dull blades, a sign of shipboard cutlass practice. It has its original shortened iron scabbard. I have seen these in old photos but I rarely see them for sale. Most were scrapped by the government almost 100 years ago.