This is a pristine example of a Georgia-made Retractable blade pike made during the Civil War.  At the beginning of the war, there simply weren't enough weapons, particularly small arms to equip the multitude of brand new regiments being formed throughout the state. These were nick-named "Joe Brown" Pikes after the Governor of the State of Georgia who ordered them fabricated by local blacksmiths to arm soldiers and citizens.  The Governor felt it would be simple hide, wait for the enemy to fire, and then charge them with a pike while he was reloading.  As brave as they were back then, I guess most people had enough common sense to know that "one should never bring a knife to a gunfight."  Fortunately, none of these out-moded weapons ever made it in to combat....or should we say that at least, "nobody ever lived to tell the story".

There were two types...the first type was simply a pole with a fixed cloverleaf blade.  The second type had a retractable blade that was "supposedly spring-loaded".  It was designed by a Methodist minister from Vermont who was at the time living in Georgia at the outbreak of the Civil War.  My first encounter with one of these pikes was several years ago just after I finished college. I was applying for my first "real" job here in North Georgia and after the interview concluded, I remember seeing a strange-looking dark pole standing in the corner of owners office tucked behind a door.  Inquiring as to what it was, my future boss politely explained it was a pike from the Civil War that had been in his family for years.  I believe he mentioned it had been procured from the barn which he used as a toy during his childhood.  He pulled the beaten and cracked wooden pole from the corner, gave a tug on the iron handle, and OUT from the end rose a long thin metal blade. Wow, I thought!!!!  I had never seen anything like it. 

I never forgot about that old beat up pike so when I stumbled across this one laying on a table at the Tulsa Arms show a few weeks ago, it didn't take me long to figure out what it was.  The man sitting behind the table was selling the collection of his late father.  He told me his father, a police officer, had purchased it along with another identical pike from a collection in 1970.  The son lamented how he broken up the pair when he sold the other pike while keeping this one.  He let me pick it up and granted permission for me to see the blade.  Interestingly enough, even though these pikes are crude and forged by blacksmiths, the handles and operating rod resemble an exaggerated version the charging handle of an M-1 Garand or modern assault rifle. I gave the iron handle a stiff tug, and a out came a beautiful shiny blade just like my old Boss's pike had done years ago. What can I say, it was fate, right???? I had to have it!!!!  These old pikes may have not served much purpose during the Civil War for the Confederacy but I found it very affective for navigating through a very crowded room. You'll never believe how many people will get out of your way walking through a crowd with one of these things!!!   However, I also found these will also get you a lot of strange looks walking through a hotel lobby and they're not easy to get in and out of elevators either.  

Overall condition is Excellent.  You can definitely tell this was made by a blacksmith as the workmanship is not highly finished. The pole measures  72" from end to end with the blade retracted and over 86.75" when brandished.  The blade is nearly 15" long.  You can see where the workman filed out the bevels along the blade.  Like most Confederate blades, its a little wavy but its in great condition. The end cap where the blade is housed is made of crudely cast brass and secured by two small screws.  The opposite end of the pike has an iron end cap.  The wood looks like oak to me. The body consists of two long piece of hollow wood with a cut in the center for the handle to slide back and forth and bracketed by two crudely forged iron bands.  Beneath each iron band is a flattened iron plate which extends out into an arm with a prong on the end.  They are lightly tensioned and designed to hold the blade handle in place...both open or closed.  Both the bands, spring, and blade handle retain most of their black finish.  The wood looks good and solid...I've seen these with large cracks through one side of the wood or the other...but this one is very nice.  Only flaws to the wood I can find are 2 minor cracks at the end where the blade retracts.  These could be easily mended but this pike is so untouched, we don't want to disturb anything.  This is easily, the nicest Confederate weapon we've ever offered on the website. You can tell its very old but has remained in almost "as issued" condition.  Unfortunately for me, I'm now married with kids, which means you only get to keep things for as long as they take to sell.  This would make a great addition to any Civil War collection and worthy of display in a museum.

Item# 0664

$3950.00 SALE PENDING