As all Civil War swords, they were more effective during the early years of the war and as new modern weapons such as breech-loaders, repeating rifles and machine guns were introduced the sword became less effective and could only be used in close battles. The Confederate Civil War Foot Officer's Sword is ornately detailed, has a brass guard marked "CS", has a slightly curved plain blade and comes complete with plain brass mounted steel scabbard. It was designed to be used in close one on one battles when there wasn't enough time to reload your gun or musket.