Old sword can cause the shivers

It was the sword Captain Isaac Hull kept at his side while commanding his men as they battled the British frigate HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812. And it was the weapon he would have drawn to protect himself had the enemy boarded his frigate, the USS Constitution.

Tomorrow, the sword will be on public display in Boston for the first time. It will be unveiled at the USS Constitution Museum in the Charlestown Navy Yard during a ceremony at the start of a weeklong celebration commemorating the victory over the Guerriere on Aug. 19, 1812.

"It's really an icon of command," Ronald Egalka, a member of the museum's Board of Trustees, said yesterday as he stood next to the sword in the museum's reading room. "It's about as close as you can get to arguably the most famous captain of arguably the most famous ship in the world."

He looked down at the sword lying on a red satin pillow.

"It's really cool," he said.

The sword will become part of a permanent collection, which includes a solid gold Medal of Honor that Hull received for his service, battle diagrams and maps, and journals from the ship's sailors.

The sword will be mounted next to the ornate, gold-flecked flintlock pistols and elaborately etched, gold-handled dress sword Hull also received. Compared with these pieces, the service sword seems almost unimpressive. Its scabbard is simple black leather and gilded brass and the sword's thin, 23-inch iron blade is mottled with dark gray and black stains, the result of years at sea and in battle.

But on the Constitution, it was Hull's most valuable weapon, making it the most exciting artifact in the collection, museum officials said.

"We have other objects in the collection that are shinier and prettier," said Robert Kiihne, the museum's director of exhibits. "This has real historical importance."

In the early 19th century, a pistol had to be reloaded after every shot and a longer weapon would have been cumbersome for a captain commanding a ship, Egalka said. Hull needed a sword he could carry easily and rely on if his life were suddenly threatened.

But it also had to reflect his status as an officer.

In 1806, Hull had his weapon designed with the handle decorated with ivory and a brass eagle. His name and the initials of the Navy were etched on the upper scabbard mount, where they are still visible. "I got the shivers when I saw that," Egalka said.

Hull carried the sword until 1822, when Commodore David Porter cleared him of charges that he had misappropriated funds as commandant of the Charlestown Navy Yard. To thank Porter for saving his reputation and pension, Hull gave him the sword.

It was an extraordinary gesture because service swords were the most prized possessions of military men, according to historians.

"A warrior like that would keep it with him at all times," said John Manning, president of the Massachusetts Society of the War of 1812, and a descendant of a general who fought in the war. "It's something that they would hold onto dearly for their whole lives. They wouldn't give it up easily."

The sword was passed through Porter's family until 1962, when Mary Porter Couden gave it to her godson after he became a midshipman at the Naval Academy. He owned the sword for more than 30 years and in the mid-1990s sold it through Sotheby's.

John F. Rinaldi, a maritime antiques dealer, purchased the sword and for years displayed it at his private museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. But in 2004, when he closed the museum, he placed the sword in a vault. Last year, he decided to sell it.

When museum officials learned Hull's weapon was available, they began raising money. Egalka offered to match the amount raised by donors. Officials declined to reveal the selling price, but said that within a month, more than 60 donors had contributed.

The efforts to acquire the sword moved relatives of Hull, who never had children, but whose great-great-great-great-nephew and -nieces grew up with his legacy and many of his personal effects. Tomorrow, one of them, Hull Fulweiler of Cambridge, will speak at the ceremony.

"It's sort of gratifying to know that the values that we grew up with and the things we thought were important are shared by other people," said Fulweiler's sister, Pamela, who lives in New York. "It's wonderful that people remember . . . there were these figures that helped make this country what it is today."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.