Confederate D-Guard Bowie Knife
By John Sexton · Originally published August 2016 · p. 38
My parents owned an antique store in Wadesboro, N.C. for many years. They have recently closed the store, so I took home a few items which I remember being there from my childhood. This knife is one of them. I found information on your website about W.G. Simmons-made Confederate Bowies. Can you provide any other information for me on Capt. Boggan, to whom the knife was originally presented? Justin Beachum Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Congratulations, Justin. The knife you found in your parents’ antique shop in Wadesboro, N.C. has solved a mystery as to where knife maker, W.G. Simmons, was located. Your knife is beautifully marked in dry-pencil etching along the length of the blade, “CAPT. W. BOGGAN by W.G. SIMMONS, ANSON COUNTY, NC”. The other known W.G. Simmons knife is pictured in my co-authored 2012 text Confederate Bowie Knives, on page 195 and the inscription reads “MADE BY W.G. SIMMONS FOR J.C. MCLAUCHLIN”. The recipient of the knife pictured in my book was a Lieutenant in Company K, 26th North Carolina Infantry, the “Pee Dee Wildcats”. Captain William W. Boggan was earlier a Lieutenant, mustered in along with McLauchlin and, ironically, your grandfather, Jeremiah Beachum, who are all shown on the same muster page. William Boggan’s father was an original Captain and later a Major in the unit. McLauchlin was wounded and had to have his thumb amputated. The recipient of your knife, Captain Boggan, was hit by a shell fragment on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg and was killed. It is so ironic that this knife ended up with your family who had a descendant in the same unit and stayed in Anson County all these years. Ironically, it appears on a quick genealogy search shows that William G. Simmons (1824-1901), who made this knife, had a daughter, Annie E. Simmons, who married William Simmons’ son, Daniel K. Beachum. Massive 19-inch long blade made by William G. Simmons.
Daniel was born in 1858 and Annie was born in 1857, and is listed on census records as Annie E. Simmons Beachum. William G. Simmons, according to 1850 census records was listed as a carpenter working for a carriage maker, and later as a mechanic; obviously, he was a master of metal, wood and leather based on the quality of the two known knives of his manufacture. The knives are very similar in construction being quite massive with extremely well-made hollow ground blades. Inscriptions are applied in an identical manner. The grips are matching round, apparently hickory wood. There is very nice custom filing and beveling in cross guards, especially on your knife, which has a nicely cut “stepped” quillon. W.G. Simmons made a very fine knife. Your knife is extremely well-balanced with a massive 19-inch blade, being 23-½ inches overall. The blade is extremely thick, measuring 4/10 of an inch at the ricasso. The blade is 1-¾ inches wide, tapering to a double-edged, dagger-like point. The knife weighs in at a whopping 2.5 pounds. It is no wonder that the early proud Confederates who carried these massive knives would send them home after the first year of the war. Toting an extra 2.5 pounds that saw very little use when one was walking 20 miles a day was considered excess baggage. After late 1861, early 1862, few Confederate knives were being made or carried. This knife, just as a big old Confederate knife without inscription would probably be priced by a top Civil War Confederate dealer for $2,800-3,500. But, with this inscription and the Gettysburg killed in action, (KIA) history, if I were cataloging this for auction, I would place presale estimate of $8,00012,000 and wouldn’t be surprised if it brought $20,000 or more.
