The Philadelphia Press of 3 July 1887 described efforts by Captain Cowan of the 1st New York Battery to return a sword taken at Gettysburg on 3 July 1863: "During Pickett's Charge a young Confederate officer sprang forward toward Capt. Cowan's gun(s) waving his sword in the air and shouting, 'Take the gun!' Those were his last words, for the next instant he lay dead on the field. The sword he wore has ever since been in the possession of Capt. Cowan, who tonight distributed photographs of it among Pickett's men. The scabbard is of brass and bears the number '425' and the name of the maker 'Horstman,' presumably of Philadelphia. The sword itself appears to be older. The blade is of very fine steel, the hilt is of mother-of-pearl, surmounted by a figure of the goddess of liberty. The guard is a representation of a Palmetto tree and bears the date '1776'."