Thank you, Gentlemen, for your very insightful observations. What is a further mystery is that all of the brass embellishments are actually rivets that appear to go all the way through the guard and the handle which looks to be solid steel, or they could be just inlays.
As much as I would love this to be a Confederate weapon, the handle is too small to actively use as a fighting weapon, unless it was wrapped. Maybe a poor man's village "Sword of Justice;" I certainly think it could easily sever a person's hand or arm.
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