Hi Manolo,
In history there are of course instances of swords being captured and being presented as trophies, and the captured crusader swords which ended up in Alexandria, then Constantinople were engraved with Islamic inscriptions and held as trophies in these armouries.
The Russians were well known for using captured blades as awards for gallantry to thier officers, and these were often profusely etched or engraved.
In North America, I am not aware of this affectation being used with swords, although certainly swords were indeed captured at times. I recall research on a sword which belonged to Custer and was said to have been taken from a Confederate officer in combat in the Civil War. The sword had a huge blade with the 'Spanish motto' and was clearly a Mexican blade. I discovered later that the sword was actually 'given' to Custer by one of his officers who had taken the sword in battle, and knew Custer collected swords, so he gave to him out of respect.
Other swords were taken in battle from Confederates and many were swords that had been taken by them in turn in battle during the Mexican war.
None of these were ever afforded any additional engraving or salutations, simply used as is.
While the sword was never used as much in combat during the Civil War as it may be presumed, it did serve well in almost a symbolic or metaphoric sense.
The most profound example of this was at Appomattox when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to President Abraham Lincoln. Out of his deep respect for this brilliant commander, Lincoln refused to take his sword in the traditional gesture of surrender, and ordered that Confederate officers were to be allowed to keep thier sidearms in expanding that respect. It was one of the most deeply moving occurrences to me of this war as this tragic episode of American history ended.
I would however note that after the Civil War, and with the fluorishing of fraternal organizations, many militarily based, a great deal of regalia was produced. This might well have included swords that were either captured or used in significant events or by individuals preserving thier legacies. I think one of the instances of these kinds of uses were in Masonic lodges, where of course the Tylers sword was of key importance. Although the regalia outfitters produced these specifically, it does seem there were many cases were an authentically 'used' sword with historical provenance was donated for the purpose.
My thoughts,
All the best,
Jim
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