W. H. Horstmann & Sons

W.H. Horstmann & Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an American manufacturer and retailer operating from  1815 to 1940.  The business was founded by a German immigrant, William H. Horstmann, in 1815.  They sold silk trimmings, military goods and civilian accessories.  They are famous for supplying the U.S. military with accouterments and swords.  They imported fine German sword blades and assembled them with their own ornate American-made hilts and fittings.  They held large contracts for the U.S. War and Navy Departments, supplying officers and enlisted personnel.  They played a significant role during the U.S. Civil war and beyond.

Robert M. Reilly, American Socket Bayonets and Scabbards; "The bayonets produced by Horstmann & Sons of Philadelphia provide the only U.S. examples of a socketed saber bayonet and they are of a highly unusual configuration.  Based on the extreme variations in the bore diameters on extant specimens, it appears that this firm endeavored to provide a bayonet for many of the different firearms of the period.  Their time of manufacture is not precisely known, but was probably between 1850 and 1860.  Indeed, daguerrotypes exist showing Horstmann bayonets affixed to Model 1841 rifles in the hands of Union soldiers.  They have not only been fitted to these Mississippi rifles, but are known to perfectly fit Model 1842 muskets as well.  Other firearms were unquestionably involved."