As he thundered toward the roaring cannons, Colonel Skinner of the First Virginia Infantry brandished his tremendous sword, a French Cuirassier saber he had brought home from Europe as a youth. The massive straight blade measured 38 inches long and bore an engraved maker's imprint of August 1814. "In his cups," a Confederate staff officer wrote, "the fine old Colonel would swear he should die happy could he have one chance to use that steel on the enemy." That chance loomed large at Manassas.