British 1856 Pattern Drummer’s/Bugler’s Sword

UNLIKE DEDICATED MILITARY BANDSMEN, regimental drummers and buglers were enlisted soldiers and could be ordered to fight alongside their fellow soldiers. Indeed, their naturally prominent position at the front of a line of infantry made them extremely vulnerable to death and injury. Their bravery on the battlefield in the 18th and early 19th Century, had made them legendary within the British Army.

From the mid-18th Century, troops were issued with a sword based on a scimitar-type sword. Details of what it actually looked like are sketchy and few have survived that can be readily identified. By 1802, the Standing Regulations called for a straight-bladed sword similar to that carried by sergeants of the line. This is thought to be the standard 1796 Pattern Infantry NCO’s sword, with a plain brass hilt and blade.  

Drummers’ swords of a design similar to the future 1856 Pattern had been carried in the 1840’s and this rather vague and confusing situation continued until 1856, when a completely new pattern of sword for drummers, the 1856 Pattern, Mark I, was introduced for both drummers and buglers (the buglers carried a cast iron version).  Its distinctive brass, “Gothic” cruciform hilt with ornamental quillon trefoils, was heavily influenced by the Victorian interest in medieval architecture.  The crossguard ecusson also displayed the royal cypher of Queen Victoria.  Regimental stamps are commonly seen on the side of the grip. The blade was straight, ending in a spear point and it was carried in a leather and brass-mounted scabbard with a frog stud to the locket.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

Taken from The British Sword – From 1600 to the Present Day – An Illustrated History by Harvey J S Withers – 12,000 full colour photographs – 884 pages

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