BRITISH ARMY ROYAL ENGINEERS’ officers (designated the Corps of Engineers, in 1788) first carried standard infantry pattern swords such as the 1786 and 1796 Pattern. They followed the official infantry patterns until 1857, when a new sword for the Corps was introduced. It was described in the Dress Regulations as:
“Regulation pattern blade for Infantry, 32 inches long by 1 inches wide, hilt of rolled metal, gilt, scrolled pattern, pierced and engraved.”
In the Victorian era, the Royal Engineers established a specific and unique role for themselves. They underlined their independence with this new sword that was specific to their branch of service. It is one of the most attractive of Victorian sword designs and features a pierced gilt brass bowl guard, with deeply scrolled acanthus-leafed decoration. Scabbards were brass for field officers until 1874, when it was changed to steel. Ironically, the enclosed basket hilt gave good protection for the hand and more so probably than its infantry equivalent who would have used their swords in more combat situations than a typical engineer officer. Even John Wilkinson-Latham, of Wilkinson Sword, acknowledged that this pattern was an improvement on others and wrote in 1873 that it had a “…very good guard but overbalanced”. The sword was carried until the late-19th Century when it was replaced by the 1892/95 and finally, the 1897 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword.
© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024