Category: Sword Articles

THE 1822 DRESS REGULATIONS stipulated that Rifle Officers carry the same sword as infantry officers with the proviso that they carry a steel scabbard for field service, relegating the black leather and gilt-brass-mounted scabbard for dress purposes.  Rifle regiments had always prided themselves on being set apart from the “ordinary” infantry and this elitist attitude resulted in a desire to have their own distinctive pattern.  This was duly realised in a Circular Memorandum issued by the Adjutant-General on 17 June 1827 that authorised the adoption of a steel-hilted sword of “Gothic” pattern.  This became the 1827 Pattern Rifle Regiment Officer’s Sword.

It is defined by an all-steel hilt and the replacement of the usual royal cypher and crown with a strung bugle and crown in a cartouche. This motif symbolised the earlier use of the bugle to control rifle troops rather than the drum favoured by the Infantry of the Line.   The hilt was generally of more sturdier construction than the infantry pattern, with flatter and wider hilt bars.  There is also no folding guard.  By the end of the 19th Century, nickel-plated hilts had superseded the original steel hilt. This pattern of sword is still carried by Rifle Officers in the British Army.

The blade was pipe-backed in keeping with the 1822 Pattern and would follow subsequent official changes in blade types until the end of the century.  Blades were normally etched with a royal crown and cypher, supplemented with the addition of a strung bugle and crown motif.   Many Victorian swords of this pattern are also frequently decorated with the names of regional volunteer rifle regiments.  These rifle volunteer regiments emerged in the 1850’s and 1860’s in response to a perceived threat of invasion from France and officers were keen to purchase swords that identified both themselves and their regiment directly on the sword blade.  It is interesting to note that many examples of these 19th Century rifle volunteer swords have survived which is testament to the sheer number of officers in these regiments.  The regular army was rather contemptuous of these volunteer regiments and viewed them, perhaps unkindly, as “weekend soldiers”. Contemporary cartoons also portrayed the officers as bloated buffoons, more interested in impressing the ladies with their dashing uniforms, than the serious business of military manoeuvres. This is a crude caricature. Most volunteer regiments took their duties very seriously.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE 1822 PATTERN INFANTRY OFFICER’S SWORD was a radical departure from previous British Army infantry sword patterns.  Its distinctive half-basket hilt became the standard hilt type for British infantry officers’ swords until the end of the 19th Century.

The 1822 Dress Regulations describes it as being:

“…a gilt half-basket, with GR IV inserted in the outward bars”.

Distinctive features of the sword include the so-called  “Gothic” hilt, named as such after its apparent resemblance to the shapes of windows in Gothic architecture. It also had an inner guard that was hinged and could be folded down to sit comfortably against a uniform.  The royal cypher was also inserted within an oval hilt cartouche and during its lifetime, this pattern saw the royal cypher of three monarchs (George IV, William IV and Victoria) placed within its hilt bars.  Victorian examples are pretty common due to the monarch’s long reign and there are many interpretations of the royal cypher, including versions with both pierced and moulded “VR” cyphers.  Earlier examples from the reign of George IV and William IV, who had relatively short reigns, tend to have hilts that are more delicately crafted than later Victorian pieces (c.1830’s) and display thinner hilt bars.  Up until around 1835, there would also a requirement to have been a black leather hilt lining.

A new blade type was also introduced with this pattern. It was of slender, pipe back form, with a slightly curved profile, double-edged for the last few inches and sheathed in a black leather scabbard with decorated gilt brass mounts.

As a fighting weapon, it was not well received by infantry officers, many complaining that it was simply not suitable for robust combat and there are a number of recorded accounts of it failing in battle with fatal consequences.  The famous 19th Century sword maker, Henry Wilkinson, was not an advocate for this pattern and wrote in 1863:

“…the worst possible arrangement of hilt, blade and shape that could possibly be contrived. It is crooked but has no regular curve; it is wrongly mounted for thrusting and wrongly shaped for cutting.  The hilt is so flimsy as to be no protection to the hand and it is made of bad metal, badly tempered.”

THIS PATTERN OF SWORD is identical to that carried by light cavalry officers (1821 Pattern Light Cavalry Officer’s Sword). It was introduced in the 1830’s, and adopted by both Royal Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery Officers.  Prior to this, officers carried the standard 1786 and 1796 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword.  A Regimental General Order of 1 June 1833 states that:

“ On no occasion will a Royal Horse Artillery Officer appear, whether in jacket, pelisse or frock coat, without his sword which shall be Regulation Cavalry with steel scabbard.”

This is interesting as there were actually two patterns of cavalry officer’s sword, comprising one for the light and one for the heavy cavalry branches, meaning that there was not a regulation or universal “Cavalry Sword” available at this time.  Royal Artillery officers must have reasoned that the light cavalry version was probably the most suitable pattern to carry and so it was adopted.

The standard three-bar-hilted light cavalry officer’s sword became the universal weapon for officers serving in all branches of the Royal Artillery.  It is an extremely common pattern of sword and a large number have survived.  Most 1821 Pattern Light Cavalry Officers’ swords have etched decoration to the blade, including the thunderbolt, lightning and winged motif of the Royal Artillery.  Some volunteer artillery swords are also found with presentation inscriptions and regimental designations.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

CURIOUSLY, ALL RANKS WITHIN THE BRITISH ARMY medical establishment carried some form of a sword and this included the enlisted men.  Regimental and staff surgeons were not obliged to carry a sword but many did and they tended to be the type worn by officers of their own regiment.  This was formalised in the Dress Regulations of 1822, when officers were instructed to carry the 1822 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword.

The Crimean War (1853-1856) highlighted the parlous state of medical care and facilities for wounded soldiers and following a number of public scandals, a dedicated corps of stretcher bearers and medical attendants was established in 1854 and named the Army Conveyance Corps, replaced in 1855, with the Medical Staff Corps and finally reorganised into the Army Hospital Corps between 1857 and 1861. 

A sword was apparently required for these non-combatants and it took the form of a long, straight-bladed sword with a single fuller and spear point.  The grip is made from cast iron and was very heavy in the hand (1lb 12ozs).  It is very similar to swords supplied to the Coast Guard and might possibly have been sourced from surplus stocks made available when they stopped carrying swords in the early 19th Century.  Scabbards were of black leather with a brass belt hook and chape.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

DEVELOPED BY COLONEL W.B. DUNDAS, who originally served as a lieutenant with the Royal Artillery during the Napoleonic Wars, it was designated to be carried by soldiers manning field guns in the Royal Artillery. It is a very sturdy weapon with a heavy, solid brass hilt and thick blade.  A version with an iron hilt and scabbard has also been noted.  Its service life was relatively short, probably from around 1845 to 1855, when the Dress Regulations (1855) stated that a sword for Royal Artillery drivers was no longer required.

The “Dundas” sword was probably not carried solely by the Royal Artillery and its all-purpose and robust design would have been suitable for other governmental departments, ranging from Customs Officers to both Police and Prison Officers.

Many are seen with slight alterations to both the hilt and blade with some having a more rounded knucklebow and differing curvatures and lengths of blade.  This is due mainly to the slightly different interpretations of its design by sword makers.  Scabbards were made from wrought iron.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

FORMED TOWARDS THE END OF THE CRIMEAN WAR, the Land Transport Corps was an attempt to provide a more organised system of transport for the British Army. Prior to this, they had made do with a chaotic system of wagons and drivers, variously designated as the Royal Waggoners, Royal Waggon Corps and finally, the Royal Waggon Train. With the Crimean War it was changed again to the Land Transport Corps and then changed again to the Military Train. 

This sword is intriguing because there appears to be little evidence that it was actually carried by soldiers within the L.T.C.  Previous authors on the subject have been unable to provide specimens with actual regimental markings.  Some branch of the British Army must have carried this sword as they are normally found with official British Army inspectors’ marks to the blade forte but a definite attribution is still unclear.

The design was based on contemporary short swords worn throughout Europe (particularly France). Its distinctive design was copied from the Ancient Roman gladius and the British version exhibits a long, straight blade in comparison to the continental, wider, leaf-shaped blade.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THIS IS A SWORD that appears not to have been designated as an official pattern. Dating from the first quarter of the 19th century, it was the forerunner of the 1856 Pattern Pioneer Sword, and seems to have been the most commonly encountered British sawback pioneer sword style that pre-dates the regulation 1856 Pattern.   It was copied from contemporary pioneer sawback swords, particularly those found in French and European armies.

The crude, flattened lionshead pommel is very much indicative of Georgian military styling, as is the pronounced stirrup or rounded knucklebow.   It would have been a heavy sword to carry, especially when combined with its leather and brass-mounted scabbard.  It had a wide, slightly curved blade with a distinctive saw back whose purpose would have been to cut away light timber and obstructions.  As a fighting weapon, it would have been rather ineffective.

Regimental markings are particularly rare with this sword. Most are maker and inspector marked to the blade with Birmingham sword makers such as Hill and Sargant and Thomas Craven commonly noted on their blade spines.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THIS IS AN INTERESTING SWORD and has aroused much controversy. It is sometimes described as a “Spanish” Hanger, because of its supposed introduction during the Peninsular Wars, although it is now thought that it was actually introduced during the 1820’s and carried by Foot Artillery Privates. It is difficult to corroborate this as none appear to display any regimental markings to artillery units but it is likely that an artillery designation is correct. What we do know is that British artillerymen did carry some kind of short hanger with a brass knucklebow during the early-mid-1800‘s. This is confirmed in a Parliamentary Select Committee report of 1855 which mentions the:

“…Spanish pattern hanger … worn by all gunners and drivers attached to field guns down to 1826“.

The sword was probably a very poor fighting weapon, the blade being far too long and unwieldy. It was no doubt viewed with complete disdain by the ordinary soldier who had the misfortune to carry it in the field.

The knucklebow was brass and D-shaped with a ribbed leather grip and the blade was straight, unfullered, flat-backed and with a spear point. It would have been carried in a leather and brass-mounted scabbard.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE 1803 PATTERN INFANTRY OFFICER’S SWORD was a pattern carried by many British light infantry and flank officers but not all.  There is also a wide variety of swords that did not follow the dictates of the official pattern but chose a type of sword that closely followed those carried by the cavalry, most notably the 1796 Pattern Cavalry Officer’s Sword.  These stirrup-hilted swords for infantry officers had versions with both a lionshead and plain pommel.  To all intents and purposes they were identical to cavalry officers’ swords except that the blade length was shorter for obvious reasons.

Certain regiments also wanted to distinguish themselves from their peers and a number of flanks officers’ swords of distinctly regimental type appeared during this time.  An example of this derivation can be seen in swords carried by officers of the 52nd (Oxfordshire ) Regiment of Foot.  It had a steel stirrup hilt with a distinctive langet that held a silver strung bugle motif.  Grips were wrapped in fishskin with two silver or steel rivets securing the tang and the scabbard was all-steel.  The 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) and later, the 60th (Royal American) and 95th Rifles (Rifle Brigade), also carried steel-hilted sabres of regimental pattern.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

BY  1800, THIS PARTICULAR TYPE OF CURVED SABRE had already been unofficially adopted by many light infantry and rifle officers, and it was only a matter of time before official recognition came in 1803.  The choice of a curved sabre, in contrast to the straight-bladed sword carried by most infantry officers at that time, (the 1796 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword) was a direct response to experience gained in previous conflicts such as the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), where fighting in dense, closely packed wooded areas, called for a versatile sword that was not as rigid and cumbersome as the more traditional infantry swords with their long and straight blades. There was also an element of elitism attached to this choice as officers of these regiments regarded themselves as distinct from standard regiments of the line and engaged in more daring and dangerous work.  It is one of the most attractive of British pattern swords, with a number of variations in design, most notably to the royal cypher on the knucklebow and lionshead pommel. 

The standard type of this pattern comprises a hilt of gilt brass with rounded knucklebow displaying a pierced or moulded royal cypher.  Some examples also have a slot for a sword knot near the pommel.  The knucklebow commonly features either a strung bugle or flaming grenade above the royal crown, denoting use by both grenadiers and rifle companies.  Blades are also found with engraved blue and gilt decoration although most examples found today have lost their original colour.

Although this blade type is probably more suited to the cavalry (its curved blade would have been more effective when slashed from the saddle), style over substance seems to have won the day.  Lieutenant William Smith of the 77th Foot (Middlesex Regiment) carried this pattern as he “hewed and slashed his way through the enemy” before succumbing to his many wounds at the Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) in the Peninsular War (1808-1814).  Blades are also commonly marked to the German sword importer, J.J. Runkel, who supplied large numbers of these blades to the English sword making trade.

Sword grips are noted in a range of materials, including leather, fishskin and ivory (this being reserved for officers of senior rank).  Scabbards are normally leather with gilt mounts and two loose hanging rings attached to the locket and middle band.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

BEFORE THE STANDARDISATION OF naval swords after 1805, the British Royal Navy officer had great leeway as to what type of edged weapon he carried whilst on board ship. During the mid and latter part of the 17th Century, the traditional gentleman’s rapier was abandoned by British naval officers in favour of short, hunting type hangers and cutlass-type swords. They were based on cutlasses and hangers issued to ordinary seaman but were decorated in a more elaborate way, with chiselled decoration to both pommels and guards and some manufactured with silver hilts and corresponding scabbard mounts.

These short swords were far more practical whilst fighting amongst the rigging and confined space of a ship’s crowded deck. Many contemporary paintings show British naval officers carrying these swords.

In keeping with fashions of the day, British naval officers sometimes carried a dress sword for more formal occasions and these were normally based on contemporary civilian and military smallswords that included a boat shell hilt with pas d’âne and a colichemarde (hollow-ground) blade. In some rare examples, the smallswords might carry nautical motifs to the hilt.

By the late-18th Century, the hunting-type hanger was dropped in favour of an infantry sword with slotted guard. Many of these exhibit an anchor inset into the guard or engraved to the ovoid or rounded pommel.  Blades tended to be manufactured in countries such as Germany (where they were cheaper to buy) and exported to England with the sword fittings e.g. guard, grip and scabbard, produced in small workshops in England, where the sword would be finally assembled.

In 1786, the British Army formally adopted a regulation pattern sword for infantry officers. It was natural that British naval officers would copy this style.  The cut and thrust blade was straight with either a “beaded” or “fiveball” hilt and cushion pommel.  A gilt brass “cigar band” with engraved anchor was sometimes placed in the centre

of a ribbed ivory or ebony grip.  Some examples also have a cut-out anchor inserted to the centre of the forward guard.  Blades were decorated with engraved motifs, including royal crown, coat of arms, martial trophies, stands of arms and scrolling foliage.  It is actually rare to find an example with purely nautical designs to the blade as most blades were decorated in a generic British “military” style that didn’t specify either the Army or Navy branch of service.  It is possible that the original owners of the swords found it difficult to source “dedicated” naval blades and opted for the Army version which was in plentiful supply, courtesy of such German importers as J.J. (John Justus) Runkel, who supplied pre-decorated and plain blades to the English sword making trade.

Where the blades do feature naval decoration, these can include the royal crown, cypher, coat of arms and a seated Britannia, but in place of the typical infantry officer figure brandishing his sword, we might find anchors and sea beasts.  Decorated naval blades from this period are rare and most do not exhibit any specific naval decoration, but are still perfectly correct. It is only when we move into the late 1820’s that all blades become strictly naval in their decoration.

Many of these officers’ swords were also decorated in blue and gilt in keeping with contemporary British infantry and cavalry officers’ swords. The blade was sheathed in a patent leather and gilt-brass-mounted scabbard.

Other sword types include those with a S-Bar hilt with an anchor in cartouche and the more common stirrup-hilted sabre that copied the British 1796 Pattern Light Cavalry Officer’s Sword. They also frequently feature an engraved anchor (known as a fouled anchor because it has become enmeshed by a trailing cable) to the hilt langet and very occasionally the anchor is applied as a raised, separate cartouche, sometimes in silver.  By the end of the 18th Century, many Royal Navy officers’ sword hilts also had cartouches to the langets that featured a fouled anchor with royal crown placed above.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

AS WE ENTER THE 18TH CENTURY, the design of the English naval cutlass became more simplified. The introduction of a double disc-type or “figure of eight” hilt was probably the most notable change and this gave the seaman far more protection to the hand than the previous D-guard cutlasses. The previous type of cutlass hilt was not completely phased out as there are many unofficial examples of this style that were still carried well into the 18th and early 19th Century.  British naval cutlasses of the 18th Century were provided for Royal Navy seamen by the Board of Ordnance, a government department based in the Tower of London, whose duties also included being responsible for the storage and supply of arms to British forces. Their job was summarised as follows:

‘…to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy’.

Not every seaman on board a Royal Navy warship was issued with a cutlass and there were limited quantities, so those without cutlasses were armed with an assortment of weapons, including boarding pikes, axes and cudgels. The standard of manufacture of pre-regulation cutlasses could be pretty varied, ranging from poor to robust and workmanlike. Most cutlass hilts of the 18th Century were manufactured from one piece of sheet steel, shaped into two discs for basic hand protection. Blades were usually slightly curved, with a single fuller or flat-backed.

The English sword maker, Thomas Hollier, is usually credited with introducing the double-disc cutlass into the Royal Navy and examples of this type, with staghorn grips, are noted from the early-mid-18th Century.  The blade ricasso is deeply stamped with the name “HOLLIER”.  It is known that Hollier supplied 1,000 cutlasses to the Royal Navy in 1727 and it is likely that they were of the new, double-disc type.

Towards the end of the century, double-disc cutlasses began to adopt a straight, spear-pointed blade with a grip of rolled sheet iron around a wooden core.  Blades were sourced from from both Solingen, Germany and England, with known makers such as James Woolley, Thomas Craven, Henry Osborn and Samuel Harvey, all providing blades of sound quality.  Many bear the crowned royal cypher of  King George III (r.1760-1820) to the blade, indicating that some form of inspection had taken place.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SMALLSWORD in the 18th Century was a natural consequence and evolution of the transition of sword types from the earlier rapier form.  The requirement for a large or long-bladed sword had passed and a gentleman also no longer needed the protection of armour, particularly in towns and cities, where society was becoming more stable and organised.  This does not mean that the streets were completely safe and by the beginning of the 18th Century, a form of defensive, edged weapon for the civilian was still required to be carried.  This was the smallsword and as the century progressed, the smallsword became not only a reliable weapon but also a symbol of status, wealth and ultimately, fashion.

By end of the 17th Century, a true smallsword hilt and blade type had emerged and was in widespread use throughout Europe.  In general terms, this transitional type comprised a single-fullered, flattened blade, reminiscent of earlier rapiers although the great length exhibited in rapiers of the previous century had been greatly shortend.  Hilts of iron and brass were simply decorated and displayed globular or ovoid pommels.  Two curling arms that reached down to the small dish guards also became very popular (pas d’âne).  Grips were shorter than before and manufactured from a number of materials, including wood, horn, ivory and bone.  Most were bound with either steel, brass, copper or silver twistwire.

A new blade type specifically for smallwords also appeared in the early years of the 18th Century, having its roots in German sword makers, who designed a duelling blade featuring a wide forte that abruptly tapered into a much narrower blade near the point.  The blade cross-section was of triangular shape and “hollow-ground”, a form of special grinding that produced this unusual and radically new shape, the colichemarde blade.  It created a blade that was considerably lighter than previous smallsword blades of traditional type and allowed the swordsman to wield the blade in a more maneuverable, flexible and faster way that could thrust more accurately against an opponent.

English sword makers, most notably the Hollow Sword Blade Company of Shotley Bridge, Durham, aimed to emulate their German sword maker rivals, and also produced hollow-ground blades, ironically, with the help of German swordsmiths fleeing persecution in their homeland.  They brought the skills needed to craft these blades and for a relatively short period of time, they were successful, although extant examples of their work are extremely scarce and likely to indicate that production numbers were small and didn’t make much of an impression on the large quantities of German made smallswords brought into the country (no doubt, in some cases, illegally, as there were Royal charters in place to stop the importation of foreign sword blades, to help support indigenous manufacture) during this period.

Towards the mid-late-18th Century, smallsword styles gradually changed with much emphasis on the decoration of the hilt, in contrast to the earlier, rather plain-hilted smallswords.  This was the time of the flamboyant, rococo style and English silver-hilted smallswords were particularly popular.  Their work featured finely wrought piercings to the knucklebow and chased and embossed decoration to the dish guards.  Most are London hallmarked to the knucklebow and names such as John Radborn (1737-1780),  John Carman (c.1721-1764) and William Garrard appear on elegant silver hilts of the period.

Smallsword scabbards were made from both leather and strengthened vellum and because of their construction, were inherently fragile and prone to damage.  Very few have survived to this day.

The use of the smallsword in the British Army and Navy was quite popular in the 18th Century, particularly within the Royal Navy, although its practicality on board the confines of a crowded ship’s deck could be questioned, resulting in many naval officers also carrying a more practical, fighting sword when engaged in combat.  Indeed; it is the more robust versions of the smallsword type that inspired future patterns, including the 1796 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE BEGINNING OF THE 18TH CENTURY witnessed a near monopoly of supply to Britain for both hunting and civilian blades by the German sword makers of Solingen and Passau.  They were able to produce blades to order and offered a complete range from curved and straight, to saw-backed.  Blades are found with flat-backed profiles, double-edged or double-edged near the point, single-fullered and multi-fullered, terminating either a short length from the ricasso or travelling the full length of the blade.  This great variety of blade types is testament to the sheer number of hunting swords that were produced during the century and exported to Britain.  Sword cutlers in England were unable to complete with foreign hunting blades, both on price and quality, and there are very few genuine hunting swords (hilt and blade) during this period that can claim to have a wholly English origin, so examples shown in this book will likely have been made abroad but carried in Britain. 

Although the hunting sword in the 18th Century was meant to be a practical tool for despatching an animal, it is very unlikely that they were all used for this purpose and in a time when appearance and social status was paramount, hunting swords joined smallswords, in being items of everyday fashion.  This can be seen in the quality of materials and craftsmanship incorporated into making these swords.  They range from basic examples, comprising hilts of brass with simple undecorated shell guards, wooden grips and unfullered blades, to artisan masterpieces with enamelled, agate and horn grips, silver rococo-styled hilts and elegant, multi-fullered blades.  A lot of these high end and fragile pieces would not have been practical when carried on a hunt and were purely for display.

English workers did play some part in the manufacture of hunting swords and this was in the production of hilts.  At the beginning of the 18th Century, London was the centre for mounting of agate handles to hunting swords and hangers, and the majority are of the silver-hilted type.  Porcelain and the newly introduced tortoise-shell, sourced from the hawksbill turtle native to South East Asia, are also materials found on the grips of hunting swords. 

Tortoise-shell was a popular material because when heated, it became soft and malleable and could be shaped, moulded and impressed or used to inlay decoration and it is common to see a combination of silver and tortoise-shell on silver hunting hilts.

Hilt knucklebows tend to be of a uniform, rounded D-shape, and in the early 18th Century, the influence of contemporary rococo styles is quite prevalent, with designs of cherubic putti, classical busts and hunting animals both to the guard and quillon finials.  This is also extended to the shell guards.  It is interesting to note that steel hilts are not that common with hunting swords, although examples are known.  This is due to the fact that steel is a much harder material to work with than the softer metals of brass and silver and cutlers would naturally work with what was easiest and most profitable.

Decoration to the blade is more frequently noted from the mid-18th Century and usually takes the form of engraved hunting scenes of boar and stag hunts, with dogs and huntsmen in pursuit of the animals.  German blades are also found with talismanic or cabbalistic numbers and symbols, perhaps with the intention of providing the huntsman with magical powers that would enable him to be successful in the hunt.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE 1796 PATTERN HEAVY CAVALRY OFFICER’S SWORD (DRESS)  was a natural consequence of the need to find a sword less cumbersome to carry when dismounted (as compared to its the Undress pattern). It is an attractive variation of boat-shell-hilted and straight-bladed swords worn by a number of European nations at that time, including Sweden, Germany and Austria.  It was not necessarily a new pattern in the British Army as heavy cavalry officers had been carrying similar swords for some years before 1796 and this was more an attempt at standardisation.

A contemporary account describes the sword:

“They have also a second sword, called a frock sword, which has a two-edged blade, of lighter construction than their field sword.  It is mounted with a gilt hilt, called a boat shell hilt.  This is to replace their heavy field sword, and is worn chiefly when the officer is dismounted.”

The sword had a straight blade of flat back type, with a single fuller to each side, double-edged towards the point.  The gilt brass boat shell hilt had prominent, flared quillons that extended beyond the shell guard.  The knucklebow was usually screwed into the pommel and grips were normally bound with silver twistwire.  Blades tended to include blue and gilt decoration but some examples are quite plain and undecorated.  Scabbards were of black leather with a gilt brass locket, middle band, chape and a narrow shoe.  Steel scabbards for this sword are known and could have been carried when an officer was dismounted.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE 1796 PATTERN HEAVY CAVALRY OFFICER’S SWORD (UNDRESS) used the same type of blade as the heavy cavalry trooper’s version and was frequently decorated in blue and gilt designs.  Initially, it retained the earlier hatchet point and was straight and broad, displaying a wide, single fuller.  The distinctive guard was of a new type and is described as being of “ladder” or  “honeysuckle” pattern.  A contemporary description of the sword is as follows:

“Heavy dragoon officers wear a broad, straight, cut and thrust blade with a hanger point, mounted with a hilt with a shell as a guard.  This is called their field sword or sword for service.”

The officer’s sword had the same fighting drawbacks as the trooper’s sword and despite the previous account defining it as having a “cut and thrust blade”, it was generally unable to achieve this requirement when used in combat and heavy cavalry officers began to look for more suitable alternatives that could take on and win close quarter encounters with French heavy cavalry.  The solution was found with a new blade type – the pipe back.  It had a prominent rib that ran along the back of the blade which became more narrow and enabled it to become more effective when thrusting.  Later versions added a false edge at the bottom that provided better balance and stiffness.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE AUSTRIAN MODEL 1775 HEAVY CUIRASSIER’S SWORD seems to have been the inspiration for the famous 1796 Pattern Heavy Cavalry Trooper’s Sword and it is extremely similar.  Interestingly, its introduction was in complete contradiction to the type of curved and slashing sword proposed by Major J. G. Le Marchant (that was subsequently adopted by the light cavalry), being of long and straight-bladed form with a hatchet-point.  It also had a distinctive disc hilt with double langets.  It was carried in a heavy wrought iron scabbard with two two bands and hanging rings.

Although a rather fearsome looking weapon, in practice it did not match up to its French counterpart that had a long and thrusting blade which was capable of inflicting mortal wounds, unlike the British sword blade that tended to wound rather than kill. Heavy in the hand and unwieldy, it took a strong man to use this sword effectively.  Sergeant Charles Ewart of the 2nd (Royal Scots Greys) Dragoons was just such a person, and his account of desperate one-to-one combat during the Battle of Waterloo, depicts him carving up a number of Frenchmen with this sword. His success was probably enabled by the fact that he stood well over 6ft 4” tall, quite unusual for men of that time, which would have given considerable force and impetus to the sword.  He also became famous when he captured the French Eagle during the battle.   In later years, he recalled his experiences of that day:

“One made a thrust at my groin.  I parried it off and cut him down through the head.  A lancer came at me – I threw the lance off and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot-soldier fired at me and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good luck to parry and then I cut him down through the head.  This ended it.”

The actual sword (and Eagle Standard) thought to have been carried by Ewart at Waterloo is currently kept in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, in Edinburgh Castle.  Sergeant Ewart’s sword is of semi-spear point type and was converted into this form (as were most sword stocks of this pattern before the Battle of Waterloo) after poor battle reports when using othe original hatchet point.  Another modification was the removal of the double langets which served no real practical purpose and the grinding down of the inner edge of the disc guard that tended to fray the uniform.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE OFFICER’S VERSION OF THIS PATTERN does not differ with regard to the general specifications laid out by the authorities for the trooper’s sword e.g. hilt and blade, but can be defined by the appearance of decoration to the blade, usually in the form of blue and gilt motifs, including royal crowns, coats of arms, cyphers, martial trophies and scrolling foliage.  Plain-bladed versions are also found.  Langets, ferrules, knucklebows and backstraps also display cut steel, faceted designs.

It proved quite effective as a slashing weapon but again, the stirrup guard afforded inadequate protection to the wearer’s hand. It was also quite a cumbersome piece, especially when combined with its heavy steel scabbard.

There are, inevitably, regimental variations of this sword that adhere to the original blade specifications but go their own way with regard to the hilt and scabbard.  An example of this is found in the swords carried by officers of the 10th Light Dragoons, who incorporated a badge of the Prince of Wales’ feathers in silver to the hilt langet and decorated the backstap and pommel with a design that would be used in the future 1822 Pattern Infantry Officer’s Sword.

Yeomanry officers carried a form of this pattern with most hilts being of gilt brass type with ribbed or chequered ivory grips.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

THE INTRODUCTION OF THIS PATTERN can be traced back to the influence of Major J. G. Le Marchant, a heavy cavalry officer in command of a squadron of the 2nd Dragoon Guards.  He served during the Flanders expedition of 1794 and was disturbed to witness the abject failure of British swords in the field, noting that many broke upon first contact with another blade and were generally too heavy and cumbersome in the hand.  Le Marchant recorded:

“The swords then in use by the British cavalry were of various descriptions, scarcely 2 regiments having the same pattern; but one of the most popular was a wide, long and heavy blade, mounted with a cumbrous, fantastic handle.”

When Le Marchant returned home in 1794, he embarked on designing a new sword for cavalry and did so in partnership with Henry Osborn(e), a noted Birmingham sword maker, whose name is frequently found on swords from this period.  They submitted a new design for a slashing sword with curved blade to the Commander-in-Chief (the Duke of York), in early 1796 and provided a document entitled, “A Plan for Constructing and Mounting in a Different Manner the Swords of the Cavalry”.  This was the genesis of the 1796 Pattern Light Cavalry Trooper’s Sword and was further endorsed in his seminal work on the correct use of this pattern; Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise of the Cavalry (1796).  In June 1796, a Board of Cavalry General Officers considered Le Marchant’s design and decided that it was suitable for issue to light cavalry regiments.

The sword comprised a wrought iron or steel stirrup hilt with a curved, slashing blade of flat back form, single-edged except for the last 10 inches.  There is also a prominent and wide fuller to within 8 inches of the point.  As with the previous light cavalry pattern, protection for the hand was minimal and the scabbard was heavy in comparison with the sword and would have been quite an encumbrance and noisy (particularly with its loose suspension rings) when a soldier was mounted on his horse and moving.   The grip has a wooden core upon which leather has been stretched when wet, bound with cord and then allowed to shrink to form a ribbed handle.  Scabbards were made from wrought iron with two bands and loose rings.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024

OFFICERS OF LIGHT CAVALRY REGIMENTS carried a very similar sword to troopers and can be distinguished by the addition of engraved decoration to the blade and a ferrule at the base of the grip.  The quality of manufacture was normally higher but the style and dimensions are pretty much the same.

This pattern does exhibit some regimental variations, including hilts of “attack” form, comprising a folding, three-bar arrangement that could be opened up in combat and added extra protection to the hand.  This style of sword is known to have been carried by officers in the 15th Light Dragoons and is likely to have been influenced by contemporary French light cavalry regiments.  The complete lack of protection to the sword hand is a feature of this pattern and was obviously not a consideration when the authorities approved the pattern and would be a feature of British Army light cavalry patterns for the next hundred years.

Blades were slightly curved and usually took the form of one narrow fuller at the back of the blade, with another broader fuller extending for most of the length of the blade.  This type of blade is of French style and known as ‘`a la Montmorency’.

© Harvey Withers Military Publishing, 2024