British Infantry Officers Battle Swords in the 19th C...and up to 1914

Peter Hudson · Yesterday, 11:25 PM

Hello Triarii, well its all confusing and to many its all rather not worth arguing about but the upshot was that swords in the context of serious conflict weapons ...ie WW1 in 1914, were off the battlefield. So really it makes no difference which style was used... They all went home.
...To us this was a catclysmic end to the whole business of collecting and history of weapons...Other than for parades and ceremonial duties...apart from the odd individual military action...the sword was finished...and the corner was turned in favour of gunpowder weapons...and associated weaponry like Bayonets. Swords continued and indeed were diverted to be used in wars further afield like in the orient and in other spheres like in India...The amazing orders to get swords off the Battlefield and replace them with swagger sticks to one side...sub units were reorganised to replace the sword including the use of shotguns and pistols etc. The American soldiers developed a useful pump action shotgun they knicknamed The Trench Broom. and there were some useful revolver and magazine fed pistols as a backup weapon...and the use of cavalry moved apace to include the use of Mounted Infantry
using shorter barrel carbines etc.
However having said all that ... I still think it worth considering what blades were being used at the time and how was sword design handled up to its sudden demise. Indeed I think the period during which swords were removed from the battlefield spans a vital opportunity to view the many blade styles that aoppeared in our historical record. There was a bounceback of styles covering hundreds of years of sword development...As an example look at the 1821 pipeback which was redesigned with a solid backblade in 1845 and with a huge fuller and retaining its spear point...and for use up til the end of the 19thC. The old 1821 wasnt simply ditched but went on to be purchased for Indian Cavalry such as The Scinde Irregular...Jacobs Horse...while at the same time blades of every shape size and style appeared.as if the late 19th C.was being held up as a mirror for all things Sword Style...and yet just around the corner it was all about the come to a halt! Thus its important place in our study I think.
Regards,
Peter Hudson.

Yesterday, 11:25 PM	#39
Peter Hudson Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 343	Hello Triarii, well its all confusing and to many its all rather not worth arguing about but the upshot was that swords in the context of serious conflict weapons ...ie WW1 in 1914, were off the battlefield. So really it makes no difference which style was used... They all went home. ...To us this was a catclysmic end to the whole business of collecting and history of weapons...Other than for parades and ceremonial duties...apart from the odd individual military action...the sword was finished...and the corner was turned in favour of gunpowder weapons...and associated weaponry like Bayonets. Swords continued and indeed were diverted to be used in wars further afield like in the orient and in other spheres like in India...The amazing orders to get swords off the Battlefield and replace them with swagger sticks to one side...sub units were reorganised to replace the sword including the use of shotguns and pistols etc. The American soldiers developed a useful pump action shotgun they knicknamed The Trench Broom. and there were some useful revolver and magazine fed pistols as a backup weapon...and the use of cavalry moved apace to include the use of Mounted Infantry using shorter barrel carbines etc. However having said all that ... I still think it worth considering what blades were being used at the time and how was sword design handled up to its sudden demise. Indeed I think the period during which swords were removed from the battlefield spans a vital opportunity to view the many blade styles that aoppeared in our historical record. There was a bounceback of styles covering hundreds of years of sword development...As an example look at the 1821 pipeback which was redesigned with a solid backblade in 1845 and with a huge fuller and retaining its spear point...and for use up til the end of the 19thC. The old 1821 wasnt simply ditched but went on to be purchased for Indian Cavalry such as The Scinde Irregular...Jacobs Horse...while at the same time blades of every shape size and style appeared.as if the late 19th C.was being held up as a mirror for all things Sword Style...and yet just around the corner it was all about the come to a halt! Thus its important place in our study I think. Regards, Peter Hudson.