2 Victorian Lances

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much Chris for posting the cover of this wonderful book by the Brigadier!!! it brings back many fond memories (it seems I still owe you a photo, which I will get to in due course . As I have mentioned, I have handled the M1912 British officers sword he carried in that charge, which seems accurately represented in the painting though the bowl is not visible, but the scabbard mounts are correct. This leads me to believe that accuracy was keenly observed, and knowing the stickler the Brigadier was, I have no doubt such a detail as lance pennons would have been noted had they been present and incorrect, in our conversations.
While pennons did seem to be 'parade' oriented in the images I have seen of these Indian cavalry in WWI and of that period, I do believe they were indeed mounted on lances in combat. I had never heard the item about them serving the purpose of collecting blood, and would presume this idea may present along with the purpose of fullers in blades being 'blood gutters'. While sounding feasible perhaps in limited degree, these observations seem more contrived in my thinking.

I do know that pennons were indeed attached in combat with lances as per accounts of Polish lancers in the Napoleonic period, and that these pennons added dramatically to the sepsis of wounds by carrying this obviously contaminated material into them. The morbid agony of this typically mortal penetration was heightened by this factor as described in accounts I have seen, and as a result , lancers when captured were summarily killed rather than being held prisoner.
In the dramatic charge of the British 16th Lancers at Aliwal in India during the Sikh wars, after the battle the pennons of the troopers were so encrusted with blood in the aftermath, that it became a long held tradition for these lancers to 'crimp' thier pennons in remembrance. While the blood on the pennons was clearly of thier opponents, the observance was for the decimated ranks and men they lost in that charge.

As with many, if not most, colonial circumstances, yes often obsolete and surplus weapons and materials did continue almost anachronistically in these settings long beyond the period of familiar use in original context.
It seems most of the issues regarding the British lances was availability of male bamboo, and presumably in India there were more ready sources.
The durability of the lance pennons however, may not have been sufficient to keep them servicable in these frontier regions, and having them mounted in the case of this time period may have been considered superfluous. I think more concern was to the actual purpose of the lance rather than the traditional presence of these probably unreplaced items.

As to the materials used, as far as I know most pennons are made of the kind of bunting used in flags, however one lance I had in blue and yellow (3rd Skinners Horse) was made of a dyed almost burlap material.

All the best,
Jim

[laEspadaAncha]

Hi Jim,

It is of course my pleasure - I am happy to have been provided a context to share this book in the thread, and only wish I had seen it sooner... Of course, your invaluable input, information, and feedback went a long way towards helping me better appreciate this tangental 'brush' with the career of the Brigadier, and reading his book heightened my appreciation for the various regimental Lancers to such a degree that I would jump all over the opportunity to acquire a couple of these sharp and pointy 'history sticks.'

Speaking of which, David, I don't think I made explicit mention of the fact I am envious!

[katana]

Hi Jim ,
thank you for your observations and info. It is mentioned on various sites including the official Canadian Mounties site that the pennon absorbed blood .....I personally feel that this action was one of its function.
I believe that the pennon added several advantages....

The 'fluttering' pennon would be a distraction to the 'target' ....I'm reminded of the Chinese long spear which had ribbons attached to the shaft just below the head for this purpose. Although after some 'action' I would assume that the blood soaked material would cling to the shaft and render it 'useless' in this case

A very interesting point about infection, archers used to stick their arrows into the ground to promote tetanus infection in the wounds of their targets. Often clothing fragments were forced into the wounds created by musket balls, due to poor hygiene these fragments caused 'deep' infection. This effect was known and a few realised that fresh, clean clothing at the start of battle could lessen this problem. A contaminated pennon could indeed act as a biological 'delivery device'

I still feel that absorption of blood was important, the lance, during battle, would not always be carried horizontally, in the melee with horses and men tightly 'bunched', to gain manoeuvrability the lance would have to be raised vertically thus allowing blood to run down to the handle/hand. The slippery nature of fresh blood would be a problem.

Hi Chris ,
I am very lucky to have got these......they were advertised as African and the poor pictures only showed the upper bamboo shaft and the head. I immediately recognised these as British Lances ....others didn't...which was advantageous to me as few bid. It was only on collection that I even knew the lances were totally complete .....this grin does not adequately show my face, as I was returning home after collecting them.

Kind Regards David

[katana]

A recent documentary "War Horse", shed more light on the use of the lance during WW1. Early engagements tended to be suicidial due to the muddy terrain and the machine gun. A battle near the end of the war saw Canadian lancers/cavalry charge over open fields to attack a small wood, entrenched with Germans. This action was successful and was seen as many as a turning point in the war.

As the Germans tactically retreated towards Germany, the Lancer/Cavalry units became invalueable. As the retreating soldiers were now in open country as to opposed to the muddy, bomb shelled landscape of 'no mans land', the use of the horse allowed quick attacks ( hit and run) on the German units. The Lancers and Cavalry units became greatly feared, to the point that the infantry were quick to surrender when they were seen on the horizon.

David

[katana]

This just finished on eBay, earlier pattern British lance, extremely surprised at the final price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fine-1846-...item231af493b1