Napoleonic Period British Artillery Short Sword Initials

[Jim McDougall]

Actually this does seem to resemble a type of British band sword of about 1820s if I recall, but that guard with a kind of dumbbell shape does seem French. The lion head was an extremely popular zoomorphic for pommels from mid 18th c. and its use may well be from other European influences, but as far as I recall no distinct links are asserted in the varied instances.

I would note here that the use of the lion head in the American colonies was very much in line with these figures in Great Britain, naturally as in the Revolutionary period and later these people had been British. Actually many, if not most of the edged weapons used in America were British or other European forms.

The convention of using superscript in abbreviation was, as far as I have found, used throughout European cases, which includes England and France as well as Spain, though it does seem Spanish examples are resoundingly apparent.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

...The convention of using superscript in abbreviation was, as far as I have found, used throughout European cases, which includes England and France as well as Spain, though it does seem Spanish examples are resoundingly apparent.

I confess that i would not have the capacity to judge on this "Gladius" origin, as visibly this type of sword appeared in more than one place. Also while i will not dispute Bruno's info coming from his British connection that this is a British version, i would not be so certain that it has been a regular weapon in the Peninsular War; well, it is not listed in Faria/Regalado work, for one.
On the other hand i feel more comfortable in dissecting the inscription characteristics, in what concerns the abbreviations. The deal here is gender; zillions of substantives (nouns) are either masculine or feminine, both in Spanish and Portuguese ... and other Latinized languages.
Meaning that those A's are either Portuguese or Spanish feminine articles; not English nor French. Same goes for the 0 being of masculine gender. So those marks could well be regimental; the Nº being for a number (número) if we 'speculate' that there is a faded digit hidden by the (later ?) central fixation rivet. Also if we speculate that the G could well be a 6, we would have something like a sixth (sexta) company, or the like.
Still i don't find a matching regimental mark for this inscription, even considering the above thoughts; so i have just digressed .


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[Jim McDougall]

Fernando, excellent explanation and analysis on the superscript! While I had been observing only the visual characteristics of these abbreviated letters/acronyms, your linguistic examination gives essential dimension to estimating their probable origin.

This has brought me to an exciting idea.....could this be a French artillery sidearm which found its way into Mexican hands in the early 19th c. (pre Alamo, 1836)??
The Mexican army had received considerable artillery pieces in the early 19th century from France...……..does it not seem reasonable that perhaps some artillery sidearms might have also been included?

The presence of Spanish inscribed unit numbers (and they do indeed resemble these from those I have seen) on a French weapon is thus plausibly explained in this context if my idea is correct.

VERY good acquisition! and fascinating possibility thanks to Fernando's observations.

[corrado26]

My kowledge of the Spanish language is very little but couldn't these letters stand for "Regimiento Fusilador N°6 compania n°6 = F-company?
corrado26

[fernando]

May i call it a long shot Udo ?

[corrado26]

Why a long shot? What you call "A"s are in my eyes just dots. Look at the "N°" where the "°" is set above. So if the writer meant the dots beeing "A"s he would have set them above too. There is no reason why he shouldn't have done so.
corrado26

[fernando]

Originally Posted by corrado26

Why a long shot? What you call "A"s are in my eyes just dots. Look at the "N°" where the "°" is set above. So if the writer meant the dots beeing "A"s he would have set them above too. There is no reason why he shouldn't have done so.
corrado26

O.K. Udo; just a shot ... not a long one .
The minuscule º is the usual size to abreviate "number/numero". The A's, which i also see them set above, for some reason were chosen by the engraver in the majuscule type, but obviously meaning the same as minuscule a's.
On the other hand when you see those A's as being just dots is something i don't follow, as they seem to be so clear A's to me.
As for the first part of the inscription, Fusileros being the correct Spanish term, indeed start with a F which, after the R, would match with Regimiento de Fusileros, but hardly Fusileros are composed in regiments, when we search for these army units characteristics. Still this is not impossible, at least theoretically.
As for the second part, the setup 6A could indeed mean Sexta Compañia but then, what would the setup FA stand for ?
And of course this is all about brain storming; we are not absolutely sure that this (type of) sword has equiped fusiliers (riflemen), as this is/was not their typical side weapon, that i think of; neither are we absolutely sure that this is a Spanish inscription ... only 'logically' guess. Not to count that this could be a later private reminding inscription; the lettering looks a bit legere for an Army work ... what do i know ?


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