M1914 PATTON cavalry sword

Jim McDougall · 19th December 2022, 07:14 AM

The M1913 was regarded as an 'almost' perfect sword, but by the time it was produced, the cavalry charge had been largely abandoned officially due to the guns, especially machine guns which of course rendered such ineffective.

There is a great book which includes these, "The Last Bright Blades" by Joseph William Turner (1982) which describes American sword development 1904-1934.
The 1906 Ames saber was designed from the Civil War M1860 model, and the 'Patton' followed in 1914, which was influenced by early French heavy cavalry swords of Napoleonic period. This was in addition to influences of the French M1882 and M1896 cavalry swords, with which the French entered WWI.
As noted, these swords, like the M1908, were intended primarily for thrusting, as with the lance, and interestingly the lance was quite present through WWI in numerous instances. German uhlans (lancers) had remarkably long steel lances.

Certainly the British M1908 and M1912 were factored into the development influences of these pre-1900 forms in the Patton sword.

Your M1908 cavalry sword is outstanding and as so marked (to 19th Dragoons) is a wonderfully historic example of how the sword as a weapon still found use in certain cases.
Another book which well describes some other of these 20th century cases is "Charge to Glory" (1960) James D. Lunt, including one such charge in WWII.

19th December 2022, 07:14 AM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,945	The M1913 was regarded as an 'almost' perfect sword, but by the time it was produced, the cavalry charge had been largely abandoned officially due to the guns, especially machine guns which of course rendered such ineffective. There is a great book which includes these, "The Last Bright Blades" by Joseph William Turner (1982) which describes American sword development 1904-1934. The 1906 Ames saber was designed from the Civil War M1860 model, and the 'Patton' followed in 1914, which was influenced by early French heavy cavalry swords of Napoleonic period. This was in addition to influences of the French M1882 and M1896 cavalry swords, with which the French entered WWI. As noted, these swords, like the M1908, were intended primarily for thrusting, as with the lance, and interestingly the lance was quite present through WWI in numerous instances. German uhlans (lancers) had remarkably long steel lances. Certainly the British M1908 and M1912 were factored into the development influences of these pre-1900 forms in the Patton sword. Your M1908 cavalry sword is outstanding and as so marked (to 19th Dragoons) is a wonderfully historic example of how the sword as a weapon still found use in certain cases. Another book which well describes some other of these 20th century cases is "Charge to Glory" (1960) James D. Lunt, including one such charge in WWII.