2 Victorian Lances
 

Hi,
just acquired 2 1868 pattern lances. Totally complete with their 'shoe' pieces, leather strap handles and even the leather protective sleeve/handle ....only missing their red/white pennants....I'm more than 'made up' :cool:

Markings on the lance head / 'shoe' are faint but have a crown with 'E' below ....I'm assuming an 'Enfield' armoury mark ....a few numbers '94 and '97 ...so assuming they were re-issued 1894 and 1897.

However, the bamboo shafts are also stamped ... with a crown, 73 and 'E' ....1873 ? if so only 5 years from the pattern's first issue.

On one lance the head and shoe have 'T P' marked ......no idea as to reason.

Please any info, comments or discussions on Lances/ Lancers gratefully welcome...

As a footnote ......if I got one more lance would I be a freelance ???? :D :rolleyes:

Kind Regards
David

OK freelance :) !!! LOL!!!
These are beauties and hard to find, nicely done. I'll get some detail a little later, I know Ive got an article here somewhere in the bookmobile.
All the best,
Jim

Hi Jim :) ,
thank you very much Jim, look forward to your insights ... I am extremely pleased to have these ..... originally described as 'African spears'....my hope is that these lances were brought back from Africa (Zulu wars or the Boer war ) and that is where the mistake originated .... unfortunately no proof :(
On Stefan's website (Ashoka), he mentions the use of the 1868 lance during the Zulu wars so if anyone has any info on this it will be greatly appreciated.

All the best
David

Oh, those are sweet !
Congratulations .

Congrats,

Very nice and very very very good order.

I too recently bought 4 of these too, some loop straps intact, some broken one end, others with blue and white banners attached at the spear point.

Mine came with a group of short stabbing spears from Africa, perhaps the blue and white banners on mine can offer some insight to an African campaign....I look forward to what the professor comes back with....Scottish regiment perhaps :shrug:

Gav

A quick search turned up the following for blue and white;

3rd Cavalry
Blue koorta with scarlet facings
Dark Blue turban
Red sash
Yellow trousers
Blue over white lance pennon

This dates from british India 1857 records so not likely for mine....

Hi David,
After hours of 'excavations' here in the bookmobile, Ive plowed through everything I could find on British lances. Found the article I was looking for "The British Lance" by J.D. Chown (Canadian Journal of Arms Collecting, Vol.7 #3, 1974, pp.97-102) but lacks detail, simply specs on patterns. More date found in "Sword, Lance and Bayonet" C.Ffoulkes & E.C.Hopkinson 1938 (repr. 1967). Apparantly earlier lances had langets with attachment screws on both head and foot (butt) intil the 1868 pattern (like yours) where these were affixed with shellac to the shaft (Ffoulkes & Hopkinson p.106).

The 1868 pattern apparantly also called for a male bamboo shaft, which was sometimes difficult to obtain to meet standards with some cases of returning to ash shafts. The M1868 remained the same into later years, but in 1885 the shafts were ash and that became the pattern officially, with the furniture basically the same. This brings in some confusion as we know ash was sometimes substituted on the M1868, while the 1885 was strictly ash.
An experimental pattern in 1895 has long head socket and three slotted holes to affix pennon, but did not become officially adopted in British units. I have seen these however on Indian units' lances from WWI.

The markings are interesting and I think the 'TP' markings possibly have to do with sizes in the sockets for adapting to variations in the bamboo size, there were apparantly 7 head sizes and 4 shoe sizes. I thought there might be possibility that the 'T' was poorly stamped 'I' which would suggest India pattern, but that seems unlikely as the shoes are clearly not that, and the 'E' markings to me of course suggest Enfield Small Arms Factory. The crown and the number '73' (probably year of production) also strongly take away from the India possibility.

While there are no issue marks to regiment, it would seem if 1873 is the production or assembly year, these could have been at least of the type used by the 17th lancers who were sent to South Africa in 1880. They arrived to the area of Rorkes Drift around May, 1880 and on July 4, 1880 near White Umvolosi River near Royal Kraal at Ulundi they charged Zulu warriors at the battle called Ulundi.
In the 2nd Boer War (1899-1902) the 16th lancers were with Lord Roberts at Praetoria and are seen with these type lances in photos. The lance was used by British line regiments in combat was by the 5th lancers at Elandslaagle in South Africa at beginning of 2nd Boer War.

While the lance was officially abolished in 1903 it was somehow reinstated in 1909 until 1927. The lance was used effectively by Indian cavalry regiments in various campaigns and in Palestine in WWI, as well as by British units at Moy (28Aug1914) and Marne (Sept.1914).

The lance is still used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in their drill performances, and I will never forget seeing one of those some years ago.

I will also never forget when I got my first pair of lances many years ago. I had won them in an overseas auction and when called by customs in Los Angeles to notify me of thier arrival I was so excited I roared off to the airport some 55 miles away without thinking of logistics. I was driving a 1969 Corvette with T tops, so of course these 9 ft.lances were sticking into the air as I 'charged' down the 405 freeway!!! I got the attention of the Highway Patrol as the bewildered officer could not resist asking what these 'spears' were doing sticking out of my car. Luckily he had a sense of humor and off I went :)

Anyway, I think yours are pattern 1868 as noted, the 73 production year most likely at Enfield, could well have gone to South Africa in either of the instances mentioned or both, but unclear on absence of regimental marks.
Whatever the case....extremely nice!!!!!!

All the best,
Jim

Just saw this, excellent work there Gav!!! As far as Ive known British units even native cavalry used red and white pennons, except 3rd Bengal Lancers which used blue and yellow in later years of 19th century.

Any pics of your lances?

All the best,
Jim

Thanks Jim. Unfortunately they are in storage until the end of Feb at latest but I'll bring them to the table then.

Gav

Thank you for all the replies and the congrats Rick ;)

Gav :) , I would also like to see pictures of your lances when they are 'available' :) I never knew that there were blue/white pennants in the British Army....I thought all were red and white

Jim :) ,
thank you for the back ground ...... the vision of you in 'jousting mode' on a freeway is now stuck in my head ......I do hope you were sporting your pith helmet to complete the 'ensemble' ...... :D as some of the pictures show below......

These lances were used in many conflicts in Africa ....as well as India. The Madhist uprising also saw the Lancers put to use. As far as I can tell the Lancers at the tail end of the 19th C were rarely used in European conflicts perhaps, due to the effectiveness of long range firearms....but in colonial engagements they continued to flourish.

Kind Regards David

A few pics gleamed from the web......

Really neat images David, I wasn't familiar with the use of the lancers in the colonies. Of course congratulations are in order for the lances as well! Really fine looking pieces and amazing to get them intact with the straps.

Fascinating subject, please keep posting more info guys. :)

Great pics David! and I actually did have a pith helmet but wasnt wearing it that day in the vette:) I recall my wife once retorting as I wanted to watch 'Gunga Din' for the zillionth time, "OK, but this time dont wear the helmet, you're scaring the cats!" :)

I think one of the biggest confusions in lances are the ever present 'pig sticking' or 'tent pegging' lances which were heavily in use during the Raj.
These are typically shorter and have a heavy lead weight as the shoe. The head is different as well. These examples seem far more common and often misperceived as they are very close to the combat lances in appearance, especially those without the weighted shoe. I recall getting a pair of these back then and having no idea what the heck was up with the huge lead ball at the base.

While the lance was used in numerous colonial situations, it seems it was frowned upon in many cases not only from the standpoint of the advent of repeating firearms, but that it was cumbersome and somewhat dangerous in close quarters combat and melee. The longest standing use seems to have been with the native cavalry regiments from India, the fabled 'Bengal Lancers', who continued use well through the 1930s. I have mentioned before my great visit with Brigadier Francis Ingall (author of "Last of the Bengal Lancers") before his passing in 1992, and his great tales of one of the last cavalry charges on the plains in Khyber Agency in the 1930s.

In research on the lance many years ago I learned that at least one cavalry regiment in Pennsylvania was outfitted as a lancer regiment (I think it was Rush's lancers) in the Civil War period. I cannot recall finding these ever being used in combat, and mostly it sounds like a pretty unfortunate outcome with this experimental situation. As poorly trained as cavalry was with the sword, I can imagine how the lance must have fared. I just thought it an interesting note as we review some lance history.

I had a couple of books written by a Polish lancer in WWI, and in WWI the German uhlans used a fully metal lance of over 10 feet long. The Polish lancers in Napoleons service were quite the inspiration for lancer units in Europe. I recall reading these were much feared and despised as death from these lance wounds was particularly gruesome, and when captured the lancers were seldom given quarter and killed on the spot.

Gav, thanks very much for more on your lances, and I still hope to find something somewhere on the color pairing on lance pennons. Trying to recall work I did on this topic (around three decades ago :) it seems there were of course colors to various countries, I think Germany was black & white, and so on. The blue and yellow for 3rd Bengal Lancers was it seems the single variationin among British cavalry.
In South Africa there were however native regimental contingents much as in India such as Natal Mounted Rifles if I recall correctly, but unsure whether any might have been outfitted as lancers. Perhaps some look into material on the two Boer wars might reveal units which might have that prospective.

Thanks very much guys for sharing these, and the boost down memory lane in my case! :)

All the best,
Jim

Some of the Lancer 'actions' in Africa late 19thC....

The 17th....

".........In India, the 17th became the 17th Regiment of Lancers. When, in 1876, it gained Prince George, Duke of Cambridge as its Colonel-in-Chief, the regiment adopted the title of the 17th (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers.

The 17th was sent to Natal Colony for the Zulu War. On 4 July 1879, the 17th fought at the Battle of Ulundi under Sir Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe. The 17th was posted inside a large British infantry square during the attack by the Zulu Army, which had surrounded the British. When the attack appeared to be wavering, the 17th Lancers were ordered to advance. Their charge routed the warriors with heavy loss. The battle proved to be decisive. The 17th returned to India the same year, remaining there until about 1890 when they returned home........"

The 5th Royal Irish...

"....A small detachment was sent to serve with the Heavy Camel Corps during the Egyptian Campaign, where they suffered some casualties at Abu Klea. It was also here that Private G. H. Austin was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery under fire.
Also at this time they provided two squadrons of cavalry for the Gordon Relief Force, along with the 20th hussars and 9th Bengal Cavalry. It was here while fighting Osman Dinga that they saw action at Suakin on the Red Sea, Hasheen and Tamai. It was during the actions at Suakin where a full charge with lances routed the opposing Dervishes that the regiment was awarded the battle honour "Suakin 1885". The two squadrons were awarded the Egyptian Medal with clasps "Suakin 1885" and "Toftek"......"

12th (Prince of Wales's Royal ) Lancers (Battle honours)

"... Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, Punniar, Sobraon, Chillianwallah, Goojerat, Punjaub, South Africa 1851-53, Sevastopol, Delhi 1857, Lucknow, Central India, Charasiah, Kabul 1878, Kandahar 1880, Afghanistan 1878-80, Modder River, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, South Africa 1899-1902....."

Battle of Omdurman....

".....The British light cavalry regiment, the 21st Lancers, was sent ahead to clear the plain to Omdurman. They had a tough time of it. The 400-strong regiment attacked what they thought were only a few hundred dervishes, but in fact there were 2,500 infantry hidden behind them in a depression. After a fierce clash the Lancers drove them back (resulting in three Victoria Crosses being awarded)....."

Hi Jim,
yes I remembered you had one :) ....also, wasn't there something about a tulwar, a ceiling fan and a lot of Drambuie :D :eek: :cool:

All the best
David

JUDL!!!
Thanks David, you remembered my Drambuie story :)
Outstanding detail on the unit participations of these regiments, and really gives great perspective on the many places these types of lances might have seen action. Careful, or you will end up a crazed, obsessive researcher rolling around in a Winnebago like me :) I am writing now amid sheaves of scribbled notes and books in the bookmobile.

Im not sure of the provenance on these lances of yours from Stefan (Ashoka) but if they are indeed from Africa, as the group from Gav is, perhaps I may have some interesting findings.
The unusual color pennon on one of Gavs lances prompted me to loom further into native regiments which might have equipped with lances, and found that there were Australian regiments of cavalry there during Boer Wars as well. Actually, these ANZAC units are probably some of the most colorful representations of cavalry during these times.

In Australia in 1885 a volunteer cavalry regiment which ultimately became the New South Wales Lancers was formed, originally known as the Hunter River cavalry regiment. From some of the data on the NSW lancers online, it appears that they were appointed officially as lancers in 1894. In 1897 some squadrons were sent to participate in Queen Victorias jubilee event.
They were posted as well to South Africa, and are noted to have fought with lances in numerous engagements 1899-1902 in the 2nd Boer War.

While this probably does not address the variant colored pennon in Gavs group, as I believe Australian units also had the British red and white, it does seem to show admittedly tenuous connection to the dates you note from your lances.

All the best,
Jim

My city, Haifa, was captured from the Ottoman turks at the end of WWI, 23th September 1918, by the 16th Indian cavalry brigade, Jodhpur & Mysore lancers. 1st photo is a very famous one, showing the Indian lancers as they march into Haifa via Jaffa Road, on that very day. 2nd photo shows Indian lancers somewhere else at the end of WWI - watch the cheering crowd - I think this is Tel-Aviv. 3rd photo shows British lancers on ceremonial guard in Haifa, probably 1920's. Last photo shows 2008 Australian lancers during the declaration of the Australian cavalry Park in Beersheba, captured from the Ottomans by ANZAC cavalry on 31st October, 1917.

Absolutely fantastic photos and info!!! Thank you for adding these, which add perfect dimension to our discussion on these :)

All the best,
Jim

Hi Broadaxe :) ,
thanks for the great images and info.


It seems that during the Victorian era there were only 4 lancer regiments ...

The 5th Royal Irish
The 12th (Prince of Wales's Royal )
The 17th
The 21st

All saw action in Africa ....and most of these units saw action in India.

As most of the armoury markings etc are quite rubbed ...I will have to try and decipher those that are legible. I do not think the T.P is a badly struck I.P (India Pattern) however, if this is the case...I have read that consignments of British manufactured lances were sent to India for the use of the British Units, that seem to have been later marked I.P . (The 'standard' Indian Pattern butt has a larger ball/doughnut that is different to the British )

The male bamboo shaft was also considered superior to the Ash shafts ....and Ash was only used with the 1868 pattern if there was a shortage of suitable bamboo.

So its out with the magnifying glass.....

Regards David

As best as I can make out, the markings on the lances are..

LANCE 1



SHAFT


E (approx 5mm high)

crown
75
E

crown
71
E

BUTT

crown
06
E

crown
K (?)

05 (approx 5mm) 90 (approx 5mm)

4 (perhaps size number)

POINT

T.P. (approx 5mm )

'3'

crown
71
E

crown (possibly, badly rubbed)
14


LANCE 2


SHAFT


crown
75
E


crown
73
E

17 (17th Lancers ??)

BUTT too much patination to see any markings


POINT

T.P.

??? ' 27

??? could be SRN or SQN :shrug:



Any suggestions as to the possible meanings of some of the markings gratefully received.....as is any other comments or information

Kind Regards David

I recently contact the Lancer Museum requesting information on the various markings and they have kindly replied :cool:

"....... Thank you for your email. It seems to us that the '17' is a Regimental mark and would refer to the 17th Lancers. The small letters could be SQN and
refer to Squadron. '05' & '90' could be dates when repairs were undertaken.
'T.P.' could be TP for Troop and would be with a letter such as 'A' or 'B',
etc. ....."


Link to 17th Lancers ....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Lancers

It would seem that these Lances may have seen / been at several historical battles :cool: :cool:

Best
David

Hi there .. I hate to ruin the theory of the number between the Crown & E as being the date , but it is not. It is the Enfield Inspectors number . Each Inspector at Enfield had a personal number and when he was satisfied as to the serviceability of of piece of equipment , his number the plus crown & E ( for Enfield ) was stamped on it. It is possible to identify the names of the individual inspectors provided one has a date of manufacture of the item . British weapons of this period were always dated in the following fashion : '6/79' for June 1879 for example. Enfield Inspectors also checked equipment made by private contractors & forign manufacturers for Service use and indeed if the output was large enough would actually be based at the factory ... in this case although the Inspectors number would remain the same there would be no 'E' .. instead there would be another designated code letter for the factory eg 'B' BSA , 'X' London Small Arms, 'S' Solingen , 'L' Liege etc
Hope this helps .

Thanks Richmond,
no other clear markings are legible :( . However the fact that the "17" could indeed signify the 17th Lancers is :cool: It seems that conclusive dates are going to be difficult.

Kind Regards David

PS sorry for the late reply.

Hi David.. a really useful book to have re such markings is 'THE BROAD ARROW' by Ian Skennerton .. it deals comprehensively with markings on weapons from Britain & the Commonwealth .

Hi Richmond,
thank you for the suggestion. Would you know if each inspector had his own 'number' specific to each individual person .....that was subsequently not used by anyone else ....ever.
I'm just wondering whether some sort of dating could be discovered by checking inspector marks to their dates of employment ....obviously if the 'mark number' is 'transferrable' then it would be likely that several inspectors would have the same number and would make this more problematic.

Best
David

Hi David,
Here is another couple of lances for comparison. Total length 109 inches the central ferrule marked 14 B.L. presumably for the 14th Bengal Lancers.
Regards,
Norman.

Hi David
Yes the no. was assigned to a particular inspector, but sadly only for the duration of his employment .. it was then reissued to the new incumbent. So no help there I am afraid .
Richmond

Hi Norman :) ,
thanks for posting these......are they yours ? Interesting that they are 2-piece with a spigot/ferrule .....never seen this type before. Perhaps ceremonial as the 'joint' would generally be a weak point. The 'shoe' is a good example of the Indian Pattern. I do like the fact the pennans are attached.....may have to use a sewing machine :eek: and make up a couple for mine, only problem is that I am unsure as to the type of material used....probably the same as that used for flags and standards of the period.

Kind Regards David

Hi Richmond,
thanks for the clarification, a little disappointing when the wear, tear and age (read, rust pitting) has hidden the markings/clues I seek

Kind Regards David

Hi David,
Not mine I'm afraid, old auction catalogue but I thought they would be of interest. The male part of the joint looks to have a sprung retaining piece so that it locks into the other so might not be such a weak joint as first appears.
My Regards,
Norman.

Wow, I wish I had been browsing the European weapons forum a month ago when this thread was begun. Not that I would have been able to contribute much other than to share the following image(s) following an encounter I had with a close friend of the late CO who commanded of the 6th Bengal Lancers during their last charge, against Red Shirts and Afridis near the Khyber Pass in or around 1929-1930.

In addition to my temporary possession of the Brigadier's sleeved cloak, cap, and boots, he loaned me the book written by said Brigadier, the cover of which depicts said charge... interesting to note the absence of pennants on the lances in the photo - were the pennants only attached during parades?

Hi Chris,
thanks for adding this :) facinating.

This recently was listed on eBay ..... would have loved to have got it ...but at that price :shrug:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1406977464...84.m1438.l2649

All the best
David

Hi David,

My pleasure! :) And while I consulted with the Professor extensively on both the suite of items and the gentleman to whom they originally belonged, I just realized something of note:

While the artwork for the book cover illustrates the aforementioned charge in '29/'30, the lances shown have bamboo shafts...

Which raises the question about the continued use of older patterns in colonial regiments long after the migration to ash shafts as per Jim's research. :shrug:

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris,
I believe regulations in the 'colonies' tended to be more relaxed and , probably even more so for the native units.

As to the pennon, I believe they were attached to the lance during battle. One of its functions was to absorb blood .....preventing it running down the shaft and making it slippery :eek:

All the best
David

With that in mind, IMO they don't - nor did - pay the dhobis enough! ;)

Then again, my non-frosted side cringes at all the clothes I've had laundered in India over the years that over time the dhobis turned into the same, washed-out shade of grey... :rolleyes:

Cheers,

Chris

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

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! ;)

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 :D does not adequately show my face, as I was returning home after collecting them.

Kind Regards David

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

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

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

My guess is that they were deployed against poorly-armed and poorly-trained opponents for a reason. Why waste expensive ammunition and wear and tear of the firearms, when a lancer can pick as many running natives as he wishes?

I just bought a lot of three lances myself, haven't looked at them properly yet. This is a a useful thread.