Thanks, Jim, for your thoughts. I too had considered and dismissed 'Mounted Dragoons' for the same reasons, but I suppose a bit of tautology is not beyond the military mind and the sequence of elements (regiment-company/troop-rack number) would fit. As you say, an officer's sword would not be so marked so we could assume that a quality sword from c.1730 had come into the hands of a common soldier in a militia/fencible regiment (perhaps by inheritance) by 1780-90s. Interesting to ponder these things.
Neil
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