Hi Richard,
Thank you so much for the individually and detailed responses! Very much appreciated. It seems too often that responses are keyed to a single thought or idea from a particular post while those of others get overlooked, and here you took the time to address all specifically.
Good point (no pun intended
on the Burton perspective concerning his disregard for Indian swordsmanship and the absence of use of the thrust.
On the quality of the British blades, you're right, it seems as industrialization and mass producing advanced, the quality became worse. The battle on the quality of British blades vs. German of course prevailed from the 17th century well through the 19th. The British blades of c. 1796 were certainly of high quality, and the old light cavalry blades were initially quite deadly ( as observed by Napoleon and his marshals at Waterloo) while in later years thier servicability deteriorated from improper maintainance. Later it was discovered by the British when examining the blades taken from Indian warriors, that the razor honing of the blades was key, as well as regular oiling and wooden scabbards. There is less shock to a blade if it meets solid opposition by slicing through it (at least thats my physics perspective!
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Thanks again!
All the best,
Jim