Fascinating topic, and great post Brian! Why the particular interest in Davout? It would be interesting to know more on this Marshal, and indeed on the type of swords he might have used.
I think Manuel has posted well placed comments and illustrations in the type sabres common to high ranking officers in this period. After campaigns in Egypt, many of the French, and for that matter British, officers sought to have sabres of the type seen in use by the Mamluk warriors. The sabre itself was of course well established with light cavalry by this period, and these neoclassic style motifs were common, as well as certain elements of the Islamic sabres. The elliptical shaped langets are characteristically French.
I think that describing the surreal events in combat and warfare typically elude the limitations of most vocabularies, and the word fear falls incredibly out of dimension. I think that those individuals involved in such events as these battles would likely experience every emotion, and incomprehensible image psychologically possible to the human mind.
One of the best books I have found with great perspective is "The Face of Battle" by the late John Keegan, whose description of such perceptions in combat at Waterloo and others is remarkable.
All best regards,
Jim
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