Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant

Richard · 28th January 2010, 08:39 PM

Gentlemen
The name of Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant is well known to all collectors of British Military swords as being the designer, in collaboration with the sword cutler Henry Osborn, of the famed and well known British 1796 pattern cavalry swords. His death, leading the charge of heavy cavalry at Salamanca in 1812 robbed Wellington of his most able cavalry commander.

So, out of interest, I post below a photo Le Marchant's own sword which is today in the possession of his direct descendant Sir Francis Le Marchant. The sword was given to Le Marchant by a grateful Board of Ordnance. The blade is around 31 in. in length, the lower half with blue & gilt decoration of pre-1801 Royal arms, etc. and the top half is frost etched with the inscription : PRESENTED To LIEUT COL LE MARCHANT by the BOARD of ORDNANCE

Richard

PS, sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I lost the original when my computer was stolen in Switzerland and I have had to download this from another site I previously put it on

celtan · 28th January 2010, 10:14 PM

Sorry to hear about your computer. Big Headache, indeed.

I read somewhere that the M 1796 was based on previous blades used by german cavalry?

Best

M

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

Gentlemen
The name of Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant is well known to all collectors of British Military swords as being the designer, in collaboration with the sword cutler Henry Osborn, of the famed and well known British 1796 pattern cavalry swords. His death, leading the charge of heavy cavalry at Salamanca in 1812 robbed Wellington of his most able cavalry commander.

So, out of interest, I post below a photo Le Marchant's own sword which is today in the possession of his direct descendant Sir Francis Le Marchant. The sword was given to Le Marchant by a grateful Board of Ordnance. The blade is around 31 in. in length, the lower half with blue & gilt decoration of pre-1801 Royal arms, etc. and the top half is frost etched with the inscription : PRESENTED To LIEUT COL LE MARCHANT by the BOARD of ORDNANCE

Richard

PS, sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I lost the original when my computer was stolen in Switzerland and I have had to download this from another site I previously put it on

Jim McDougall · 28th January 2010, 11:41 PM

WOW! Absolutely fantastic, LeMarchant's sabre, now that really is amazing Richard. Thank you for posting it.

It truly is poignant that this brilliant officer died quite literally by the sword after his monumental contributions to the development of British regulation sword patterns. I think probably the best references to him, with some good information on his development of the M1796 swords is,
"Scientific Soldier: A Life of General LeMarchant 1766-1812"
R.H.Thoumaine, 1968

It seems that he was greatly influenced by his time serving with Austrian forces in Flanders in 1794-5, and thier professional use of the sword in combat. His observations for regulation patterns for the light cavalry sabre were with reference to Hungarian and Eastern sabres, which were of course indirectly including Austrian swords.

What has always puzzled me is that while the M1796 light cavalry sabre is typically officially recognized as the 'first' regulation British cavalry sword pattern, the M1788 was well established, and is the exact sabre used in the sword exercise drill manual.

The M1788 was very similar in its stirrup hilt to other European cavalry sabres and the blades as far as I can recall were in two or more cross sections. In my experience James Wooley seems to have favored the section which I believe was French and termed the montmorency as well as French style elliptical langets, while Thomas Gill seems to have favored German styling in the rectangular langets and 'hollow ground' cross section.

Richard, would you agree with those observations on the M1788?
Was the reference for the M1796 being the first regulation sword because it was 'officially' recognized in a specific military order?

Also, these M1796 sabres, despite being 'regulation' seem to have brought a wide spectrum of variations in the light cavalry sabres.
The Prosser sabres seem to have had a yelman like latch back blade tip; I have seen fully parabolic pipeback sabres that were almost shamshir like; and if I am not mistaken, one British officer (Ponsonby?) had one with a yataghan like blade!!!

I recall there have been attempts to put together articles with the variations of these light cavalry sabres, and wonder if anything comprehensive has been put together lately.

All best regards,
Jim

Ian Knight · 29th January 2010, 08:55 AM

Thank you for the photo Richard.
Did Le Marchant carry this actual sabre at the Battle of Salamanca?
Is the sword on display in a museum?
I note that the blade is about 31" in length making it 2" shorter than regulation.

Ian

Jim McDougall · 29th January 2010, 10:59 AM

I once had a M1796 light cavalry sabre with traces of bluing and inscribed motif on the blade, including the pre-1801 British coat of arms (with fluer de lis in upper right quadrant). It seems it was possibly even slightly shorter than the 31" described here. It was entirely unmarked as far as maker and was without scabbard.
I was always curious about this sabre as being rather on the short side, and wonder as well if there was a particular instance of the period for the size of the blade so much shorter than the typical cavalry length.

Ian Knight · 29th January 2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

I once had a M1796 light cavalry sabre with traces of bluing and inscribed motif on the blade, including the pre-1801 British coat of arms (with fluer de lis in upper right quadrant). It seems it was possibly even slightly shorter than the 31" described here. It was entirely unmarked as far as maker and was without scabbard.
I was always curious about this sabre as being rather on the short side, and wonder as well if there was a particular instance of the period for the size of the blade so much shorter than the typical cavalry length.

Hello Jim,
I have five British P1796 LC sabre in my collection at the moment. They all have 33" blades apart from one which is 32".
One of my sabres, made by Osborn (the same maker who made Le Marchant's sabre), has much of its blue & gilt remaining, it also has the pre-1801 coat of arms. The blade is 33".

Would they have made shorter sabres for Officers of a smaller stature I wonder?

Ian

28th January 2010, 08:39 PM	#1
Richard Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Aquae Sulis, UK Posts: 46	Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant Gentlemen The name of Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant is well known to all collectors of British Military swords as being the designer, in collaboration with the sword cutler Henry Osborn, of the famed and well known British 1796 pattern cavalry swords. His death, leading the charge of heavy cavalry at Salamanca in 1812 robbed Wellington of his most able cavalry commander. So, out of interest, I post below a photo Le Marchant's own sword which is today in the possession of his direct descendant Sir Francis Le Marchant. The sword was given to Le Marchant by a grateful Board of Ordnance. The blade is around 31 in. in length, the lower half with blue & gilt decoration of pre-1801 Royal arms, etc. and the top half is frost etched with the inscription : PRESENTED To LIEUT COL LE MARCHANT by the BOARD of ORDNANCE Richard PS, sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I lost the original when my computer was stolen in Switzerland and I have had to download this from another site I previously put it on Attached Images Last edited by Richard; 28th January 2010 at 08:50 PM.

28th January 2010, 11:41 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,928	WOW! Absolutely fantastic, LeMarchant's sabre, now that really is amazing Richard. Thank you for posting it. It truly is poignant that this brilliant officer died quite literally by the sword after his monumental contributions to the development of British regulation sword patterns. I think probably the best references to him, with some good information on his development of the M1796 swords is, "Scientific Soldier: A Life of General LeMarchant 1766-1812" R.H.Thoumaine, 1968 It seems that he was greatly influenced by his time serving with Austrian forces in Flanders in 1794-5, and thier professional use of the sword in combat. His observations for regulation patterns for the light cavalry sabre were with reference to Hungarian and Eastern sabres, which were of course indirectly including Austrian swords. What has always puzzled me is that while the M1796 light cavalry sabre is typically officially recognized as the 'first' regulation British cavalry sword pattern, the M1788 was well established, and is the exact sabre used in the sword exercise drill manual. The M1788 was very similar in its stirrup hilt to other European cavalry sabres and the blades as far as I can recall were in two or more cross sections. In my experience James Wooley seems to have favored the section which I believe was French and termed the montmorency as well as French style elliptical langets, while Thomas Gill seems to have favored German styling in the rectangular langets and 'hollow ground' cross section. Richard, would you agree with those observations on the M1788? Was the reference for the M1796 being the first regulation sword because it was 'officially' recognized in a specific military order? Also, these M1796 sabres, despite being 'regulation' seem to have brought a wide spectrum of variations in the light cavalry sabres. The Prosser sabres seem to have had a yelman like latch back blade tip; I have seen fully parabolic pipeback sabres that were almost shamshir like; and if I am not mistaken, one British officer (Ponsonby?) had one with a yataghan like blade!!! I recall there have been attempts to put together articles with the variations of these light cavalry sabres, and wonder if anything comprehensive has been put together lately. All best regards, Jim

29th January 2010, 08:55 AM	#4
Ian Knight Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: East Sussex, England. Posts: 103	Thank you for the photo Richard. Did Le Marchant carry this actual sabre at the Battle of Salamanca? Is the sword on display in a museum? I note that the blade is about 31" in length making it 2" shorter than regulation. Ian

29th January 2010, 10:59 AM	#5
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,928	I once had a M1796 light cavalry sabre with traces of bluing and inscribed motif on the blade, including the pre-1801 British coat of arms (with fluer de lis in upper right quadrant). It seems it was possibly even slightly shorter than the 31" described here. It was entirely unmarked as far as maker and was without scabbard. I was always curious about this sabre as being rather on the short side, and wonder as well if there was a particular instance of the period for the size of the blade so much shorter than the typical cavalry length.