Lt Col. John Gaspard Le Marchant

Richard · 31st January 2010, 01:01 PM

Jim and Ian,

Most of the P1796 light cavalry swords I have seen have a blade of around 32½ in. but they do vary between 31 and 33½ in. Anything less than 31 in and I would start to question whether it was cavalry or not. Le Marchant's sword was difficult to measure of course because I couldn't take it out of the case.

In answer to the other questions :

Ian, no I dont think Le Merchant carried this at Salamanca. Apart from the fact that he was heavy cavalry and this is a light cavalry sword, I think this is very much a presentation sword, i.e. a gift of thanks, not meant for campaign use. The sword remains in the possession of the Le Marchant family. When I was invited to see it a few years ago, I thought I was going to see the original prototype, i.e. P1796 No. 1 - can you imagine how exciting that would have been? In fact, it turned out to be this presentation sword but still pretty exciting nonetheless

Celtan - The P1796 blade with its high curvature and thickening towrds the point was an entirely new design, based if anything on eastern sabres. In fact, it was referred to as the "new cavalry scimitar" when it was first being produced. The Prussians, of course, copied the design for their M1811 cavalry sabre (the so-called Blucher sabre)

Richard

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31st January 2010, 01:01 PM	#8
Richard Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Aquae Sulis, UK Posts: 46	Jim and Ian, Most of the P1796 light cavalry swords I have seen have a blade of around 32½ in. but they do vary between 31 and 33½ in. Anything less than 31 in and I would start to question whether it was cavalry or not. Le Marchant's sword was difficult to measure of course because I couldn't take it out of the case. In answer to the other questions : Ian, no I dont think Le Merchant carried this at Salamanca. Apart from the fact that he was heavy cavalry and this is a light cavalry sword, I think this is very much a presentation sword, i.e. a gift of thanks, not meant for campaign use. The sword remains in the possession of the Le Marchant family. When I was invited to see it a few years ago, I thought I was going to see the original prototype, i.e. P1796 No. 1 - can you imagine how exciting that would have been? In fact, it turned out to be this presentation sword but still pretty exciting nonetheless Celtan - The P1796 blade with its high curvature and thickening towrds the point was an entirely new design, based if anything on eastern sabres. In fact, it was referred to as the "new cavalry scimitar" when it was first being produced. The Prussians, of course, copied the design for their M1811 cavalry sabre (the so-called Blucher sabre) Richard