Tulwar Vs sabre.

[Jim McDougall]

Hi William,
It's good to hear from you! Please note that I have not questioned the quality of British blades, only the proper use of them by British troopers, a thing not uncommon in other ranks of many armies in various circumstances.
While there were many debates, questions and scandals concerning British swords from the latter 18th through the end of the 19th centuries, it is commonly held that the British M1796 light cavalry sabre was the finest sword ever used by the British cavalry. Indeed it remained in use by yeomanry units throughout the 19th c. and in Indian regiments into the 20th.

I will share with you some excerpts on which I have based my comments.

British General Gaspard LeMarchant (1766-1812) was a brilliant cavalry officer who worked at advancing cavalry tactics and weapons, and was responsible for devising the M1796 sabre from his observations while detached on campaign in Flanders with Austrian forces in 1795. While there, he noted the brilliant swordsmansip of the Austrians, and regrettably noted that one Austrian officer had observed that while British swordplay was entertaining, he likened it to "somebody chopping wood".
("Scientific Soldier:A Life of General Le Marchant" , R.H.Thoumaine, 1968, p.41).

In "Swords of the British Army" (Brian Robson, London, 1975, p.34), it is noted that , "...the history of the British cavalry troopers sword in the 19th c. is largely one of complaints. How far these complaints genuinely arose from defects in the swords and how far they were due to deficiencies in the users is difficult to determine".
Further, "...there is however, evidence to suggest that the faults were not confined to the swords. Very often, the troopers were not well trained in the difficult art of mounted swordsmanship and
'little attention was paid to the care and sharpening of the swords".

In reviewing "British Cut and Thrust Weapons" (John Wilkinson-Latham,1971) on p.20, the author cites passages from Louis E.Nolan from his 1853 Treatise on cavalry, "Cavalry,Its History and Tactics", where it is noted,
"...at Rumnugger..the troopers of the light cavalry had no confidence in their swords. A regulation sword in his hand,
which must always be blunted by the steel scabbard in which it
is encased.
The native sword blades were chiefly old dragoon blades cast from our service..they all had an edge like a razor from heel to point, and were
worn in wooden scabbards".

Nolan made these observations in India in 1850, and it is interesting to note that he, like LeMarchant, approached all aspects of the cavalry with deep passion. Ironically both were killed in cavalry charges, LeMarchant at Salamanca in 1812 and Nolan at Balaklava in the immortal "Charge of the Light Brigade".

In "Nolan of Balaclava" (H.Moyse-Bartlett, London, 1971, p.121) the author describes Nolans observations concerning the terrifying effectiveness of the swords used by troopers of Nizams Irregular Horse against Rohilla tribesmen, where "...the swords turned out to be merely old blades discarded by British dragoons, cut to a razor edge and worn in wooden scabbards from which they were never drawn except in action".



Clearly, the blades did indeed have superior quality basically, however would not seem to have held in particularly high regard by the British troopers, if they were simply discarded. This may likely indicate that the men at this period and on campaign on India's frontiers had no special regard for swords because of more reliance on firearms with little consideration for the sword.

At the end of the 18th century, there were indeed wooden inserts in many of the M1788 sabres, in particular those by Gill, however it does not appear that wooden inserts were widely used in the subsequent issues of regulation swords for cavalry troopers. The concerns expressed by Nolan, noting the importance of wooden scabbards must have been considered in the ongoing struggle to improve the quality of British swords later in the 19th c. as seen in this excerpt from "Sword, Lance and Bayonet" , Ffoulkes & Hopkinson, 1938, p.22),
"...in considering convenience in use the scabbard must not be left out of consideration. Writing in 1869 Colonel Denison ("Modern Cavalry") urged the use of a wooden lining, as the sword edge coming in contact with the metal scabbard tended to become blunted, and he instances the universal use of the wooden scabbard by Oriental horsemen in support of his contention".

This would of course suggest that swords were typically sheathed in metal scabbards as late as 1869, although as you have noted, officers swords were often in leather covered wood cases. I have seen noted that later in the 19th c. swords sent to India were in wood scabbards that were covered there locally so as not to question the type of animal hide applied to cover it.

There can never be any question of the gallantry of the outstanding cavalry of Great Britain in these times, and my comments were not intended to question that in any way. In the years after the Napoleonic Wars there was a great deal of complacency in the military, and colonial campaigns were anything but ideal for parade ground discipline. The constant struggles in the neverending debate of cut vs. thrust typically negated any consistancy in sword design or exercise and certainly had profound bearing on the importance of the sword as a viable combat weapon with the growing emphasis on firearms as principle weapons.

I hope this will better explain my comments
All the best,
Jim

[katana]

Hi Jim,
excellent infomation (as usual )
It backs up what I have previously read about the British regulation pattern swords of the 19c. Complacency amongst the ranks, with regards sword care seemed common, as the reliance on firearms came to the fore. This complacency must have been created within the higher ranking officers whom should have enforced orders to ensure swords were 'fit for battle',..but didn't.
It was unfortunate that the effects of this poor maintenance was not acted upon. As the accounts you state, and Richard's references to 'Sahib' have shown, that the sword still had a useful function in warfare during that period.
It seems strange to me that officer scabbards were wood (a cheaper, more easily worked material) and the 'others' metal ( a more expensive solution...although more robust ) Personally, (obviously) wood would be my preference.
I also think that an 'oiled' blade may have a slightly enhanced cutting performance over a similar 'un-oiled' blade......at least while the lubricated blade surface remained (cuts through clothing, for instance, would wipe this coating off.)

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Katana,
Thanks very much !
There were dramatic improvements in firearms throughout the 19th century that focused attention toward these as principle weapons, especially repeating arms, while percussion caps and the use of cartridges had already paved the advance. The use of the sword became more of a stubbornly held tradition and a secondary weapon used when firearms failed, ammunition supply ran out or a position was overrun. In these times of change, there were of course those gallant individuals who maintained the importance of the sword in combat as primary. It is well known that many of the older generals strongly favored the sword above all, and the development of the British M1908 cavalry sword and American M1913 "Patton" sword illustrate the ongoing determination to design the ultimate cavalry sword.

Consider these statements;
"I consider that the sword has a great moral effect on both the man carrying it, and the enemy. One of the chief values of the sword is the spirit of progress it inspires in the carrier. He does not allow himself to be bluffed by slight opposition".
Brigadier General Wilson
3rd Australian Light Horse
Beersheba Palestine, October,1917

"The charge will always be, the thing in which it will be the cavalrymans pride to die....sword in hand".
"Cavalry Journal", 1909

The use of swords clearly remained profoundly favored by officers who were of course keenly driven by pride and adherence to military tradition, while troops in the rank and file did not necessarily have the same perspective. Even in the Civil War in the United States, it is well known that swords were constantly worn by troops on both sides, yet medical accounts of casualties revealed no significant number of sword inflicted wounds. Most of the instances of even those revealed only bruising or even broken bones from blunt force trauma, suggesting that the weapons were probably not sharpened or used improperly.

The use of oil on the blades seems well established in maintaining the servicability of sword blades, and this was emphatically noted by Nolan in India, as well as the use of wooden scabbards. As has been discussed many times here on the forum, the use of certain oils of varying botanical nature is prevalent with edged weapons in India and throughout that cultural sphere. We are learning more on the often religious and talismanic values in the application of these through outstanding references such as Robert Elgood's magnificent "Hindu Arms and Ritual", and it would seem that the use of such oils may have been observed in a simpler and practical sense by individuals from the west.

The wooden scabbards used in sheathing the swords carried by officers were of course designed structurally as support for the leather and varying types of covering used to enhance these typically more decorative swords. Most officers maintained a number of swords for varying occasions from the dress and parade swords to the combat weapons very similar to those of other ranks. Many of the officers swords used for actual combat were often referred to as 'fighting' swords and if I am not mistaken, these were most often sheathed in metal scabbards in the same manner as other ranks.

Thank you very much for responding, and giving me the chance to ramble on further on this topic, which remains fondly with me from my early collecting days which focused on British cavalry sabres. A nice trip down memory lane!!

All the best,
Jim

[Pukka Bundook]

Hi William,
In the book "Sahib" there are many first hand accounts of problems with dull swords, and those that broke, or bent "nearly double" on first strike, (Which may well indicate a badly executed cut!) but the point is, there does appear to have been a problem with quality at that time.
Re. your swords from this period being of very good quality, I am not surprized for two reasons:

1, Many would be of good quality, by no means would all be bad, and..

2, it is to be expected that more of the good ones will have survived than the bad ones!

I had an 1822 pattern with a lovely temper, but if it Had been a bad one, it may well have been dumped long ago....

All the very best,
Richard.

[Jim McDougall]

[QUOTE=Pukka Bundook]

I had an 1822 pattern with a lovely temper, but if it Had been a bad one, it may well have been dumped long ago....

Richard, according to the fantastic job you have done with the tulwar you just saved....I doubt it!!!

All the best,
Jim