NAM.1963-11-37-1

Pattern 1796 Heavy Cavalry trooper’s sword. Blade is straight, flat backed and double edged, with a single broad fuller and hatchet point; guard is a wrought iron or steel knucklebow broadened out at the base into a pear shaped reinforced disc pierced with holes; wooden grip bound with cord and covered with leather; the hatchet point and thick blade made this pattern useless as a thrusting sword and its lack of curvature reduced its efficiency when slashing; many swords of this type were ground down to form a spear point blade, traditionally before the battle of Waterloo; the long thin langets were also often removed and the sharp inner edge of the disc guard ground down to prevent it cutting into the wearers uniform.

Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)