Imported British sword in Franco Prussian war 1870-1871 -- myArmoury.com

Fred Lamb

Hello , I'm french and my interrest is in Franco Prussian war of 1870 and i'm looking for informations about imported swords for the French army . Could you help me to identify thoses British swords on those two pictures .Thank you very much for your help .

Photobucket image

Glen A Cleeton · Posted: Sun 14 Apr, 2013 8:36 am Post subject:

Welcome aboard Fred

Tags can be tricky

NIce images and I am sure some of the British sword scholars might have some thoughts.

Cheers

GC

Jonathan Hopkins · Posted: Sun 14 Apr, 2013 4:35 pm Post subject:

Fred,
Without better detail it is hard to positively identify the sword in the first photo. It could be be (or be based on) the British Pattern 1821 Heavy Cavalry Officer's Sword, or it could be more like a Pattern 1857 Royal Engineers Officer's Sword or non-regulation steel Scroll Hilt. The second sword is a British Pattern 1821 Light Cavalry Officer's Sword (the Royal Artillery also used this pattern from 1845. Both swords would likely have the Pattern 1845 blade, sometimes called a "Wilkinson" type blade since the maker re-introduced the use of a fullered blade after 24 years of pipe-back blades.

I was not aware of British swords being used in France during the Franco-Prussian War. Thanks for pointing this out!

Jonathan

Jonathan Hopkins · Posted: Sun 14 Apr, 2013 4:50 pm Post subject:

Looking at the first sword again, the guard does not appear to have any piercings at all. It could be a variant of the British Pattern 1864 Trooper's Sword, but made for an officer. Check out the sword with the smaller hilt:

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.p...864+indian

Fred Lamb · Posted: Mon 15 Apr, 2013 4:26 am Post subject:

Hi Jonathan , for the first picture , i was thinking of a British pattern 1821 Heavy cavalry for the troups ( not officer ) , as you said there is no piercing and I think this sword was no more used in British army , That's why France could buy those swords .

We also bought the American civil war rifles no more in use in US Army .

Thank you very much for the informations , Fred .

Jonathan Hopkins · Posted: Mon 15 Apr, 2013 6:10 am Post subject:

Fred,
Yes an 1821 Trooper's Sword is another possibility. If so, than it would be upgraded as troopers' swords did not have wire on the grips.

Jonathan

Jonathan Hopkins · Posted: Mon 15 Apr, 2013 10:11 am Post subject:

Fred Lamb · Posted: Mon 15 Apr, 2013 11:58 am Post subject:

Yes , nice sword . I was looking for a Bristish sword because French swords are very expensive but I can see that English swords are also expensive . I'm making a little theme about Franco Prussian war because I get a Spencer rifle last week , Rifle found in France and used in Franco Prussian war .

Thank you very much , Fred .

Jonathan Hopkins · Posted: Mon 15 Apr, 2013 12:19 pm Post subject:

P1821 Light Cavalry / Royal Artillery Swords should be less expensive than the variant pattern I linked above. You should be able to find something decent in the $400-$600 range.