myArmoury.com - Fort Ticonderoga sword collection

Posts: 36 Location: Lancaster, CA

Thu 29 Jul, 2004 7:34 pm

Fort Ticonderoga sword collection

Just thought I would share some of the pics I took of the nice sized sword collection at fort Ticonderoga.
Sorry the quality isn't the best on some of them, but I was photographing through glass. I didn't get much information while I was there, as it was a quick stop on the way to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont. (something wrong with the priorities here).

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basket hilt 2.jpg

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basket hilt 4.jpg

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baskethilt 1.jpg

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Basket hilts 3.jpg

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officer hilts.jpg

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Ken Demyen

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Posts: 36 Location: Lancaster, CA

Thu 29 Jul, 2004 7:37 pm

one more

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officer hilts 2.jpg

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Stephen A. Fisher

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Posts: 455 Location: Kentucky USA

Thu 29 Jul, 2004 9:48 pm

Thanks Ken!

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Jeff Larsen

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Posts: 300 Location: Chandler, AZ

Fri 30 Jul, 2004 7:04 am

Re: Swords at Fort Ticonderoga

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the pictures. I had wanted to get up there for their annual re-enactment several years ago (around 9-11), but was unable to. Love that part of history, French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War. :D

Thanks again,

Jeff :cool:

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Ken Demyen

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Posts: 36 Location: Lancaster, CA

Fri 30 Jul, 2004 8:07 am

Re: Swords at Fort Ticonderoga

Jeff Larsen wrote:

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the pictures. I had wanted to get up there for their annual re-enactment several years ago (around 9-11), but was unable to. Love that part of history, French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War. :D

Thanks again,

Jeff :cool:

I had a friend at the fort Ti reenactment in 2001, he ended up stuck in New York for about a week until flights were able to resume after 9/11.
I would have liked to have spent the entire day at the fort, but Ben & Jerry were calling to the wife.
I wish I had taken notes for the pics I took so I could have had more information. The first two baskethilt pics (with all the reflections from the glass) were in the Black Watch section. The sabres are listed as American officer swords, and were dated from the 1700s to about 1830-40. They have an excellent firearm and artillery collection too!

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E.B. Erickson

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Posts: 455 Location: Thailand

Sat 31 Jul, 2004 5:01 am

Hi Ken,
Great photos, and in one of them you may have a key to a puzzle that I've been trying to solve for a long time. Here's the puzzle: Mortuary swords were a very common English type in the mid 1600s, yet I've never seen one that was used in the colonies; every other type of English sword saw service over here, why not the Morts?

So in the 4th photo down ( the one with the 4 English swords), the top one is a Mortuary sword. Do all of the swords in Fort Ti have documented American colonial useage? Or are they just examples of swords that could have been used here?

Thanks in advance! --ElJay

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Ken Demyen

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Posts: 36 Location: Lancaster, CA

Sat 31 Jul, 2004 7:34 am

E.B. Erickson wrote:

Hi Ken,
Great photos, and in one of them you may have a key to a puzzle that I've been trying to solve for a long time. Here's the puzzle: Mortuary swords were a very common English type in the mid 1600s, yet I've never seen one that was used in the colonies; every other type of English sword saw service over here, why not the Morts?

So in the 4th photo down ( the one with the 4 English swords), the top one is a Mortuary sword. Do all of the swords in Fort Ti have documented American colonial useage? Or are they just examples of swords that could have been used here?

Thanks in advance! --ElJay

The date on the reference card calls it a 'Horseman's sabre' and appears to show the date of Ca. 1650-1700? can't tell for sure on the date ( I tried to get the complete reference cards in the photos, but it looks like I failed).

I was told that the items in the different collections are examples of North American colonial period pieces, that cover the American, British, French, and Native American factions. I'm not sure if very piece has been documented as being used in the area during the colonial period. Here is a link to the Fort Ti collection, they might be able to give you more information:
>http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/collections/default.htm<

-Ken
I am still kicking myself for not spending more time at the fort!

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Horseman's Sabre Ca. 1650?-1700?

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E.B. Erickson

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Posts: 455 Location: Thailand

Sun 01 Aug, 2004 7:19 am

Hi Again Ken,
Thanks for the additional info! Right after I posted yesterday, I went to Google and foung the Fort's website. In it they gave the email for the curator of the collections, so I'll drop him a line and see what turns up.

--ElJay

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Scott Bubar

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Posts: 120 Location: New England

Sun 01 Aug, 2004 12:19 pm

E.B. Erickson wrote:

Hi Again Ken,
Thanks for the additional info! Right after I posted testerday, I went to Google and foung the Fort's website. In it they gave the email for the curator of the collections, so I'll drop him a line and see what turns up.

--ElJay

Please let us know what he says, Eljay, you've got me curious too.

I was up there a few years ago with my son. It's a small, but very nice, collection.

The reconstructed fort and it's site are beautiful.

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