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Old 13th October 2019, 06:08 PM   #9
Jim McDougall
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
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Victrix thank you so much for reviving this thread from 2010 on the armories of the Castel sant Angelo, and for sharing these amazing photos. It must have been an amazing experience!
Fernando, thank you for sharing your photos as well.

What prompted me to post this in 2010 was continued research on a well worn British M1796 light cavalry saber (by Thomas Bate, Birmingham) which I got in about 1977. It had the unusual markings CsA 4 43 on the langet, there was no scabbard, and the blade had a clearly deliberate notching at the tip.

As I was writing at article on this which was published in Stockholm (2008), I had included the many theories on these curious markings which had been entertained over the years. Initially of course, it was thought these might be Confederate regimental marks, however extensive research revealed that units did not mark their weapons (with few exceptions such as Virginia cavalry).

I also thought perhaps that this sword might have entered the Spanish colonial sphere, as it is well known that the Mexican army was largely supplied with British arms. However the style of these markings in no way matched, even tenuously, with Carlos IV weapons.

As these possibilities were extinguished, an idea was suggested by Richard Dellar ("British Cavalry Swords 1798-1912: Some New Perspectives", 2013).
In the 19th c. campaigns for the unification of Italy, the autonomy of the Vatican was threatened, and Catholic volunteers from many countries came to join forces for the Pope. There were of course some cavalry, and it is well known that these British M1796 sabers had been widely distributed as surplus when the pattern discontinued in 1822.

His idea was that these markings could 'possibly' have represented the Castel san Angelo (CsA) and the 4 and 43 possibly unit and rack numbers. It was a not only compelling but remarkably plausible suggestion, and presented by an author whose knowledge on British cavalry swords is brilliant.

Though of course remaining unproven despite this convincing plausibility, I continue the case as 'open', and hope others out there might have comments, observations and perhaps other evidence.
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