[Jim McDougall]

For anyone interested in regulation military swords, in particular those of the British cavalry, one of the most fascinating and accurate books to date on these and historic events and persons using them has just been published by Richard Dellar:
"The British Cavalry Sword 1788-1912,

This volume, rather than being the usual rather dry typology and classification compendiums reads more like a fascinating historical story using actual weapons with key provenance to illustrate them.

On p.252, the instances I referred to concerning the M1796 light cavalry swords with presentation plaques on the scabbards are detailed thoroughly and there were several as noted. The first one surfaced in 1976 at a Wallis & Wallis auction (referred to as the 'Tucker' sword for the 17th Lancers private who was indeed in the Charge). Later another of the 17th Lancers and one to the 4th Hussars appeared . It is believed that these were possibly presented by the Balaclava Commemoration Society which first convened October 25,1875. It is noted that while the troopers were not armed with the 1796 sabres at the Charge, access to old stores of these were likely available at associated armouries and would have served well as such presentation swords. The engraved escutcheons on the scabbards only reference Balaklava and Oct 25 1854. On the Tucker sword the owners name is inscribed on it. It is puzzling on the 4th Hussar sword that it is marked 4H, and the hussar title was not in use until 1861, clearly indicating these marking were applied later than the charge.

Since Woodville did not begin to exhibit his artwork until 1879, with the Light Brigade and 17th Lancers works apparently sometime later, probably early 1880s, it is tempting to presume that perhaps these presentation swords might have influenced his illustrations as these commemorative events were in place.