Hola Jim,
I know of one CSA general that actually sharpened the back of his M1840 to make it deadlier in his cavalry charges.
I considered the possibility of this one being French, but they were sticklers for marking their sword blades and hilts, and this one isn't.
It's obvious the strange marking doesn't lie in the traditional ricasso, but more coronal and off-center. With a loupe, you can also see close to the edge, one below each other, some tiny letters: F, I, A, then the number 25...
Heck, I can even see some relatively large letters (IR, IP?)in the left periphery of the seal .
Hmmm. What do you make out of it..?
Best
M
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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
Hi Manolo,
That definitely seems to be 'the old wristbreaker' the M1840 U.S. Cavalry sabre, and a very nice example! It does have a very unique appearance in comparison to the more familiar examples of course by Ames, and the quillon seems most unusual. While I dont have my copy of Peterson ("The American Sword") handy, and I only have a few notes, it does seem that when the original sword was proposed, to replace the M1833 produced by Ames, the originals did come from Solingen. The M1833 was an iron hilt comparable to the British M1821 light cavalry sabres, and the M1840 was in reference to the French cavalry sabres (I think 1822 pattern?) .
I have seen the M1840 with Walscheid stamps, and it seems that about 1000 of the 1840's were purchased from Schnitzler and Kirshbaum (marked S&K) but I am unclear on the date. There were apparantly difficulties in Ames production with the original contract, I think for 4000.
These were by the late 1840's being produced by a number of makers, who seem to have typically stamped thier name etc at the forte. Ames of course became the primary producer. I wonder if this might have been a 'blank' import which was mounted and not stamped. There is of course a remote, and I emphasize remote possibility, that this could even be a Confederate furbished blade. There were makers who supplied the same style to the Confederate forces, and the covert acquisition of munitions and arms to the South is of course the stuff of legend and height of hopefulness and ambition among collectors.
This is only presented as possible, not necessarily plausible...it might explain the complete absence of marking, which is extremely unusual.
On a sidenote, the reason these were called the 'wristbreaker' was, in my opinion, a colloquial term, applied most likely by troopers who only reluctantly were trained with the use of these. They were considered cumbersome and of little favor with the emphasis on firearms, which certainly would be the case with those who had little understanding of how to use them.
In medical accounts I have seen of the Civil War, it seems most wounds inflicted by sabres were blunt force trauma and bruises. These sabres were seldom kept servicable and maintained, most were seldom, if ever, sharpened.
A truly handsome sabre Manolo, and with this intriguing absence of markings, presents a host of possibilities.....which is the excitement of it all, as it brings out the 'Holmes' in all of us!!!
Thank you for sharing it,
All the best,
Jim
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