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Jim McDougall · 7th January 2014, 06:18 PM

Bandsmens swords? Now that is really interesting Richard! Can you please say more on what military etc. do you mean British or Portuguese? Can you please note what references might have this?

Its not that I am doubting this, but most of the band swords I have seen are of course the brass hilted short swords listed in the Robson books for British army swords. Some of these do have short sabre blades but certainly not these long ad dramatically curved blades.

As an aside pertaining to these dramatically parabolic blades, another instance of these are the examples made in America by the Virginia Manufactory of arms around 1808. These sabres had a slotted stirrup type hilt with a long deeply curved blade (40"). I often wondered why in the world these were so long and incredibly curved, but in retrospect I am thinking about the 'swagger' factor we have noted here. The state of Virginia is known for rather being its own 'country' in those early days, and the officers of their cavalry were known for flamboyance and 'swagger', one of them was of course 'Lighthorse Harry' Lee, father of Robert E. Lee.
In the Civil War, these sabres were apparently still in use or drawn out of stores, and the blades considerably shortened, presumably to render them more usable in combat.

7th January 2014, 06:18 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,731	Bandsmens swords? Now that is really interesting Richard! Can you please say more on what military etc. do you mean British or Portuguese? Can you please note what references might have this? Its not that I am doubting this, but most of the band swords I have seen are of course the brass hilted short swords listed in the Robson books for British army swords. Some of these do have short sabre blades but certainly not these long ad dramatically curved blades. As an aside pertaining to these dramatically parabolic blades, another instance of these are the examples made in America by the Virginia Manufactory of arms around 1808. These sabres had a slotted stirrup type hilt with a long deeply curved blade (40"). I often wondered why in the world these were so long and incredibly curved, but in retrospect I am thinking about the 'swagger' factor we have noted here. The state of Virginia is known for rather being its own 'country' in those early days, and the officers of their cavalry were known for flamboyance and 'swagger', one of them was of course 'Lighthorse Harry' Lee, father of Robert E. Lee. In the Civil War, these sabres were apparently still in use or drawn out of stores, and the blades considerably shortened, presumably to render them more usable in combat. Attached Images Last edited by Jim McDougall; 7th January 2014 at 07:10 PM.