View Single Post
Old 18th February 2013, 04:45 PM   #13
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
Jim McDougall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,753
Default

I think that the DE dragoon type blades are the result of trade blade or supply 'availability' rather than a specifically designed dynamic for these weapons. That was very much the case with three bar 'sabre' type hilts mounted with 'broadsword' blades in Mexico around the 1820s and possibly somewhat earlier. The 'dragoon' blades had been coming in from Spain since the 1770s, many if not most often had the 'draw me not without reason......' motto, and these DE blades were often reused.
Many of these blades saw many refurbishings, were actually found in some swords during the Revolutionary War' , and more often occurred in Mexican officers swords during the American war with Mexico (1846). These type blades in variation of course, turned up yet again during the Civil War, in this case often with Confederate officers who had acquired them presumably during the Mexican War (Custer acquired one allegedly from one of these officers).

The 'rounded tip' on blades is a feature favored for slashing cuts, seen on broadswords of Tuareg etc. in North Africa, and had been used earlier on sabre blades in many cases in Europe. As mentioned, these DE blades show up on the Moroccan sabres known as nimchas, and I recall often being surprised to see a 'broadsword' blade on what is ostensibly thought of as a SE sabre. This was simply because the blades were 'available' through trade.
Jim McDougall is offline   Reply With Quote