Montmorency blade in late 18th c. British military swords

[Jim McDougall]

In a concurrent thread a British fighting saber with brass hilt and fluted ebony grip was brought up. This is identical to one I have by Wooley& Deakin, generally presumed as partners from 1801-1803 (some research somewhat expands this). Another by the same partners is known, along with one shown by Wilkinson by Durs Egg.

A key element in the James Wooley (Birmingham) examples is the use of the blade in the 'montmorency' type cross section. This seems to have originated in France in earlier in the 18th c. but seems to have been obscure until about 1780s.

Its primary advantage is the hollowed faces (pan creux)were of course great for lighter blade, but only the single stiffened edge for support. The montmorency added an extra back fuller, for notably more strengthened support. During the Revolutionary years there seems to have been some crude wartime production which advanced, and it seems that there was a regiment of chausseurs who had these (may have been 2nd?) around 1799.

This unit may have been titled 'Montmorency'? but as yet no details, nor whether perhaps the lame a' la montmorency took its name from them. There were notables in France earlier in the century by that name but nothing suggesting any particular maker of blades might have created this novel idea for a single edged blade.

The production of blades about the time of the outbreak was 1789, and advanced into the years IX and XI (1801-1803) with this cross section becoming even more popular by 1820s patterns of military sabers.

The conundrum is this. James Wooley of Birmingham was producing swords in the 1780s, and in his examples of the M1788 light cavalry saber compared to those of the notable Thomas Wooley showed his favor of French affinities in his hilt form (Gills favored German) .

More importantly in our case of discussion, his M1788 had the 'montmorency' blade, and while yet uncertain it seems some of the long British dragoon straight swords had blades of this section as well. I do not recall if they were by Wooley.

Then we come to the interesting fighting sabers by Wooley (&Deakin) which again reflect Wooley's affinity for French style, the fluted ebony grips and of course, again, Montmorency blades. These do not seem to be 'one off' though not a 'pattern', but must have had a reasonable run for naval officers. It is well known that stirrup hilt 'fighting swords' were popular in naval context in this early 19th c period.

So my questions are"

WHY are they termed montmorency? were they designed by someone with that name? when?

Why was James Wooley so aligned with French designs etc. ?

Were there indeed earlier (1770s) straight blade cavalry swords with this section on blades? were any by Wooley?

Could the term montmorency derive from the unit of chausseurs in France?
Certainly that could be the case as colloquialisms do tend to come from such associations.
Likely the blade form was in use long before Wooley used them etc. and perhaps some other more technical term used?

These are my quandaries on this dilemma, and while my search goes on, I'd sure appreciate some other input. Thanks guys.

Left : the 1800 fighting saber

rt: the Wooley M1788