1780's Brit/Irish/American? cavalry sword

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Will M

Thanks very much for the replies. I was hoping the name would shed some light on the sword, but to no avail.
It is marked A/57 which appears to me as a British system of marking, possibly carried on by Americans at this time?
I was hoping to find another somewhere but nothing has surfaced.
I can't help but think an identical sword is sitting in a museum or collection that I may never find.
As someone pointed out before the sword has been sharpened and maintained sharp. It still holds a cutting edge with a once over could be a razor.
Could have been the sword of a famous cavalry regiment, can only surmise.

As mentioned, 'Americans' in these times were effectively British colonized in America. Naturally it is quite plausible that a system of marking weapons in accord with British ones is possible.It seems somewhat determined that these components are British and thus retained original markings and the scabbard throat may well have been as well. The leather on the grip seems remarkably fresh as if restored using wire wrap consistant with period.
Is it possible a new leather scabbard may have been sewn in period to the existing scabbard throat?

As for silversmiths refurbishing swords from components, it should be noted that Harold Peterson wrote a companion book to his "The American Sword" on American silver hilted swords. It would stand to reason that while they were focused on fashioned silvered hilts, they had access to many components and were known to have exchanged and acquired items such as pommels between vendors.
The production of ersatz weaponry in these times is well known as such industry was virtually in its infancy and established makers and armourers were quite limited.

It would be a considerable leap to align this sword with any particular unit, as while there are records of a number of organized regiments in the Continental Army, the numbers of independent groups is believed far more substantial and mostly not officially recorded. Naturally in many cases, despite the obviously historically known overt instances of rebellion, much was covert insurgency and purposely unrecorded.