@@scholagladiatoria: Hey Matt...could you direct me to your other videos pertaining to these two swords? I've looked around in your video list...but can't seem to find them...cheers!
I'm one of the 'some' that like a good clean up video on a sword, thus making me part of one of the smallest special interests groups on the planet. 'Bright & Enlightened not Dull & Sad' is our motto.
Huggin and Muninn , those pesky crows. Sometimes one or the other of them flies on broken wing. Sometimes people lie. How are we ever to get the (hi)story right?
Another interesting fact to the french 1822 sabre. The prussians captured a great number of those during the franco-prussian war and used the blades and scabbards for the Ulanensäbel M/73 (eng. lancers sabre model 73). These french bladed sabres stayed in prussian service until the mid 1890s.
They also used a large number of captured Chassepots and bayonets too. IIRC, The Prussians captured a fully stocked arsenal in Alsace at the start of the war.
I have two of the Ulanensaebeln M 1873. It took me a while to figure out why they had the French cursive etch on the top of the blade. The Refitted French scabbard was a clue as well, the Germans removed the rivets and installed the usual German screws. I do not know if they used the French wood strips over again, or made new ones.
Egypt also used this style of sword. Their late 19th century contracts for the pattern were fulfilled by Wilkinson. I think Mexico also used a sabre in the style of the M1822.
A video about light cavalry sabres used on foot could be interesting. I’ve read, looking up the US 1860, that in that conflict many infantry officers elected to use the government issued light cavalry sabre (based on the French 1822 of course) so they wouldn’t have to buy their sword out of pocket, and I’ve always wondered how good they were in that role.
Matt, I have suggestion on your videos. When referencing markings o the sword or scabbard, maybe taking a close-up "still" shot, and merge it into the video the way you do with "reference" artwork like "illuminations" that would eliminate the need for bringing the sword, scabbard, knife, dagger ect. in for a close-up and having the camera try to focus on it! Just a suggestion of course.
I have owned several 1860 Lt cav sabres. US Sabres and the French 1822 thrusts quite well. It is just curved enough to slash well and just straight enough to thrust well. Plus, a curved blade just is elegant and beautiful.
Your videos are very interesting but please stick to the topic you’ve advertised. You tend to go off on tangents every three minutes or so. I’m going to do x. This is related to y. So that half your video is infuriatingly not about the actual sword. I don’t mean to be harsh. But focus man. Focus.
My great grandfather served during the 1870 franco-prussian war. He owned this model as a secondary weapon in a "dragon" regiment (light cavalry and infantry combat). He later integrated the Guarde Republicaine and funny enough they still use this sabre to this day. We inherited the original sabre and restored it to its full glory.
Hey there, Mat. I very much enjoy your show. Only one sligth mishap in Minute 2.03: During the 1850es Russia did not invade the Crimea, it invaded Walachia, belonging to the Ottomans. That let to an Allied Army coming in to aid the turks, cause Britain and France hated the idea of Russia ruling the straits. After Austria forced a Russian withdrawl, the Allied Anglo-French Armies invaded the Crimea more or less because they had nothing else to do with it. Best regards, and keep on telling us about swords.
Nice catch. This isn't anywhere close to my area of expertise, but if you examine Parliament-related correspondence from the preceding few decades, Britain had some concerns (probably not terribly well-founded) that Russia had designs on territory all the way down to Egypt. British finances from trade in China and India passed through Egypt from the Red Sea from at least the 18th century, and even in pre-Suez canal times, loss of the Red Sea waterway access would probably have bankrupted the British Empire. The reality is likely that stable overland Red Sea access depended on providing military support to the Ottoman Empire and other regional players, who were in constant conflict with Russia. Britain was in considerable debt for all this for much of the 19th century, and when you add in things like balancing trade between gold and silver standard currencies and the inability of gold and especially silver production to increase at the same rate as international trade, it was all a bit of a mess.
Another interesting thing about the French 1822 is that the Finns bought massive numbers of them post World War 1 and issued them to the Finnish cavalry. In Finland they were shortened by cutting 12 cm off of the tip of the blade and the tip was then reground to a point. Most of them had 2 of the three guards cut off, but some still survive that have the original guard left intact. They were later manufactured by the Germans for the Finns by such companies as Carl Eickerhorn, Weyerberg, Kirschbaum & Co, E & F Hörster, F. V. Höller, Alexander Coppel GmbH & Co and so on.
Hey Matt, question on the Estoc (giant Smallsword). If that is essentially a scaled up smallsword with a three bar hilt is that essentially a cavalry rapier? Or is there some difference in how the swords handle?
What a lovely shaped sword, it just looks the business. I collect knives and appreciate a well-formed piece, this sword can speak for itself, Intimidating like a deadly looking weapon can do. The French have always done things a little bit differently, and good style is usually quite high in French design. I am sure you will treat it, with TLC, and it will look its part. Watch a lot of your vids, don't think I have seen it before, just love the look of sabres.
I have one in "mint" never sharpened condition. They're a beautifully balanced...and wonderfully designed sabre. You're absolutely right..."it just looks the business"!!! No wonder countries from across the world copied it's design. Do yourself a favor and get yourself one in nice condition...you won't regret it. By the way...in Europe they're relatively inexpensive.
A little unrelated, but I've been wondering about this for a while: where did you get your winged/lugged/boar spear in the background? It looks really well made, and I'm looking to try and get a similarly long-bladed spear myself.
Is it possible that thrusting from horseback gets less advantage from having a straight blade with a spear point? I mean, you can't keep the blade perfectly in front of you anyway, unless you want to crash your horse into the target, so you need to keep you arm a bit off-line to the side (and also a bit downwards, I suppose, at least against infantry). It seems to me that a (slightly) curved blade would help that rather than hinder, letting you to keep the sword a bit angled (also, less impact stress on the wrist, maybe?) while still having the point perfectly aligned to the horse's movement. Anyone here experienced in mounted swordsmanship that can share their thoughts?
Just from the top of my mind: If it did offer a significant advantage, we wouldn't find so many straight cavalry swords and would at least find some lances trying to gain this advantage by design. I think it's more of a compromise in design.
6 лет назад
You don't want to leave your sword stuck in some clown, you want to chop a big slice into them and move on.
I think a straight blade would be much more difficult to recover from a deep thrust wound; in the manuals (from after the Napoleonic era, though) I saw last summer, the cavalryman would indeed present the point on the side of the horse and turn his wrist (and the blade in the wound) as he was passing the thrustee, bringing it upwards backhand to avoid losing it (I think. My memory is unclear on some details). However, cuts were clearly far more common, whatever Bonaparte might have said. Besides, he had his Lancers whose armament was definitely more of the stabby-thrusty kind.
Hi mat interesting video as usual. I have a question about sabres in general. In my mind and I think a lot of people not specifically interested in swords a sabre is a cavalry weapon that can if it must be used on foot. However as you learn more it becomes clear that there where extensive systems for using a sabre dismounted. So my question really is how did these to roles interact both in the design of the sabres and developing the systems of use? Has the need to be used on foot made they less effective calvary or blades or vice versa or is the sabre a nearly perfect balance of the two?
I think for the influence of French sword design, you forget one factor: simple aesthetic preference. France was considered the centre of fashion and there's a not negligible element of fashion to how a nation dresses and equips its soldiers. I'm sure the elegant clean lines of French swords like this played a part in their popularity worldwide.
What is the difference between an 1800's era sabre such as the US model 1860 light cavalry sabre and a fencing saber? When I look on-line at fencing sabres they appear to look just like fencing foils to my untrained eye. Thanks. Love your channel.
Regarding the emphasis on stabbing with a curved rather than straight blade, in this video a gendarme of the French Republican Guard, which still uses (original) 1822 models, says the curve was meant to stab while clearing the horse's head... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mpywEl1VKEM.html (around the 3:15 mark). Not sure how accurate that is
Goals before death: 1. Live 2. Buy a sword from your collection 3. Reinstate the dueling system and kill my neighbor for his incessant noise making, and terrible lawn management. 4. Tell his wife and children that I am sorry 5. Duel you(not to the death, for I need you to live) 6. Haven't thought this far, my life is shallow
Hi Matt! Love your channel! I find really interesting all of your videos, and opening the field to other countries seems a great idea. Looking forward to that comparison video you've talked about! Maybe sometime a Spanish sword can feature in your reviews? True that by the 19thC the empire was lost, but some late 18thC and Napoleonic era swords are very interesting, we went through a century of civil wars... And there's Toledo! Warm regards from Madrid, from a true 3-year fan.
Since you keep mentioning dragoons and their sabres, I was wondering what weapon model is featured on the logo of the beer named after that regiment. Does it look accurate?
Many of these have ended up in Finland as well, after gaining independence they were the first officer sword given to military until domestically produced one was made.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KtzBsKbPkHA.html At The 1 minute mark Pewds challenges another channel to a duel. Just figured I'd mention it remembering that video you made haha, made it way funnier for me.
Very nice blades in hoping that's a plum patina on the French 22 and not rust, I'm not one to destroy 100-200 years worth of time patina but if that's rust you need to clean it, rust will destroy a blade and there's no coming back from the damage,you need to get rid of the surface rust (if that's what it is ) it can be done without total loss of the patina,rust will turn it into worthless scrap...please take care of those blades, if that's rust it's making me cringe if it's a plum attic patina then that's fine
Could the shape of the point have something to do with the removal of the sword from a victim in a pass during a charge ? I imagine that a straight spear-point sword would just stick in like a skewer and be wrenched from a user's hand in passing !
russia didnt invade the crimea.. they were threatening to occupy persia and to annext parts of the ottoman empire.. crimea was attacked as a strategic point
The hammer grip was more commonly used than the saber grip for this sword even though their wielders were known to favor the thrust? Wouldn't they hold the sword in a saber grip when thrusting?
Did the people in Klingenthal began to forge blades because the place was called Klingenthal, or was the place called Klingenthal because there were blades forged?
The second. When it was founded in 1730 it was called the royal alsace blade factory (Manufacture Royale d'Armes Blanches d' Alsace). Alsace was - and partly is - german speaking, and the factory was located there because the king hired skilled bladesmiths from Solingen.
@@scholagladiatoria: Hey Matt...I took your advise and bought a "mint" 1822. never sharpened...with no nicks, dings or scratches. However...like most I've seen...the scabbard was painted black sometime in the 19th century. Do you have any info about why they did this? And how difficult would it be to restore to shiny steel...or should I just leave it alone? Help needed...thanks for your invaluable channel.
I believe the US 1840 Heavy Cavalry was the original US recreation/adaptation of the French 1822. The US 1860 heavy cavalry is a continuation of the theme with a bit of handle design modification and a shorter round backed blade which is less beefy (1840 has a very square back). which actually feels a bit more "user friendly" than the US 1840HC IMO. I have an 1840 design (in less than ideal condition) that I am cleaning up a bit - ironically it is of German manufacturing. The 1840HC is the sword nicknamed "Old Wrist-Breaker", but I see some people using that nickname to describe the 1860 Heavy Cavalry, as well. The 1860 HC is about 1.5" shy of the overall length of the 1840 HC.
I have a French model 1822 light cavalry sabre made by the German company Weyersberg. This model was adopted by several countries. thanks for the video.
How do you secure lose grip wire? I have a Japanese Kyu-gunto ca WW1 (with a western style factory made blade) where this needs to be done, along with making a new leather washer... the hilt is really loose and I want to tighten the lot up without destroying the original grips as I use it to run drills. What's your advice?
Even in Costa Rica, they had a similar uniform to the french. During a war in 1856 against a USA army, some soldiers thought, they were french soldier´s aidding us
I love your videos and I'd be curious to know what do you think about the sword fight scenes of one of my all time favorite movies: "The Duelist" from Ridley Scott (from a Conrad novel). I'd be extremely grateful if you could answer.
I think it's awesome you listen to other people and will re-do a whole video just to get it right. I love Memoir on Swords, thanks for the recommendation. You should do a video on the US 1860 patter saber and Griffith's saber from Berserk. Both are iconic and well-known, plus it's your specialty.
I *love* the Mle 1822 LC as well. I have two. An 1880 Chatellerault trooper, and an officer's model with a heavily engraved and gilt pattern-welded Solingen blade.
But if your galloping along bent forward the curve of the last third of the sword and point would sort of become parallel to the ground. Wasnt this sword designed to be used on horseback?
switzerland and i think belgium had it too. I own a 1822 infantry saber who was used by the swiss army. thank you for making a video about my favorite sabre :). I'd be interested what you think about the 1822 infantry saber
Hi Matt, thank you for another great video. Just a thought. Why dont you make a video talking and presenting your favorite swords from your collection? A top 5 sounds like a good number.
Thank you Matt, this is another video that has helped me find out what some of the swords I got from my uncle. I wonder though as the only markings on them are two double digit numbers on two parts of the hilt.
Speaking of nations copying French swords... As a viewer from across the pond, can you do a video about the British 1822 light cav sabre vs the US 1833 dragoon? They seem almost identical and it seems to be the only US sword not based or directly copied from a French design... it'd be interesting to find out why!
