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2020-128, Sword
Hessian Officer's Sword
2020-128, Sword

Hessian Officer's Sword

Dateca. 1760-1785
OriginEurope, Germany, Hesse-Cassel
MediumSteel, iron, brass, wood, and wool
DimensionsOverall: 39 9/16" Hilt: 6 1/8" Blade: 33 7/16" x 15/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2020-128
DescriptionPattern military sword referred to as a "degen" with a heavily molded cast brass hilt and a straight double-edged blade of hexagonal to lenticular section. All hilt elements have cast and chased floral decoration; these include a faceted pommel, a bilobate guard with an integral quillon block, and quillon and a faceted knucklebow. Its wooden grip is bound with twisted wire, one strand of which is extremely heavy, and is secured at either end by grooved ferrules. What appears to be the original wool pad rests between the shoulders of the blade and the counterguard.
Label TextPerhaps no soldiers of the Revolution were more feared, maligned, and misunderstood than the so-called "Hessians." These professional warriors came from Germanic states like Brunswick, Waldeck, and Ansbach-Bayreuth, but their nickname insinuates they were all from Hesse-Cassel or Hesse-Hanau. Of the 30,000 or so German mercenaries hired to help suppress the rebellion, roughly two thirds of them were truly Hessian.

The foot soldiers of Hesse-Cassel was attired, armed, and accoutered in the fashionable Prussian style. Regulations made this Prussian-styled pattern of sword mandatory for all Hessian officers of the foot regiments. Its blade carries the name of the ruling "Landgrave" of Hesse-Cassel, Frederick II (1720-1785), leaving no doubt as to the nationality of the officer who carried it. Frederick himself wore an identical sword when portrayed by Johann Heinrich Tischbein in 1773, illustrating the top-down use of this Hessian pattern. Of very heavy construction with a long slashing and thrusting blade, it was also a lethal weapon in combat.

Being tightly datable and so clearly inscribed, this sword stands as an unquestionable relic of the Hessian officer in King George III's service. Though extremely rare today, dozens were carried during the Revolutionary War.
InscribedBoth sides of the base of the blade are engraved FRIEDIRICH.II.LANDGRAFF.IN.HESSEN within a floral-topped panel.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Don Troiani.