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British Basket-hilted Cavalry Saber

Date1760-1770

OriginEngland, Birmingham (probably)

MediumIron/steel

DimensionsOL: 31 1/2" Hilt: 5 3/4" Blade: 25 5/8" x 1 3/8" (shortened)

Credit LineGift of George W. Mitchell III

Object number2010-94

DescriptionBritish Cavalry Sabre with basket hilt composed of an ovoid counterguard, a triangular knuckle plate and one branch to either side. Knucklebow terminates in a ring in which the bottom rabbet of the bun-shaped pommel sits. The shortened single-edged blade has a wide and a narrow fuller along with a long ricasso.
Label TextThe basket hilted cavalry saber was the primary weapon of the Anglo-American mounted soldier up until the late colonial period. Since few mounted troops served here, it is not surprising that such swords with a history of use in early America are very scarce. This robust example is one of them.

Found in the 1940s near the intersection of Jamestown Road and Route 199 in Williamsburg, this saber was likely shortened during the Civil War. An identical example once in the Mowbray collection was found in a river in Massachusetts, suggesting that numbers of this distinctive pattern saw service in the Colonies. Structurally similar to the "Figure of 8" naval cutlasses issued to the Royal Navy throughout the 18th century, these horseman's swords include a triangular knuckle plate and a branch on each side. When new, its straight blade would have been about 10" longer, and it would have had a shagreen covered spiral grip bound with twisted brass wire and a "Turk’s head" keeper at either end.

For an identical example in original condition, see George Neumann's "Swords and Blades of the American Revolution," p.150, 266.S.

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