A Swedish M1825 Enlisted Hussar Sabre. Part I.
Feb 25, 2016 14:39:07 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Feb 25, 2016 14:39:07 GMT
Charles XIV of Sweden as Crown Prince.
The above gentleman, also known in another life, under Napoleon, as Marechal Bernadotte, must have had quite an influence on the taste this sabre was designed in. The scabbard is pure French old school Hussar, with that port. The hilt still has the langettes, but was very modern with two secondairy bars. The French were the first to do this. Though the sabre has a lot in common with the French M1822, ( French influence again! ), the rest is a very Swedish story. I mean, it is big, as in quite huge. Pictured here in the august compagnie of the Officers P1796 and last but not least, the Officers M1811, it dwarves both. The P1796 in total is as large as the Swede's scabbard!
Off.P1796 - Swedish Enl.M1825 - Off.M1811.
Talking about scabbards: This ,,ported'' design is very weak. The stress points lay under and next to the screws that hold both parts together with the help of two iron strips. Scabbards like these tend to breake and were soon disposed off and replaced with the much sturdier one piece metal scabbard.The metal is too thin and though it covers the wooden leather clad scabbard inside, ( notice that I do not say ,,liners'', those very thin wood slats inside full metal scabbards ), the strips holding the upper and lower part together are too thin walled.
My scabbard has such an old repair.
As such it is a wonder that the sabre and the scabbard have the same marks still.
On the guillon.
On the upper half of the scabbard.
Other marks are:
24 on the lower half of the scabbard in case it dropped off...?
Zetterberg, the Swedish sword maker. Christopher Zetterberg, 1775-1852, went in 1792 to Eskilstuna, got his ,,Gesellenbrief'' in 1796 and made a long trip to Solingen and Remscheid. In 1807 he started with the making of sabres and their scabbards. Mark on the upper half of the scabbard.
Blade smith mark on the spine. PW and some curly worlies, hard to tell what those mean.
Probably the blade manufacturer was Peter Weyersberg IV: 1773 - 1829.
There are no C under Crown markes or anything else.
Here is the sabre ,,nekkid'':
Notice the enormous drag.
My first reaction was ,, Huge, beast, holy cow '' and ,, this IS heavy'', but after a while that feeling goes away.
To my surprise it handles very well, though it is tip heavy, as a good Cavalry blade should be. It is not the fasted of the class, but it is no clunker too. The reach is enormous and blows will split horses. This a very well designed and formidable weapon of the first killing class. There is nothing of the vagueness the M1822 makes me feel. Thus far I think this Swede is the better of the two.
This Swedish gentleman sporting the M1825 must be two meters tall...
The numbers.
Total length is 104 cm.
Blade length is 90 cm.
Blade width is 3.95 cm.
Blade is thick 10.5 mm - 6.5 - 2.5 mm.
POB is 18.5 cm or 7.3". Amazing for such a sabre.
Weight total is 2200 grams.
Weight of the sabre is 1156 grams.
Weight of the scabbard is 1044 grams.
There is a close relative to this Swedish sabre. It is the Norwegian version, also called the M1825.
Here is a picture:
Round up.
I am very happy to be able to play with this direct descendant of the Blucher clad in French dress. It is not sluggish at all, though it takes some time to get the hang of it. It is very well made, in the best Swedish tradition and only needs a little polish. I will have the smith take a look at the old repair and see what he can do to straighten it out a bit.
Notes.
List of Swedish regiments: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_regiments
The Organization of the Swedish Cavalry: 1773 - 1814: www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_swedecav.html
The Napoleonoc Swedish Army: homepages.paradise.net.nz/mcnelly/vb/articles/NapoleonicSwedish.htm
List of Swedish Monarchs: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_monarchs
Charles IV John of Sweden: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIV_John_of_Sweden
Norwegian small arms and blades: norskevaapen.no/?p=2165
Pino's 18th-19th cent Western Lt Cavalry swords : Bars & Bowls: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/36192/18th-western-cavalry-swords-bowls
Hoeglund.org: www.hoeglund.org/Vapen/index_sablar.html
I tried to get in touch with this guy but to no avail. The pictures are very good!
Bewaffnung und Ausrustung der Swedische Kavallerie: www.schweden-kavallerie.de/
Cheers.
Edit: This thread is now titled ,, A Swedish M1825 Enlisted Hussar Sabre. Part I.''
The sabre has been cleaned and polished and with additional information it is presented here: