Some French M1854 Cavalry Pallasch.
Jul 17, 2022 14:35:59 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Jul 17, 2022 14:35:59 GMT
Some French M1854 Cavalry pallasch.
So, after the An XI and the M1816, this is the last bunch of French HC prickers in my small collection to present to this forum.
I will not go into the history and fine detail here again, because I really don't have much to add.
Pino made some great posts already and his information together with some interesting tidbits from Passion Militaria are in the notes. Also, the M1854 is well documented and info is easy to find.
No need to do it all again.
This post is more like a description of the few M1854 swords I have and of some of the troubles I ran into while cleaning and where needed, repairing them.
Here is a picture of what was supposed to be the M1854 according to regulations:
Another thing: Of the entire French pallasch line I think the M1854 is the best. Better quality, better design, better handling.
It is a pity it came too late to make a difference.
A French M1854 - 1860 Carabinier.
So, let's start with an outlier, an M1854 - 1860 Carabinier with an M1816 hilt. Not very common, but not too outlandish too.
Many of the M1854 line and older models still in use by the Troopers were made up out of bits and pieces of other models and if I say ,,other models'' I mean to say not only bits from the M1816 but from the AN's too. Even M1822 Bancal hilted M1854's existed.
It was only around the time when the M1854 line came out that the last of the ancient An IX Dragoon swords finally left the service.
That is telling us something.
What we see in those colourful propaganda pictures of Cavalry men posing with the latest of the newest new shiny have to be taken with some salt as it where. In reality Cavalry Troopers had to make do with a hotchpotch of fighting gear.
The following is quoted from I forgot where:
,,The Carabiniers-à-Cheval origins date back to the mid-16th century, when they were created as elite elements of the French light cavalry, armed with carbines but then gradually evolved towards semi-independent status during the 18th century.
They only became independent units as late as 1788, when a two-regiment heavy cavalry corps was created. From the French Revolutionary Wars onwards, they were the senior heavy cavalry regiments in the French army, rose to prominence during the Napoleonic Wars.
The 2nd Empire Carabiniers:
Carabiniers were again raised in the form of two regiments by 1824, with their distinctive style of helmet being temporarily adopted by the cuirassiers also.
The Carabiniers were present in Paris in June 1848 for the creation of the Republic when nine regiments were brought in to maintain peace,
the first time in 200 years that carabiniers were again serving as military police. From 1852 the Carabiniers were a part of the Army of the Second French Empire, but did not serve in the Crimean War.
They saw service again in 1870 as a single regiment, but now as part of the Imperial Guard.
Following the Franco-Prussian War the Carabiniers were amalgamated with the 11th Cuirassier regiment on 4 February 1871.
The 1-11e Régiment de Cuirassiers of the modern French Army can accordingly trace its origin, in part, to the 19th Century Carabiniers.''
The stamps.
This one didn't make much trouble. I just had to clean and polish it up a bit.
The numbers:
WOA :: 2470 grams.
Ws :: 1473 grams.
LOA :: 108.5 cm.
BL :: 100 cm.
BLW :: 34.5 mm.
BLT :: 11.5 - 9 - 8.5 - 8 - 4 mm (at 1" from the tip).
pob 11.5 cm from the guard.
Poinçons :: S in oval = Schutz 1853 - 73. Controleur.
L in roundel = Le Caruyer de Lainsec 1858 - 1862 Directeur.
B in shield = Probably F. A. Bish.
The etch on the spine is done according to the new regulations of 1856.
Next up: A French M1854 - 64 Dragoon Officer pallasch.
This one made some noise.
I had to mend the horn grip which had some small holes in it and the double twisted wire was missing and there was this pug ugly filing in spots that had to be dealt with.
The filing:
There was also this rather disastrous fouray into the universe of chemical de-rusting.
I had this ,,brilliant'' idea to fix a piece of drain pipe so I could fill it with derusting fluid and water and drop the scabbard in there.
Easy peasy. Problem was that I totally forgot about the scabbard in the fluid. It was swimming in that muck for days.
So, the end result was a very very clean scabbard resembling French Blue Cheese, the variant looking like maggots ate the outer crust.
Now what. At first I was too p!ssed off and left the thing in a corner of the shop. Then I found some super strong quick drying metal filler.
I also had some black metal paint left over from a computer case job, some ground also and to top it off some almost dull and super tough heavy duty varnish.
So I filled all those little holes and channels, sanded down the SOB, grounded the lot and sprayed the heck out of it.
Before the varnish.
Presto, a very good looking Officers scabbard if I say so myself. Never mind that unlike their Prussian counterparts French Officers almost never had black scabbards.
Anyway, it looks serviceable again.
Fixing the holes in the horn was not so difficult, but getting the double twisted wire that was originally on there was.
Nobody over here sold the required length, so after a forum member mentioned Tom Nardi I contacted him and he agreed to fix me up with some double twisted wire of the needed length.
So far so good. He mailed me he had dropped it in the mail and provided the tracking number too.
I could see that the package was somewhere in some postoffice, but even after a week, nada. Waited for a week more.
Then it dawned on me what must have happened:
My package is the one on the left.(Har)
I'll be damned if I order the wire again. $45 down the drain is enough for me.
It's not Tom's fault. Will not order anything coming from the State of California until this situation is dealt with.
The numbers:
WOA :: 1900 grams.
WS :: 1270 grams.
LOA :: 115.5 cm.
LS :: 113 cm.
BL :: 97.5 cm.
BW :: 34 mm.
BT :: 10.5 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 4 mm (At 1" from the tip).
POB :: 8.5 cm from the guard.
The stamps.
Poinçons :: S = Schutz again. Here as Controleur and Reviseur Second Class. 1853 - 1872.
F = Durousseau de Fryolle. Directeur. 1862 - 1873.
T under star = Unknown.
Spine etch again according to the regulations of 1856.
French M1854 - 74 Dragoon pallasch.
This one is weird. The scabbard is too long for the blade. It was made to contain a normal length blade of 97.5 cm.
The blade measures only 92.5 cm, but the tip is not fiddled with.
Shortened blades of the double fuller design have the fullers run off the blade like here:
Here the ridge is present, so it looks like the blade was made this way:
I only found out about it when I had the thing in my hands. Too lazy to send it back I just kept it. Made to fit the smallest Dragoon ever?
Oh well, never mind. Just wonder what he drove. Must have been a fat old Shetland pony.
This, or they were fiddling with blade lengths long before the lengths were reduced after 1880.
The numbers:
WOA :: 2200 grams.
WS :: 1245 grams.
LOA :: 118 cm.
LS :: 108 cm.
BL :: 92.5 cm.
BW :: 34 mm.
BT :: 11 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 4.5 mm (At 1" from the tip).
POB :: 9.5 cm from the guard.
The first ring mount is placed very high up.
The stamps.
Poinçons :: B in ,,coffin '' on the knucklebow is unknown to me.
S under star = Spreger. Controleur or Reviseur. 1864 - 1885.
M = Maldan. Directeur. 1873 - 75.
In front of the grip S and M. (See above).
On mouth piece :: T in roundel = Tetard. Controleur. 1902 - 1914.
It looks like there are more remains of T's :: T on inner ringmount and T on the scabbard drag.
This seems to suggest that at least the scabbard may have seen service in WWI.
French M1854 - 1880 Dragoon trail pallash.
Talk about stamps. This one is loaded with them.
Poinçons ::
On the knucklebow :: R in double circle = Reallon. Directeur. 1876 - 1883.
B in double circle = Brenier. Controleur. 1874 - 1895.
1 in circle = unknown, but same number is on the scabbard drag. (First tier?)
G in circle under star = Girolt. Controleur. 1875 - 1883.
52 is racknumber. Same as on the scabbard.
On the blade :: Same as above -G - R - B.
On the scabbard :: R and B.
On the scabbard ringmounts two unknown stamps. Note that the mounts have a different design from the standard.
The numbers:
WOA :: 2350 grams.
WS :: 1345 grams.
LOA :: 110.5 cm.
LS :: 108.5 cm.
BL :: 93 cm.
BW :: 32 mm.
BT :: 11 - 9 - 7.5 - 6 - 2.5 mm (At 1" from the tip).
POB :: 9.5 cm under the guard.
And this is it.
I hope you will find something useful in here.
Cheers.
Notes.
PM :: Sabre Cuirassier - Dragon M1854.
www.passionmilitaria.com/t216008-octobre-1813-le-terrible-marquage-sur-un-sabre-modele-1854
www.passionmilitaria.com/t203347-sabre-1854
www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16958
sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/61490/french-1854-carabinier-dragoon-swords
sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/53221/french-1880-1882-cavalry-swords