44 BULLETIN 16 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the new types were soon produced in large quantities. The new 

 sabers adopted as the result of the transaction were copied directly 

 from French models. 



The saber *'*' adopted for the use of the mounted Artillery in 1840 

 had a long, heavy, deeply curved blade, on each side of which a single 

 broad groove extended from the hilt almost to the point. The grip 

 was cylindrical and was covered with black leather and wound with 

 a single strand of brass wire. The pommel consisted of a heavy 

 brass helmet-shaped tip covering the end of the grip. The guard 

 was a heavy 4-sided brass strip which extended below the grip in 

 the form of a bow and terminated above the blade in a quillon with 

 a disk-shaped tip. 



SABER OWNED BY CAPT. BETH B. THORNTON 



The National Museum has only a few of the sabers of this period 

 of the type used by the mounted Artillery. One of these ®^ was 

 carried during the war with Mexico, 1846-48, by Capt. Seth B. 

 Thornton, United States Army, and lent to the Museum in 1894 by 

 Mrs. J. Jackson Scott. The collection of military material deposited 

 in the National Museum by the Military Service Institution of the 

 United States in 1923 included several examples of the sabers of this 

 type both for officers and enlisted men, but these were lacking in 

 personal significance. 



CAVALRY SABERS, 1840 TO 1850 



The Cavalry saber adopted at the same time was a weapon of almost 

 identically the same type except that the guard had two branches. 

 The blade of the Cavalry saber was longer and the grip somewhat 

 larger than that of the Artillery saber. In each case weapons of the 

 types just described were intended for use both by officers and enlisted 

 men. The sabers carried by officers, however, bore gilt decorations. 

 Several enlisted men's sabers " of this type and period were trans- 

 ferred to the National Museum from the Military Service Institution 

 in 1923. 



SABER OWNED BY BVT. BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM H. BROWNE 



The National Museum collection contains a number of Cavalry 

 sabers of the period of the war with Mexico of exceptional historic 

 interest. Among these is a weapon of this type owned by Bvt. Brig. 

 Gen. William H. Browne, United States Volunteers. The brass 

 scabbard of this saber ,^^ which was presented to the Museum in 1906 



"•See pi. 16, figs. 4-6. 



"' Length, 93.6 cm. Blade, 79.8 cm. long, 3.2 cm. wide. PI. 16, fig. 5. 

 « Length, 104.2 cm. Blade, 93 cm. long, 3.1 cm. wide. Marked " N. P. Ames, Cabot- 

 ville, 1846." PI. 17, fig. 2. 



