AMERICAlSr AND EUKOPEAN SWORDS 9 



swords described in the following pages with the European military 

 and naval swords of the same period. During the Eevolution va- 

 rious types of European swords were used in the American Army 

 and Navy without change in design. During the long period of 

 peace that followed, there was no incentive for the development of a 

 national series of military and naval swords. A few swords bearing 

 national emblems and inscriptions seem to have been made during 

 this period, but these were exceptions. 



During the first quarter of the nineteenth century a large number 

 of swords and sabers were produced by American manufacturers for 

 the use of enlisted men of the Army, all of which were based on 

 German models. At the same time a number were made for the 

 use of Army officers, nearly all of which were based upon French 

 models. Perhaps the nearest approach to swords of a truly national 

 design were the militia officers' sabers of this period, which bore an 

 eagle's head on the pommel and various versions of the United States 

 coat of arms on the blades. These sabers may well be termed typi- 

 cally American in design and bear less indication of foreign influence 

 than the swords of any preceding or succeeding period. They offer 

 a striking contrast to the light swords produced during the same 

 period for use of officers of the Army, which were modeled directly 

 after French swords of the same period. 



Between 1825 and 1840 the designs of the French and German 

 swords exercised a strong influence on the types of swords used in 

 the United States Army. The National Museum collection contains 

 many specimens that indicate that American makers depended al- 

 most entirely upon models from these two countries for the weapons 

 they produced. The influence of the English swords of this period 

 is also to be noted to some extent, but this was confined to a few 

 models only. The best example of English influence is in the general 

 officer's sword of this period, which seems to have been copied from 

 an English sword of the same type. Between 1840 and 1860 an 

 entirely new series of United States Army swords was adopted, all 

 of which were based directly upon French models. These models 

 were retained with a few exceptions during the rest of the nineteenth 

 century. It is apparent, therefore, that the swords that may be 

 termed American in design were with some exceptions produced dur- 

 ing the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the first quarter 

 of the nineteenth. 



MANUFACTURERS OF AMERICAN SWORDS 



The United States has never had a single source of supply of 

 swords comparable to the Solingen factories in Germany and the 

 Klingenthal factory in France. Prior to the period of the Civil 

 98266—32 2 



