1913 Cavalry Saber (Patton Saber)

The 1913 Cavalry Sword, often referred to as the Patton Sword, was a cavalry sword designed by Second Lieutenant (later General) George S. Patton for the United States Army in 1913. Patton proposed a curved sword version in both steel and steel. cutting technique. attacking style after extensive training in France.  It had a large basket-shaped handle that attached a straight double thrust blade intended for use by light cavalry. Although officially marked as a sword, it lacks the curved edge characteristic of many sword designs.

This weapon, the last sword issued to the American cavalry, was never used as intended. When the United States entered World War I, several American cavalry units armed with swords were sent to the front, but were held back. The nature of warfare has changed, making cavalry easy prey for enemy troops equipped with Gewehr 98 rifles and MG08 machine guns. Cavalry that saw battle dismounted and used their horses only for travel, as cavalry.

The saber is traditionally an American cavalry weapon; The 1913 Cavalry Sword replaced the Model 1906 Light Cavalry Sword (the "Ames" Sword), which itself was little changed from the 1860 Light Cavalry Sword. Patton designed the sword when he was a master swordsman at the Mounted Service School; However, unlike earlier versions of cavalry swords, the 1913 sword was completely redesigned.

After the Olympics in Stockholm, (1912) Patton and his family traveled to Dresden, Berlin and Nuremberg. Patton, looking for the greatest fencer of Europe to learn from, was told that it was the "belsabreur" of the French army. Adjutant M. Cléry was a French "army leader" and teacher of swordsmanship at the Saumur Cavalry School.

Patton went to the master of Saumur on intensive research. On his return, Patton wrote a report on his sword research that was reviewed in the Army and Navy Journal. Patton's first article in the famous Cavalry Journal appeared in the March 1913 issue. In the summer of 1913, Patton was allowed to return to Saumur to relearn under Cléry, after being advised by the Ministry of Defense to redesign the sword. Next, Patton was assigned to the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, as a student and "Master of the Sword," the top instructor of the new fencing course. There he wrote two manuals of fencing exercises, "Saber Exercise 1914" and "Diary of the Instructor in Sword Fencing". Patton's original sword is on display at the General George Patton Museum in Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

The design was influenced by the French heavy cavalry saber of the Napoleonic Wars, as well as French cavalry doctrine which emphasized the use of the point above the edge, and is similar to the British 1908 and 1912 cavalry sabers.

The model 1913 sword has a large basket-shaped handle with a straight double-edged thrust blade attached, designed for heavy cavalry use. It was modeled on Patton's system of fencing, published by the War Department as the 1914 Saber Exercise manual, which emphasized the use of the point over the edge. 

Its design was mistakenly thought to have influenced the modern Hungarian sword used in sport fencing, but has no connection to the modern fencing sword, which evolved from traditional Hungarian and Italian weapons and was introduced in 1910. A modern replica is 44 110 89 cm (35 in) bladed total weighing two and a half pounds (1.1 kg). The blade is straight and conical, the leading edge runs the entire length of the blade, and half its length with two blades. Based on the weight of the bell and handle, it would balance much closer to the hand than the typical weapon associated with the name "cavalry sword". It has a blued steel (somewhat nickel plated) "cup holder" and a black component handle. The hoods (three variants) are wood covered with leather and then covered with green fabric. The furniture (neck and pull) is made of blued steel. Others were of nickel-plated steel, a "garrison shield". It was held on the saddle of a horse rather than the belt of a soldier.

According to KJ Parker, Patton's sword was light, thin, exceptionally ergonomic and balanced - in short, "more or less perfect, the best sword ever issued to the army". Amberger, on the other hand, considered the weapon ill-suited for the use of the intended cavalry, because the speed of the cavalry attack could not pull back the thrust of the opponent quickly enough, so that the attacker must either abandon the weapon. blade, break a wrist, or dislocate a sword hand while holding it, or risk the worst consequences: "At worst, a dead opponent would drag him from his horse, making him an unarmed foot soldier in an ocean of falling swords and trampling hooves."

Patton's 1914 manual, Saber Exercise 1914, outlined a training system for using the saber on both the back and the leg.

The ideas of Patton were expressed in his 1913 report, “The Form and Use of the Saber.” The following year, he expanded his "Saber Exercise 1914" manual at the request of students at the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, to publish "The Diary of a Saber Instructor."

In any case, it was already militarily obsolete by the time it was issued, as modern warfare did not allow for the cavalry charges for which it was intended. In pursuance of Parker, "if it was ever drawn in anger, I can find no record of it"