The 1796 model light cavalry saber was a sword used primarily by British light dragoons and hussars, as well as by the light cavalry of the Royal German Legion during the Napoleonic Wars. It was adopted by the Prussians (as a model of 1811 or “Blucher’s saber”) and was used by the Portuguese and Spanish cavalry.

In contrast to the high criticism directed at the sword of heavy cavalry in 1796, the sword, adopted at the same time for British light cavalry, received more grateful modern commentary. According to a number of modern experts, this sword is perhaps the best. a cutting sword that has ever been made in large quantities. However, not all the evidence of the time was favorable, and, as in the case of the heavy cavalry sword, the fault was in his inability to carry out the push.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the British Army showed a growing desire to standardize equipment, which led to the introduction in 1788 of swords for cavalry of two standard forms, one for light cavalry, the other for heavy. During the campaign in low countries (1793-95) under the leadership of the Duke of York, it turned out that both swords were seriously abandoned. It is believed that the heavy cavalry sword, in particular, posed as great a threat to its owner as to the enemy.

The service in the cavalry in this campaign was conducted by John Gaspard Le Marchand, a man perhaps unusual for a cavalry officer who possessed a sharp and scientific mind. Fortunately, he also had good connections, and his various informed proposals for improving the British cavalry were subsequently implemented, at least in part.

Among these improvements was his design of a new cavalry sword.

Le Marchand was an experienced fencer and rider, and he was clearly aware that Thus, he was very well qualified to develop an effective, practical and effective sword for cavalry use. The sword, developed by him in collaboration with Birmingham’s Henry Osborne, was adopted with a slightly increased size. blade length, for British light cavalry as a model of 1796. It is recorded that Le Marchand wanted his curved cutting sword to be generally accepted, but it was decided that heavy cavalry should have a straight sword based on the Austrian model (discussed elsewhere).

Light Cavalry of
the Royal German Legion of 1813, all armed with a saber of 1796.

Use of saber :

Training the British in horse fencing was emphasized on cuts on their faces to cripple or kill, or on their hands to disable. This left masses of mutilated or disabled troops; The French, on the contrary, preferred a strike that gave cleaner kills.
However, the cut by the saber of the light cavalry of 1796 was quite capable of killing on the spot, as recorded by George Farmer of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons , who participated in a skirmish on the Guadiana River in 1811 during the peninsula .
War : It was then that a French officer, leaning over the body of one of his compatriots, who threw a moment around the neck of his horse, struck poor Harry Wilson’s body;I firmly believe that Wilson died instantly, but although he felt the movement of the sword, he did not take his eyes off the enemy in front with his inherent self-control; and, rising on stirrups, struck the Frenchman’s head with such a blow that copper and skull disintegrated in front of him, and the man’s head split all the way to his chin.It was the scariest blow I’ve ever seen; Both he who gave and his adversary, who received it, fell together.Subsequently, the copper helmet was examined by order of a French officer, who, like me, was struck by the feat;

Glory Saber : Today, this blade is remembered as one of the best in its time and described as the best cutting sword ever produced in large quantities. Officers of the famous 95th Infantry Regiment, other regiments of light infantry and ” flank ” companies of line regiments adopted sabers with an identical ephesus to the light cavalry saber of 1796, but with a lighter and shorter blade.
The saber was also copied by the Prussians; indeed, some German imperial troops were equipped with nearly identical swords during World War I. The Americans also adopted a model that was directly influenced by the British sword.