Rare Waterloo Captured French AN XIII Cuirassier's
Sabre (sold) |
Exceptionally rare original (unmodified) clipped point French
Napoleonic AN XIII heavy cavalry trooper's sabre - this sabre has
inflicted a serious wound on someone - plus it has Waterloo provenance.
The provenance, the circumstances, the (minor) blade point damage
and the facts of this AN XIII French Cuirassier sabre says it inflicted
a terrible if not fatal wound on someone, probably a British / Allied
soldier, and that is absolutely is a Waterloo pick-up (war trophy);
that it saw battle at Waterloo. On top of this, it has an exceptionally
rare original full 97 cm "clipped point" (unmodified)
blade that all AN XIII collectors drool after. It has rarity, it
has kill point damage, it has Waterloo Provenance, it has EVERYTHING.
First, the sword was made in December 1814, so any damage was done
after the disastrous "Russian Campaign". The Klingenthal
blade is signed along the spine with the date and the forte shows
the correct inspector "poinçons" (inspection stamps)
of Louis Etienne Borson, Jean-Georges Bick and François Louis
Lobstein (see: Klingenthal
Blade Markings and Inspector
Markings. It is 100% authentic of course.
The tip of the blade has the tell-tale "wriggle" damage
of a strike against an enemy soldier. It is almost impossible to
fake such damage and the circumstances of where it was bought (by
me) rule out subterfuge anyway, as they never claimed it as such.
It is rare to hold a sword with a high degree of certainty it killed
someone in battle, but this sabre has that. The damage also helps
confirm this sabre is a Waterloo war trophy; that the Cuirassier
who held it himself was a victim. It is very likely the French heavy
cavalry trooper charged the Allied line, took out a British, Dutch
or Belgium soldier, then was himself seriously injured or killed
in the attack. Let me stress, being injured in battle at that time
especially if you were on the losing side means any trooper who
dropped his sabre is unlikely to have survived.
It is made more likely because this sabre would have still been
serviceable if it had been converted to a spear point, as was common
both before and after Waterloo. You see, the damage to this sabre
is right at the point, so it could have been put back into service
with a simple spear point modification. As the blade was never corrected
/ modified as was so easily possible, it means it left French military
service prematurely. The fact this sabre has no scabbard also supports
this thesis; when a cavalryman was injured he would drop the sword
in his hand and likely ride off injured (or be taken / dragged away
by his horse) and with it the scabbard. Sabres without scabbards
or with mismatched scabbards are signs of a battlefield pick-up
/ war trophy.
The sabre was bought from a deceased's estate sale where it and
another AN XIII (see this other sword here: Spear
Point AN XIII Waterloo Capture) were hung in a smoking room
for many years. The deceased gentleman was not a collector in the
traditional sense, he had just these two sabres both rumored to
have come from Waterloo. When I found them the brass hilts were
so tarnished with the unmistakable dark brown taint of tobacco smoke,
I believe these swords must have hung in that room for at least
50 years. This is fairly important as it takes them to a time before
swords became popular collector's items. The many years of smoke
actually helped preserve the leather grips (which reeked of smoke)
which is why they are both in such very good condition. The blade
conditions are commensurate with being outside a scabbard for around
the same time as the hilts.
I therefore have absolutely no doubt this and the other sabre I
bought as a single lot are 100% Waterloo battleground pick-ups;
please see AN XIII
article.
The hilt is marked to Versailles, the blade is firm in the hilt,
the grip is in excellent condition with the original twisted wire
ring bindings intact (a little loose in places), the blade is straight
apart from the point strike damage. Further / full sized pictures
available upon request.
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