> On May 1, 2017, at 3:18 PM, Phil Pugliese (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
>
>
> Once I saw the pic it jogged my memory.
> (THANKS, Fred!)
>
> Don't remember the part about it being for 'thrusting' though but it does appear that it would be good for that.
> Only thing is; I can't help but wonder what technique would be used when engaging an enemy who is on foot while the trooper was mounted?

What I read about it was it was to be essentially treated as a short lance: you stick someone with it and then drop it. This is a tricky move when moving fast on horseback, with your hand in a bell guard. I’d expect a lot of broken arms and wrists were it to be put into practice.

It never really went anywhere in actual combat because horse cavalry were disbanded prior to any action in WWI.  Digging futher into the Wiki articles linked there much of it dates back to differences in technique between the English and the French in the Napoleonic Wars. The English relied on cutting, whereas the French preferred thrusting for which you need a straighter blade, and Patton trained at a fencing academy in Paris, hence he designed a sword for which he’d been trained.

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs