Original Item: One of a Kind. This is an untouched gem! Straight out of an old English Collection. It is a Perfectly standard iron mounted Pattern 1796 Light Dragoon Saber in iron scabbard. The leather covering of the grip is partly missing, however the cross guard chappe (rain guard) is clearly marked with the Regimental details: 7 L-D / B / 16, which is then repeated on the all iron scabbard. This would stand for the 7th (The Queen’s Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars), B company, 16th Man. This is a storied regiment with a history going back to the late 17th century, and is today represented in the Queen’s Royal Hussars.
The P-1796 Light Cavalry saber uses a widening blade toward the tip called a HATCHET POINT which apparently greatly aids to the force of the blow delivered. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE himself complained that this was against the “Spirit of War”. Of course the Germans also adopted it and there it is referred to as the “BLEUCHERSABEL”.
The 7Th Light Dragoon saw action at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 under the direct command of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Edward Kerrison. The Colonel of the Regiment was “on Staff” that day as the Duke of Wellington’s Second in Command: Colonel, later Lt.General, Lord Henry Paget, the Second EARL OF UXBRIDGE who interestingly lost a leg in the Battle on that day.
A rare untouched sleeper, this P-1796 Light Cavalry Saber complete with iron scabbard both fully Regimentally marked is ready to display.