Original French Napoleonic Crimean War Era Sapper’s Dress Parade Axe With Original Buff Leather Cover Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a wonderful and exceptionally rare example of a French Napoleonic Era Sapper’s Dress Axe. The axe is in wonderful condition for the age and even retains the original (and correct) white buff leather cover for parade use. The cover appears to have once had insignia present on it, most likely a unit but it is long gone to history.

Axe-wielding sappers were an invaluable asset to Napoleonic armies, and still prominent in many antebellum U.S. militia units. During the 1850s, sappers were the militia equivalent of the Corps of Engineers of the regular army. They were responsible for clearing obstructions from the path of an advancing column, digging trenches, and constructing temporary bridges and river crossings. Traditionally, they carried a large axe, wore an apron to protect their uniforms, and sported long beards underneath tall bearskin caps.

A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who dug trenches to allow besieging forces to advance towards the enemy defensive works and forts over ground that is under the defenders’ musket or artillery fire. It comes from the French word sapeur, itself being derived from the verb saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). This digging was referred to as sapping the enemy fortifications. Saps were excavated by brigades of trained sappers or instructed troops. When an army was defending a fortress with cannons, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker’s guns. The attacking army’s artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire.

This Sapper’s Axe is in fantastic condition given the age. While this does appear to be a Parade/Dress type, it could very well have been used in the field at some point but the condition suggests otherwise. There is past pitting on the blade which shows signs of heavy cleaning, but this process did not take away from the beauty of the axe itself. We could not find any markings and they could very well have been cleaned away.

To protect the axe head (and personnel), while the axe was not in use, covers were utilized for the head of the axe. This example is white buff leather with some rather extensive wear present and material loss.

A wonderful, extremely rare example of a Sappers Axe! Comes more than ready for further research and display.

Specifications
– Axe Head Length/Width: 15 ½” With a 10” Edge
– Total Length: 41 ¼”