British Bandsman's Sword of the Cambridgeshire Militia, Circa 1833
Curved blade with single fuller and hatchet point, single-piece cast brass mameluke-style hilt featuring a lion’s head pommel with eyelet, a smooth faceted grip, recurved quillons with comma-shaped finials, and langets cast with a mirrored floral motif, perhaps acanthus leaves. Brass scabbard with two hanging rings and two steel screws securing the throat piece. Blade 28½ inches in length, 1 inch wide at the shoulder, the sword 33¾ inches overall.
The scabbard is stamped on one side near the throat with ‘68’ over ‘CM’ over ‘5’. This seems to follow the form of a unit mark. Other examples exist which are also marked 68 / CM / [number] including an example I acquired together with this one, available here – that being marked 68 / CM / 19. As the last digit changes but the others do not it seems clear that 68 CM is a unit and the last digits a weapon number.
The grip has a letter ‘H’ is just about visible in a larger depression in the brass – this may have been an attempt at marking that went wrong, or remnants of an old mark obliterated by deliberately denting the grip. On all other known CM examples the grip is the area stamped so an error seems quite possible – then once the error was made using the opposite side of the grip was not an option as this would leave the mark visible when the sword was worn, so the scabbard was the nearest viable location. Judging by its position, it may be that the armourer picked up the ‘H’ stamp rather than ‘M’ by mistake.
There were a number of British units in the 19th century which might have used the abbreviation ‘CM’, including the Cambridgeshire Militia, Cardiganshire Militia, Cornwall Militia and Cumberland Militia. However, when lots were drawn by the King for the order of precedence of the militia regiments in 1833 the Cambridgeshire Militia was ranked 68th.
Most militia took little notice of their official numbering but the Cambridgeshires certainly did as ‘68’ was placed on their shako. This numbering coincides nicely with the period of these swords and remained in place until the end of the militia system in 1908. This puts it clearly above the other possibilities and I think we can be reasonably confident therefore that this sword was number 19 issued to the band of the Cambridgeshire Militia some time after 1833.
There was no standard pattern for the ornamental swords carried by military bands in the eighteenth and early 19th centuries. Each regiment was responsible for equipping its band as it saw fit, the expense generally paid for by its officers. Nonetheless bands were often well equipped as regiments took great pride in their music and sought to outdo each other in their pageantry. Composed of a mixture of enlisted men and paid civilian musicians, military bands often performed for the public, becoming a cultural fixture and a useful means of outreach between military and civilians, a tradition which continues to this day.
Despite their non-standard procurement there was a common style to the British band sword (with considerable variation): a short, usually curved, mameluke-style sword with brass fittings and a pommel in the form of an animal head, most often a lion.
The Royal Armouries collection contains a great number of British bandsman’s swords which the Armouries curators have grouped into types based on the form of their hilts – under their system this sword would be a ‘Type G’. See Royal Armouries item IX.7246 for more discussion of this Type and bandsman’s swords generally (also IX.1067, although this is a variant with a hilt made of steel rather than brass).
Dating bandsman’s swords can be tricky, but as noted this example’s unit mark means it must date from after 1833. The first standardized Pattern of band sword was introduced in 1856, which would have prompted the decline of non-standard types, and the Royal Armouries date their examples of this type between 1800-1860, so 1833-c1860 seems a reasonable date range for this piece.
For more examples of the ‘Type G’ see Robson’s Swords of the British Army, Revised Edition, page 259 (item 225), which he dates to circa 1820, or Withers’s British Military Swords page 78, or Wilkinson-Latham’s British Cut & Thrust Weapons, page 43.
The blade is sharp with a few small nicks to its edge, its tip is undamaged. Its surface is bright with satin finish, some polishing and grinding marks, The blade has a few tiny spots of light patination. The hilt, grip and pommel have light patination, a few small brown spots on one side of the grip and the aforementioned indentation where the marking would usually be. The quillon on the edge side of the blade has a brazed repair which appears to have reattached it. This is well executed and shows up as a fine silver line. The brass scabbard has an even light patina with some large dents to the sides. Some of these are deep enough to add a little friction against the blade, but I can confirm that the blade will still fully sheath and draw. Some scuffing and light scratching, particularly in the lower section, a few brown spots.
