| As standing armies, as opposed to the feudal levy, | | | | nations experimented with a wide variety of sword |
| developed in the 1500s, the military use of the sword | | | | patterns. United States Army artillerymen in the period |
| started to develop separately from civilian practice. By | | | | up to the Civil War carried a short sword that closely |
| the late 1600s military swordsmanship was already | | | | resembled the Roman short sword. Dragoon |
| characterized by a mass application very different | | | | regiments in the French Army used sword bayonets, |
| from civilian requirements. A gentleman about town | | | | composite weapons that could serve as a sword or a |
| needed to be able to use the sword to resist attacks | | | | bayonet, but not terribly effectively as either. And the |
| by thugs and to fight duels. These requirements were | | | | standard weapon for sailors of almost all navies |
| met very nicely by the smallsword, which combined | | | | remained the cutlass, a short cutting sword optimized |
| speed and finesse for the duel or the unexpected | | | | for shipboard combat, up to World War II. |
| encounter with a stylish appearance that made it an | | | | The American Civil War (1861-1865), the |
| appropriate accessory to the gentleman's attire. This | | | | Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), and the campaigns |
| was a weapon designed to be used in situations | | | | against the Native Americans of the west, spelled the |
| where you could concentrate on the opponent or | | | | end of the sword as a primary combat weapon. |
| opponents in front of you - an opponent that could be | | | | Revolvers and rapid fire carbines and rifles made the |
| dispatched with a nicely timed thrust delivered with | | | | cavalry more efficient as mounted infantry and scouts |
| some element of composure. | | | | than in their role as charging shock troops. Although |
| The military requirement was different. Now the | | | | officers, both foot and mounted, continued to carry |
| swordsman was either riding a horse in a mass of | | | | swords in the field as late as 1900, their use became |
| charging cavalry or fighting hand to hand with a mass | | | | increasingly symbolic. |
| of opponents. Encounters with any one opponent | | | | The last sword designs in both Britain (the Model 1908) |
| were brief, one thrust or cut, and move on to the next | | | | and the United States (the Model 1913) were for |
| opponent. The emphasis was on the shock value of | | | | cavalry sabers, and both entered service immediately |
| the mass of troops, not on skillful one-on-one duels. | | | | before World War I. These were the ultimate example |
| To meet this requirement, by the late 1700s and early | | | | of the military combat sword, optimized for use |
| 1800s weapons become increasingly standardized, | | | | mounted at the gallop as a thrust weapon. And they |
| issued in a standard pattern to all soldiers and | | | | saw very little combat use as the European front |
| non-commissioned officers. Commissioned officers, | | | | rapidly settled down to trench warfare. Three of the |
| drawn almost exclusively from the moneyed and | | | | last mounted cavalry charges occurred in World War II. |
| socially elite classes, knew how to use a smallsword | | | | Of these two were saber charges by famous old |
| as part of their education, and officers' swords often | | | | Italian cavalry regiments, by the Savoy Cavalry, a |
| retained the smallsword pattern, in some armies to this | | | | heavy dragoon regiment, near Chebotarevsky in the |
| day. However, the sword carried by the soldier was a | | | | Soviet Union and the Alessandria Light Cavalry at |
| heavier weapon, either of the broadsword or saber | | | | Perjasica in Yugoslavia, both in 1942. The other was a |
| pattern, and was used for both cut and thrust. The | | | | charge by United States Army's 26th Cavalry |
| cavalry saber in particular was a very efficient thrust | | | | (Philippine Scouts) in the retreat to Bataan against the |
| weapon. | | | | Japanese, and this was a mounted pistol charge. |
| It is important to note that the armed forces of various | | | | |