Starr 1818 Infantry/Artillery Sword

[horseclover]

This is a type that had been on a long list for some years and when a relative bargain showed up, I had to pull the trigger before it found another home. I have to thank Dale Martin for mentioning the dealer because I have seen some other terrific values pass through, I had almost bought an 1816 glaive but missed it by not being intent about it. accolades aside now, we look at one of these funny looking little swords.

Twenty-six inches of blade, the width makes it seem shorter. This is a broad blade for its length. The unstopped fuller goes out about 19" and the blade grind does not exhibit a back edge towards the point but the fairly linear distal taper thins out more quickly after the fuller and the cross section at the point down to 1mm. Just shy of 1 1/4" wide at the guard.

With the scabbard and frog, the whole of it weighs just over two pounds, with the sword itself about 1lb 6oz. There is a bend and rease in the scabbard, many blade nicks and no blade washer but the frog with it seems quite old and seems to have always been there. I have no idea whether it was a pattern specific to the sword but has kind of petrified on the scabbard after the many decades.

The grip leather is quite complete and preserved. Someone had collection tangs on both the sword and scabbard, so seemingly from a previous serious collector. Thre is nothing for me to try to undo or add to this one except to enjoy a very light and handy feeling sidearm. Not unique to Starr swords but worth mentioning if not familiar is that the tangs are threaded with a cutlery nut, not unlike what we see on a lot of 20th century Solingen type hunting knives. My antique Canon doesn't do terrific macro as snapshots but if I spent the time with manual settings and a tripod, even at 3 megapixels would be better than a quickie.

Abstracting from what I read of the very old Starr notes are that there were 4,000 of these ordered but after just one sent in 1818, 2,000 were delivered in 1819 and those all marked to Luther Sage. Then in 1820, the final 1,000 were delivered. Some of those marked JN fo John Newbury and some marked Elisha Tobey. From the Hicks book, (1940 Nathan Starr), I see Tobey only marking those 1820 swords and nothing else. I have though seen Starr 1818 pattern cavalry swords marked by Tobey, so there is probably more to his history than just the Hicks volume.

There is no date imprint, so all we have to go on are the Hicks notes. There are some other neat and less common Starr swords that coould be a niche of collecting all by themselves. At some point in time I will be looking for one of the older 1812 pattern cavalry pieces but certainly some of the other infantry and cutlass patterns would put a smile on my face. The 1818 "nco" as these get listed, is one I have watched for a long time.

Cheers

GC

 

[gregorio]

It's nice to see some old examples of military cutlery. Do you know if these guys were forged or made by some other technique?

 

[horseclover]

This is actually covered in the Hicks book about Nathan Starr. The swords were sold to the Ordnance Dept for $4 per. The breakdown of piecework is very interesting and if then looking at the economics of the day, a smith could do pretty well if he produced and kept his own costs down (coal, labor, etc).

The book is long out of print but almost impossible to find at a bargain. I found an old library example and even that was pricy. Great book though and worth its weight for all the letters and correspondence.

Cheers

GC

 

[gregorio]

Thanks for the reply :thumbup:

 

[Marc Kaden Ridgeway]

Very nice Glen. Is it common to find examples as well preserved as that ? If so, were they usually issued or unissued?

I ask, because I don't have a clear understanding of how often artillery swords would have seen actual combat use , therefore I was thinking that many that were in actual service might have survived nicely. Is this the case or am I way off base?

 

[horseclover]

These were an issue item to army ncos Alternately referred to as infantry or artillery types and despite regulations for yellow/brass hilts, Starr examples of short swords were by and large steel hilts. This may cause some confusion to collectors but Starr regarded them as an artillery type. Starr (and junior) made a number of cutlass variations and larger sabers from the 1790s up into the 1820s.

The condition of this one, despite being shiny would more properly fall into the very good category, as the blade washer is gone and the servie or ad hoc banging chewed up the blade pretty good. If you search the net for the Starr 1818 nco, you will find most in pretty ratty condition, as they did get used up one way or another. The real highlights of this one are a near complete leather grip, the japanned scabbard and the frog. Only its own history might speak to how it was cared for. The scabbard could easily have been a marriage to the sword, as some do swap things around over the years.

With a blade washer, no nicks and an undented scabbard, these will sell in the low four figure bracket. This was considerably less and priced accordingly to its faults.

There were a great many short sidearms that did get carried in the early percussion rifle era and it was not just the nco troops in the 18th century that carried a fairly stout short sword. Take this French pattern from a century before the 1812 war and that continued use up to the 1812 war and beyond.

The Rose swords like this in the early 19th century, very much the same configuration.

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/161050-starr-1818-infantryartillery-sword/

Starr made pike heads and later the company moved on to rifles and even revolvers.

None of these arms made without the intent to be used.

Cheers

GC

Cheers