Reconstructing the system of sword wielding by French cuirassiers and dragoons, 1803-1815
Zvjagincev M.I. (2024). Rekonstrukcija sistemy vladenija palashom francuzskih kirasir i dragun, 1803-1815 gg. [Reconstructing the system of sword wielding by French cuirassiers and dragoons, 1803-1815]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 13, pp. 267 — 371. Zvjagincev M.I. Abstract: The article attempts to reconstruct the sword wielding system of French heavy and line Cavalry (XI/XIII pattern) which actually established in 1803-1815. The necessity and importance of this reconstruction is explained by the following fact: it was only in 1829 when the first official regulations which specified the training of cavalrymen in detail, including the wielding of long-bladed cold arms, appeared in France. The system discussed in the article has not been formulated or described separately. However, it can be reconstructed relying on the draft manual “A New System of Swordsmanship in the Cavalry” (1818) by the British Cavalry officer Charles Edward Radclyffe. The manual can be referred to because the system…