The 1822 Pattern Royal Welch Fusiliers variant
This is a short article documenting the Royal Welch Fusiliers variant of the British 1822 Pattern officer’s sword, putting forward some conjecture in regards to how long the variant lasted based on available evidence, and discussing how many may have existed to give an idea of how many could have survived to the present day.
To begin with, a quick introduction on the 1822 officer’s sword to compare — a steel pipebacked blade, generally about 32.5 inches long, with a gilded brass guard in the ‘gothic’ style. This guard had an oval cartouche built into it, and the cypher of the reigning monarch would be displayed in brasswork within it. There are some variations on this last point, one example being the sabres of the Honourable East India Company which displayed the lion rampant with crown, and another being the sabre this article is discussing, although this type is a much more extreme deviation from the norm than that of the HEIC. In 1845 the blade type was updated from a pipebacked blade to a fullered blade, and I will refer to an 1822 with this updated design as an 1822/45.
The earliest possible date for the Royal Welch Fusiliers variant sabre is 1822, with it being a variant of the 1822 officer’s sabre and very similar to the standard type, but having the cypher of the monarch in the cartouche replaced with the feathers of the Prince of Wales, this being the specific defining feature of the type. It also appears from observation that these had a rigid inner guard rather than the folding guard standard to the 1822, but this is not an absolute defining feature as other 1822’s do occasionally have this. Four of the five examples known to me so far are also noted to have longer blades than usual for an infantry sabre, being of cavalry proportions. The example described by Spink USA as a ‘Cavalry Officer’s Sword’ and the example held by the National Army Museum referenced in the sources were both complete with a steel scabbard, not leather and brass, suggesting that a steel scabbard was the norm for these sabres. It also appears that most if not all of these sabres were made by Prosser.
At least four of the five examples of the special type that I have been able to find definitely have relatively substantially built guards with a rigid inner guard, and all five seem to have been fitted with blades designed for combat — most seem to have cavalry sized blades and a quill point. The example in my collection weighs just over 1kg and has a blade length of 35.5 inches, so is considerably larger than a standard infantry sabre of the time (32.5 inches long), and this seems to match the other examples with known specifications.
Below I have included some images of my example compared in size against two other swords in my collection, those being an 1821/45 cavalry length artillery officer’s sword and a full weight 1822/45 owned by an officer of the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
An interesting construction detail that I would like to add is that the silver-coloured badge of the Prince of Wales in the guard cartouche is not a solid piece of metal affixed in the centre as with most cartouche designs (the standard royal cyphers, the HEIC lion, the Rifles strung bugle etc.) but is in fact a plate of silver-coloured metal affixed to a brass piece spanning the gap. I assume that this is due to the silver-coloured metal being different to the surrounding metal, as with the other examples named the material would be of a consistent type. It would be easier to make a piece in all brass and then attach a silver-coloured piece to the top than it would be to make an empty cartouche and then affix in a piece of non-consistent metal.
Some evidence in the form of other surviving sabres suggests that by the reign of Victoria this pattern was no longer in use, either in pipeback or in 1845 fullered form. It is also possible that use of the pattern was an entirely optional affectation for officers of the RWF, meaning that perhaps not every officer in the regiment during the period of use carried one. These theories are given some credence based on one of the surviving examples listed, which does not display the identifying trait of the pattern but is personalised very clearly as a Fusiliers sabre, having a fired grenade on the guard and being marked as belonging to the RWF on the blade. This example does however appear to be a quite dainty piquet weight, having a thin blade and insubstantial-looking guard with the inner folding section, quite unlike the fairly sturdy fighting swords thus far made note of.
Due to the fact that the Royal Welch Fusiliers were not on campaign from the introduction of the 1822 officer’s sabre until the Crimean War I would normally expect these sabres to have a relatively high survival rate — ironic, considering my observations as to the design of this pattern being more suited to combat than the standard 1822. However, of the five examples known to me all are definitely pre-Victorian.
The first one, detailed by Robson, is etched with the markings of a retailer styling themselves ‘To The King’. I believe this to be the same one held by the National Army Museum, with the cypher of George IV on the blade and a blade length of 36.5 inches, made by Prosser. The NAM example is complete with steel scabbard.
The second (the one fitted with the ‘light cavalry blade’ in the Yorkshire museum) is etched with the cypher of William IV.
The third example (in my own collection) has extremely faint etchings but can be made out as having been made by Prosser, explaining the blade type. The cypher appears to be that of William IV, the blade is 35.5 inches long, and it weighs just over 1kg.
The fourth example, put up for auction by Antony Cribb in 2019, was made by Prosser, bears the cypher of William IV and has a blade length of 35.25 inches.
The fifth example was put up for auction by Spink USA, made by Prosser and bearing the cypher of William IV, 35.25 inch blade. This one is complete with steel scabbard.
It is my personal opinion that for some reason these swords were no longer produced following the coronation of Queen Victoria — one potential reason for this is that it may have been an unauthorised deviation that was noticed and clamped down on with a new monarch in power. If this is the case, as mentioned above the potential maximum number of sabres reduces dramatically. It also means that it becomes even less likely that all RWF officer’s would have owned an example as it would have been pure affectation and not regulation, thus further reducing the potential number of examples. It being purely optional is supported by the existence of a surviving 1822 officer’s sabre etched to the 23rd of Foot and bearing the cypher of William IV, without showing any of the defining features of this type. This example is linked in the sources. Further evidence that this design fell out of use is that two of the Victorian RWF sabre examples I have found are presentation swords — here if anywhere at all I would expect a special regimental pattern to be used, but they are both regulation examples.
I believe based on the surviving sabres that I have logged that what may have happened is the Royal Welch Fusiliers began using this pattern unauthorised in the reign of George IV in small numbers, and that when William IV gave them special permission to wear the flash in 1834 (https://www.rwfia.org/Traditions_Flash.htm) they grew bolder in their use of this unauthorised pattern — four of the five surviving examples detailed in this article bear the cypher of William IV, indicating that they may be in the majority. The only non-regulation Victorian sabre I have found marked to the Royal Welch Fusiliers is the piquet weight example pictured and linked to in this article, which deviates much less from regulation than the special pattern. Perhaps the Royal Welch had less influence with the new monarch on the throne and Horse Guards were swift to bring them back into line, with that slightly non-regulation dress sword being a little show of defiance. If this theory is proven incorrect by new documents or evidence, my article shall be amended accordingly, but that is my current working theory.
Including the Paymasters, Quartermasters, Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons I counted 102 unique officers’ names from 1822 to 1837 — if my personal opinion proves correct it would stand to reason that 102 would then be the maximum number of this type of sword with the true number probably being much lower than that.
It is worth noting that parallel research by Nick Thomas suggests that Prosser was also the sole maker of the Napoleonic Wars period sword pattern of the Welch Fusiliers associated with their flank and field officers. His video on this prior associated pattern can be found here:
Credit:
I’d like to thank Steve Langham for his advice and assistance with this, and Matthew Forde for again reading over the work to ensure that it was coherent!
Sources:
Relevant examples that do not meet the criteria:
Examples that do meet the criteria:
National Army Museum Accession Number: 1980–09–108
Other references to the type:
Other sources: