Civil War Swords – Not Swords at All!

Horse Artillery Soldier

The faded photographs and illustrations in textbooks often picture the Civil War soldier, Federal or Rebel, sword in hand, posing for a portrait, or on his horse or on foot, charging into battle.

That sword in hand, however, is not a sword at all – rather, it’s a saber, a weapon with a long history that began it’s march toward obsolescence during the Civil War era.

The saber is descended from European weaponry, and dates to the 10th century at least. Traditionally used by the cavalry, sabers were used heavily in armed conflicts during the early part of the 19th century, but with the advent of sophisticated firearms during the mid-point of the 19th century, sabers became obsolete.

Irregardless of obsolescence, the saber was still part of the military arsenal at the outset of the Civil War. Union and Confederate cavalry troops alike were armed with sabers. In battle, the sabers were used infrequently, only seeing significant use during a handful of conflicts, including Gettysburg.

The saber was employed more often by Union cavalry than Confederate cavalry. Confederate cavalrymen abandoned the saber early on, choosing instead to fight with revolvers and carbines, weapons that were not only more effective, but also lighter to carry into battle. Considering that cavalrymen were mounted – riding horseback into battle – the saber proved to be an unwieldy, difficult to control weapon, especially when compared to the revolver or carbine.

When considering the differing opinions of the Union and Confederate cavalrymen regarding the saber, it is interesting to note that the American-made sabers that Union soldiers were outfitted with were much lighter than the European sabers issued to Confederate soldiers. This weight difference, however slight, no doubt affected the popularity of the saber with the Confederate cavalrymen.

The most compelling reason, however, for the eventual abandonment of the saber in wartime, both in the Civil War and in military use since, is undoubtedly the fact that the saber was a dangerous weapon to use, probably as dangerous for the aggressor than for the soldier on the receiving end. Sabers were typically only sharpened at the ends, not the entire length of the blade, making them most useful for unseating opposing forces, and for the collateral damage in broken bones that resulted. However, the saber, when used on horseback, as it most often was, unbalanced the aggressor in his seat and left him vulnerable to attack, whether it be from another saber or from a more deadly weapon. As the war wore on, the saber became more of a decorative weapon than a martial one.

The saber’s last gasp came during World War I, when cavalrymen, still on horseback, were outfitted with these white weapons. By World War II, and the dawn of mechanized warfare, the saber was relegated to dress uniforms and ceremonial use.

On a lighter note, the saber saber was responsible for conflict aside from the political differences between the Northern and Southern soldiers. While the Union men considered the saber to be a “white” weapon, and therefore honorable, Confederates considered the saber to be an outmoded form of weaponry. Union cavalrymen were known to taunt their Confederate counterparts by challenging them to “pick up your sabers and fight like gentlemen,” while one Southern cavalry commander found another, more earthy use for his saber – roasting meat over the fire.