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The Last Cavalry Sword: An Illustrated History of the Twilight Years of Cavalry Swords (UK) General George S. Patton and the US Army’s Last Sword
This book tells the story of the last sword ever designed by a major power for its army to use as a weapon, not as an article of a dress uniform. The sword was the U.S. Model 1913 Cavalry Saber; the designer was George S. Patton, then a lieutenant on the staff of the Army chief of staff.
Patton participated in the modern pentathlon in Stockholm in 1912, which included fencing, coming fifth overall. No one in the U.S. Army could be better suited, therefore, to design its last major edged weapon.
The Last Sword provides an illustrated overview of the history of cavalry swords and their employment on the battlefield from the end of the Renaissance, through the Napoleonic Era, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, culminating with the Patton cavalry saber, and includes descriptions of a number of the more famous cavalry charges.
Patton’s unswerving belief in the value of horse-mounted cavalry, and in the value of those troopers and officers being equipped with the sword he designed, is described using his own words. He continued to advocate horse-mounted cavalry right up to the start of the Second World War. Though mechanized squadrons replaced the conventional cavalry, it was not quite the end of Patton’s sword as some Model 1913 Cavalry Sabers were converted to fighting knives carried by GIs during the war.
The book is fully illustrated with images from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of American History, the Library of Congress, the General George S. Patton Museum, the National Museum of the U.S. Army, the Connecticut Historical Society, and from private collections, most of which have never been published before.
Patton participated in the modern pentathlon in Stockholm in 1912, which included fencing, coming fifth overall. No one in the U.S. Army could be better suited, therefore, to design its last major edged weapon.
The Last Sword provides an illustrated overview of the history of cavalry swords and their employment on the battlefield from the end of the Renaissance, through the Napoleonic Era, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, culminating with the Patton cavalry saber, and includes descriptions of a number of the more famous cavalry charges.
Patton’s unswerving belief in the value of horse-mounted cavalry, and in the value of those troopers and officers being equipped with the sword he designed, is described using his own words. He continued to advocate horse-mounted cavalry right up to the start of the Second World War. Though mechanized squadrons replaced the conventional cavalry, it was not quite the end of Patton’s sword as some Model 1913 Cavalry Sabers were converted to fighting knives carried by GIs during the war.
The book is fully illustrated with images from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of American History, the Library of Congress, the General George S. Patton Museum, the National Museum of the U.S. Army, the Connecticut Historical Society, and from private collections, most of which have never been published before.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published December 14, 2022
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August 14, 2023
As the author, it may be inappropriate to write my own review, but here's the review from the Fairfax Connector:
McLean author details impact of George Patton on swords, sabers
'The weapons are well-balanced and devastating when wielded properly'
Brian Trompeter
Mar 7, 2023 3:31 PM
Shortly before World War I erupted in Europe, the U.S. Army approved a design for what would be its final cavalry combat saber.
With its 35-inch-long double-edged straight blade, robust sheet-metal hand guard and checkered grip that was in line with the blade instead of offset, the Model 1913 saber was intended primarily for sticking into adversaries, not slashing them.
Its designer was an Army lieutenant who just a few years later would be a leader of the Army’s tank forces in World War I and become a world-famous four-star general in World War II: George S. Patton.
McLean author C. Anthony Burke’s first book, “The Last Cavalry Sword,” provides a history of swords and shows how that weapon – formidable when wielded on horseback, but ineffective against enemies manning machine guns – achieved its apex with Patton’s help.
The author, who has worked for the Internal Revenue Service for nearly 35 years, has been fascinated by swords since receiving a book about them as a small child.
Burke originally planned to write a book about collectors, but focused instead on how the final U.S. combat sword came to be.
“I like this idea of the last of something,” he said. “The Patton saber is the last sword developed by a major power as a combat weapon for its army.”
Patton, whose ancestors fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, designed the 1913 sword with the same mastery and attention to detail that marked his career.
“He had very high ideals and aristocratic values,” Burke said. “He strove for that himself and for others. He wanted the U.S. cavalry to have the best equipment that it could.”
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point, Patton was serving as a lieutenant under Gen. Leonard Wood, Army chief of staff, when he was tasked with updating the Army’s combat saber, which had been modified only slightly since the Civil War.
Patton was uniquely situated for the task, having recently taken fifth place in the pentathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. That event required participants to compete in running, swimming, pistol shooting, horsemanship and fencing.
Patton had studied swordsmanship in France and come to prefer straight sabers to the curved ones then in use by the U.S. military. Curved sabers were better for slashing opponents, but straight ones let the user pierce a foe with the tip – a devastating blow that was about five times more lethal than slashing, Patton wrote.
The book is packed with black-and-white photos showing swords from various eras, plus images of Patton and other soldiers demonstrating proper saber technique.
Mounted troops would attack by leaning forward with their sabers and shielding their heads against their horses’ necks.
Cavalry in theory could use lances the same way, but sabers allow for parrying afterward, Burke said.
Burke’s book has a glossary that defines multiple kinds of swords, plus the kind of troops who used them. There also are technical drawings of Patton’s sword.
Patton knew the value of firearms, but also said, “A cold steel weapon is not only desirable, but vitally necessary.” Sabers also inspire dread.
“People on foot fear cavalry,” Patton said. “That’s why municipalities retain mounted police.”
Advances in weaponry soon would lead the military to sideline sabers except for dress uniforms. Patton and his troops unfortunately had to wield their swords against disgruntled U.S. veterans in July 1932 during the “Bonus March” in Washington, D.C.
During World War II, the U.S. military cut down many 1913 Patton swords to make combat knives.
Burke, a District of Columbia native who grew up in Arlington, rowed when he attended the former Washington-Lee High School and was a history major at George Washington University, but took up fencing after college. He never has fenced with a Patton sword, saying the weapon is fairly heavy.
Springfield resident Roy Fogle, who has Patton sabers in his collection, said Burke thoroughly researched the book.
“It’s very informative from the early days of sabers and swords through the end of production,” he said. “Swords are just a work of art.”
Tom Graham, a sword collector and friend of Burke’s who lives in Woodbridge, owns versions of Patton’s saber that were carried by cavalry troops and officers. The weapons are well-balanced and devastating when wielded properly, he said.
“The idea was to keep moving,” he said of cavalry units. “They’d just stick you with that thing and you were out of the battle.”
Ed Donnen, who met Burke while working at the IRS, taught him competitive fencing at lunchtime.
Donnen cautions that Olympic fencing in no way resembles actual saber combat. “There are many things competitive fencing can give you, such as a keen sense of distance, timing and sportsmanship,” he said.
Donnen was delighted that Burke had become the sixth published author in their writers’ group.
“I think the one thing Anthony really took to heart about fencing is the saying, ‘There are two kinds of people in the world: fencers and targets,’” he said. “He approaches many of life’s situations with a keen eye to exploit an opportunity to make a ‘touch.’ I’m very proud of him.”
McLean author details impact of George Patton on swords, sabers
'The weapons are well-balanced and devastating when wielded properly'
Brian Trompeter
Mar 7, 2023 3:31 PM
Shortly before World War I erupted in Europe, the U.S. Army approved a design for what would be its final cavalry combat saber.
With its 35-inch-long double-edged straight blade, robust sheet-metal hand guard and checkered grip that was in line with the blade instead of offset, the Model 1913 saber was intended primarily for sticking into adversaries, not slashing them.
Its designer was an Army lieutenant who just a few years later would be a leader of the Army’s tank forces in World War I and become a world-famous four-star general in World War II: George S. Patton.
McLean author C. Anthony Burke’s first book, “The Last Cavalry Sword,” provides a history of swords and shows how that weapon – formidable when wielded on horseback, but ineffective against enemies manning machine guns – achieved its apex with Patton’s help.
The author, who has worked for the Internal Revenue Service for nearly 35 years, has been fascinated by swords since receiving a book about them as a small child.
Burke originally planned to write a book about collectors, but focused instead on how the final U.S. combat sword came to be.
“I like this idea of the last of something,” he said. “The Patton saber is the last sword developed by a major power as a combat weapon for its army.”
Patton, whose ancestors fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, designed the 1913 sword with the same mastery and attention to detail that marked his career.
“He had very high ideals and aristocratic values,” Burke said. “He strove for that himself and for others. He wanted the U.S. cavalry to have the best equipment that it could.”
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point, Patton was serving as a lieutenant under Gen. Leonard Wood, Army chief of staff, when he was tasked with updating the Army’s combat saber, which had been modified only slightly since the Civil War.
Patton was uniquely situated for the task, having recently taken fifth place in the pentathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. That event required participants to compete in running, swimming, pistol shooting, horsemanship and fencing.
Patton had studied swordsmanship in France and come to prefer straight sabers to the curved ones then in use by the U.S. military. Curved sabers were better for slashing opponents, but straight ones let the user pierce a foe with the tip – a devastating blow that was about five times more lethal than slashing, Patton wrote.
The book is packed with black-and-white photos showing swords from various eras, plus images of Patton and other soldiers demonstrating proper saber technique.
Mounted troops would attack by leaning forward with their sabers and shielding their heads against their horses’ necks.
Cavalry in theory could use lances the same way, but sabers allow for parrying afterward, Burke said.
Burke’s book has a glossary that defines multiple kinds of swords, plus the kind of troops who used them. There also are technical drawings of Patton’s sword.
Patton knew the value of firearms, but also said, “A cold steel weapon is not only desirable, but vitally necessary.” Sabers also inspire dread.
“People on foot fear cavalry,” Patton said. “That’s why municipalities retain mounted police.”
Advances in weaponry soon would lead the military to sideline sabers except for dress uniforms. Patton and his troops unfortunately had to wield their swords against disgruntled U.S. veterans in July 1932 during the “Bonus March” in Washington, D.C.
During World War II, the U.S. military cut down many 1913 Patton swords to make combat knives.
Burke, a District of Columbia native who grew up in Arlington, rowed when he attended the former Washington-Lee High School and was a history major at George Washington University, but took up fencing after college. He never has fenced with a Patton sword, saying the weapon is fairly heavy.
Springfield resident Roy Fogle, who has Patton sabers in his collection, said Burke thoroughly researched the book.
“It’s very informative from the early days of sabers and swords through the end of production,” he said. “Swords are just a work of art.”
Tom Graham, a sword collector and friend of Burke’s who lives in Woodbridge, owns versions of Patton’s saber that were carried by cavalry troops and officers. The weapons are well-balanced and devastating when wielded properly, he said.
“The idea was to keep moving,” he said of cavalry units. “They’d just stick you with that thing and you were out of the battle.”
Ed Donnen, who met Burke while working at the IRS, taught him competitive fencing at lunchtime.
Donnen cautions that Olympic fencing in no way resembles actual saber combat. “There are many things competitive fencing can give you, such as a keen sense of distance, timing and sportsmanship,” he said.
Donnen was delighted that Burke had become the sixth published author in their writers’ group.
“I think the one thing Anthony really took to heart about fencing is the saying, ‘There are two kinds of people in the world: fencers and targets,’” he said. “He approaches many of life’s situations with a keen eye to exploit an opportunity to make a ‘touch.’ I’m very proud of him.”
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