Marine Corps sword question.

[major bill]

For many years leading up to the Civil War marine Corps officers carried a Mameluke style sword. However, in 1859 the regulation of Marine officers switched to a sword based on United States Army foot officer swords. In the 1870s the Mameluke style swords made a come back. Has anyone seen documentation as to why this occurred?

I am not sure the U.S. Army foot officer sword was superior to the Mameluke style swords the Marine Corps officers had been carrying. To be fair in the 1859 regulations Marine NCO swords changed as did Marine Corps musicians swords.

a Mameluke style sword

 

[major bill]

The out dated swords used by Marine NCOs, Marine Musicians and Marine Boy Musicians up until 1859.

So why were these are out dated by 1859?

 

[Richard E. Schenk]

For many years leading up to the Civil War marine Corps officers carried a Mameluke style sword. However, in 1859 the regulation of Marine officers switched to a sword based on United States Army foot officer swords. In the 1870s the Mameluke style swords made a come back. Has anyone seen documentation as to why this occurred?

I am not sure the U.S. Army foot officer sword was superior to the Mameluke style swords the Marine Corps officers had been carrying. To be fair in the 1859 regulations Marine NCO swords changed as did Marine Corps musicians swords.

The M1859 USMC Officer's sword was not just based on the M1850 Foot Officer's sword, it was the M1850 officer's sword. The sword carried by Marine officers is indistinguishable from the sword carried by Army officers unless it is inscribed to a particular Marine. There were some practical reasons cited for the change, e.g. the brass scabbard of the M1826 mameluke dented too easily, especially in confined shipboard spaces, the blade was not stout enough as shown by its failure during the John Browm incident, etc, but the real reason was just fashion. In the 1840s and 1850s, the US military switched from using uniforms and equipment based largely on UK models to those based on French models. Not all Marines were happy about losing their distinctive mameluke swords for an Army clone, so in 1875 the Corps brought bake the mameluke in slightly modified form, e.g. with a nickel-plated steel scabbard vice brass. In 1915 it was again slightly modifiedby removing the small top fuller, thus narrowing the blade to its current width , and changing the etching pattern to the one currently being used. In 1942 the requirement for officers to have a mameluke was wliminated to preserve metal for more important wartime production. Again, many officers were not happy to lose a cherished piece of Marine tradition, so after some delay, the requirement was reinstated after WWII and remains to this day.

 

[Richard E. Schenk]

The out dated swords used by Marine NCOs, Marine Musicians and Marine Boy Musicians up until 1859.
View attachment 180798

So why were these are out dated by 1859?

As in the case of the officer's sword, the change was largely a fashion choice. These eagle head pommel swords were adopted at about the same time as the mameluke and were at the height of fashion in the 1820s. By the 1850s, however, eagle heads were definitely old fashioned and out of date. The Commandant and the board of officers which developed the new Uniform Regulation of 1859 wanted something more modern. Sergeants received a sword similar to that adopted for officers, but with plain brass vice gilt mountings, an unetched blade, and leather vice sharkskin grips. Musicians received the Horstmann version of the Army M1840 NCO sword.