M1840 Heavy Calvary (Dragoon) saber. Steel hilt spray painted gold; Phrygian helmet pattern pommel; steel grip; three wires attached to the pommel wrap around the grip; half- basket guard consisting of a knuckle bow and two branches on the obverse side; oval counter guard; curved, single-edged blade with one fuller running from the ricasso to within 7.375" of the tip of the blade and a second fuller that runs 17.25" along the back of the blade which is flat.
Used by Captain William Roberts of Bristow, Kentucky, in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, ca. 1862.
During the Mexican-American War dragoons were armed with sabers, single shot pistols, and a carbine. The saber was considered the Dragoons primary weapon; the M1840 “Wrist Breaker” heavy cavalry saber was the model carried by the Regiment during the war. Called the “Wrist Breaker” due to its heavy blade, this model was patterned after the French 1822 light cavalry model and served as a replacement for the M1833 Dragoon sabre—considered inferior due to poor construction.
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