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General George Patton, military hero in World War II, one of the most recognized American soldiers in history, was in addition to an impeccable commander, a skilled horseman and fencer, and an Olympic athlete. Patton was selected to compete in the 1916 Olympic Games, but these were not held when World War I broke out.
In the 1910s, George S. Patton, already excelled as a fencer in the US Army. He participated in the 1912 Olympics representing his country in the modern pentathlon discipline, finishing fifth overall. But in addition to that he was an innovator, who acted as a catalyst for the most profound changes in the Cavalry weapon in the history of the US Army.
At the end of the Olympics, Patton traveled to Saumur where he learned fencing techniques with the Adjutant Master of Arms Charles Cléry called “le beau sabreur”, considered one of the best master fencers of his time and a professor at the French School of Cavalry. The term Master of Arms refers to the highest consideration in fencing aptitude.
Upon returning to the United States, Patton applied the knowledge he had acquired. He writes a comprehensive report in late 1912, seeking to redesign the American Cavalry's saber combat doctrine. Patton argued that the tactic of cutting with the edge of a curved saber was not actually correct, favoring instead the thrust, using the saber as a continuation of the arm and wounding with the tip of it. Horse charges, with riders charging with a straight saber, could cause chaos in enemy formations. As a great fan of Military History that he was, he used it to argue:
«In the Peninsular War the English almost always used the sword to cut. The French dragoons, on the other hand, used only the point, with which, with their long straight swords, they almost always caused a fatal wound. This caused the English to protest that the French were not fighting fairly. Marshal Maurice of Saxony wanted to arm the French Cavalry with a weapon with a triangular blade in order to make mandatory use of the tip. At Wagram, when the Guard Cavalry appears to review in front of Napoleon before the charge, the Emperor tells them, Don't cut, use the point, not the edge! The tip!»
Patton impresses his superiors with his reasoning and is assigned to the office of the Chief of Staff of the US Army. There you are asked to make a Cavalry Manual based on your report.
This gives free rein to his proposal, and for this change he designs a new saber model, the M1913 Cavalry saber (or "Patton saber" for contemporary militaria collectors). Although the official name was a saber or straight saber, it was halfway between this and a sword. It was also a weapon designed exclusively according to the points of view of the new doctrine presented by Patton: with a basket guard and a straight, double-edged blade, ideal for horseback thrusting. At first glance, it largely resembles the European designs of the late 19th century, the French one from 1852 and the Prussian one from 1889, which already incorporated this doctrine of Cavalry as a shock weapon. According to experts, it was a very well balanced and ergonomic weapon. In 1913 the first batch of 20,000 Patton sabers was ordered.
