There were swords, short double-edged cut-and-thrust blades; the long single-edged cavalry swords with basket hilts that the east coast kingdoms favored.

Those Frenchmen who were untouched by British heavy cavalry swords immediately fled back toward their own lines chased by the British and Netherlands infantry.

The Central Asian Turks and their offshoots begun using curved cavalry swords beginning from the late Hsiung-Nu period.

Now it hung from the pommel of Uchitel's saddle, a long cavalry sword with a slightly curved blade, angled and weighted for a downward thrust from horseback.

Still the long cavalry swords were formidable weapons.

Captain Hornby, leader of the squadron, was awarded the DSO as the first British officer to kill a German with the new pattern cavalry sword.

In common with British cavalry swords of the era, they were compromised cut-and-thrust swords and as a consequence were not ideal for either task.

Cuirassiers were armed with a straight-bladed cavalry sword, carbine and a pistol from 1806.

Within the scabbard a Danish cavalry sword, crafted in 1734, had a double edged blade and a shell like guard.