Featured Need help on a pare of US swords 1862

Hello, I found a pair of US swords from local estate sale. They seem original with 1862 mark. Could anyone help me to identify the history of them?

 

Love them navy

 

@the blacksmith !!!

 

United States navy, 1860 pattern, my knowledge of US swords is rather scant I must admit. Do you possibly have a picture from the front of the guard? There are a couple of different types of these.
D.R. was the inspector, Daniel Reynolds.
They look to be genuine to me, and I'd be happy with them.
There are fakes, but AFAIK, they are fairly obvious. Though I have to admit, I have never had one of these swords in hand. Nice find!

 

Cutlasses, from the big hand guards and the slightly curved blades. I'm no sword expert, or even close, but Navy guys had different blades than ground pounders.

 

size matters too.... the cavalry had longer swords

 

It must be remembered that officers were trained to use swords, and it was expected of them and their class. Cutlasses however, were used by relatively untrained men and originally intended for use in the close confines of below decks warfare, hence the shorter blades. They were thus big and brutal and lacking finesse.
I do not know about the United States navy, but sailors in the Royal navy were trained in the use of cutlasses until quite late, and cutlasses only officially ceased to be used as weapons in the Royal Navy in 1936!, though there is a record of them being used as late as 1940 by a Royal Navy boarding party!



And USN drill with single sticks, ca.1896.

 

Darned tootin! As the late, great Dorothy Sayers wrote "a bullet can go anywhere, but steel is bound to go somewhere."

 

If you clean them, do so cautiously and carefully. What ever you do, DON'T SHARPEN THEM.
They look original, and I think they might've been issued with a leather scabbard. As I understand it, cutlasses were part of the ships equipment, and issued to sailors as needed.

Good find, I wish I had one!




CSN, Savannah River Squadron / USN Naval landing party
Living history

 

Personally, I wouldn't clean them at all. They are in quite nice condition with good patina, and I'd let them wear their age proudly!
My own weapons, if they have been cleaned when I get them, I will keep them that way, but I don't clean them again, I simply wax them and leave them. If they have not been cleaned, then I will remove active rust, wax them, and leave it at that. But that is just me.

 

Thank you all for the suggestion. I had several Cavalry sword of the same period, the forging of blade seems similar, but hand guard is different.