SPANISH 1802 PATTERN ARTILLERY TROOPER’S SWORD

Brass hilt with spiral twist motif brass grip. 21 ¼” concave face blade with long elegant false edge and showing distinct lineal patterning, probably Damascus steel. See Vicente Toledo for this pattern. See also Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America, Chamberlain, p.202 which illustrates an example in the Army Museum in Madrid. Note:  That example lacks the knuckle bow, but the author states that it has a straight cross guard lacking the terminal as he has only the picture to rely on and evidently has never seen an actual example which demonstrates the scarcity of this pattern. The Spanish allied with the French in the Napoleonic Wars. It is well noted that the French, particularly at Waterloo, relied on artillery to a fault as Napoleon was an artillery officer.