Practice with the saber

[rbruno]

To All,
I was thinking over the past couple of days about how the troopers, both US and CS, would have practiced with their sabers. I have read through Poinsettes and Patton's manuals and they talk about the saber exercise dismounted and once the troopers became proficient with the saber they would do the drill mounted making sure the movements fo the saber did not hit or cut the horse. What I am wondering is if the men ever practice/drilled at saber fighting? In other words, does anyone have any documentation of the men essentially "sparing" either dismounted or mounted with the saber to prepare for battle? Our unit just recently did a living history, and we did the usual dismounted saber drill. I was thinking would it be correct to have a sparing match in a drill like setting. Would the movements be determined before hand? I have heard/read, but I can't remember where, that before a fencing match, a pair of men go through a prescribe set of movements as a warm up before a match. Was that done in saber drill as well?
Thanks,
Rob Bruno
1st MD Cav

[Steven Dacus]

Re: Practice with the saber

We'll see what happens when I reply to this 6 year old thread but it is interesting that this is not discussed more. Our unit has started "sparing" and have even gone to the lengths of getting saber quality fencing gear to work in. This has been a welcomed side note to our unit as we don't have the numbers to get really good at complicated drill/maneuvers that require more numbers than we have. Although the authenticity of becoming proficient with the saber both mounted and dismounted could be argued, we have adopted it as a fun activity within our organization while continuing to communicate that the movements do not belong on the reenacting battlefield and that depending on which unit and year we represent, proficient use of the saber by an enlisted-man may not be appropriate.

But, all-in-all it has brought our unit together through a bit of competition.

Thoughts?