45TH REGIMENT SWORD OF LT. JOHN EVANS TREVOR, 1810-1815

This sword is a variant of the Pattern 1796 Infantry Officers Sword, apparently adopted by the 45th Regiment of Foot as a regimental pattern. It shares most attributes of the P1796 sword, including the single-edged, wide fullered, long and straight, spadroon blade, with a gilt-mounted hilt with double-clamshell guard, D-knucklebow and urn-shaped pommel. However, on the 45th Foot pattern, there is a cruciform-shaped pair of quillons behind the crossguard, which have fine edge engraving applied to them, as well as upon the knuckle-bow. The folding inner half-guard has LT: TREVOR / 45th REGT" engraved upon it and appear to be of the period, but the manner of application is more akin to the work of a regimental armorer, rather than that of a fashionable sword cutler's shop. John Evans Trevor was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the 45th Regiment of Foot on October 18, 1810 and served with it during the Peninsular campaigns until seriously wounded at Toulouse on April 10, 1814. CONDITION: Most of the gilding is now missing from the brass mounts of the hilt, as is the silver, twisted-wire wrap of the wooden grip, the blade has a gunmetal grey patina to it. JLK Blade Length: 31" Overall Length: 38" Paperwork: Documentation