Spadroon

The Spadroon is a light sword with a straight blade of the cut and thrust type. The style became popular among military and naval officers in the 1790s, spreading from England to the United States and to France, where it was known as the "épée Anglaise". Hilts were often of the beaded or "five-ball" type with a stirrup guard. A spadroon blade usually had a broad, central fuller and a single edge, often with a false edge near the tip. Spadroons can also be double-edged as well.

Five ball hilt

Around the time of the Napoleonic War, European and American military forces began to utilize a specific style of sword hilt termed the "Five ball" hilt. It incorporated as a decorative feature spheres molded into the knuckleguard and counterguard, usually grouped as strings of 3,4 or 5 spheres, with one string on the knuckleguard and one on the counterguard. The term is often used a generic reference to swords which have the characteristics ball patterns in their hilts regardless of the exact number of balls. It was used by both Army and Navy officers, and in Great Britain, France and the United States, a classic example being the British Officers Five-Ball Spadroon. It incorporated a number of pommel styles from "pillow" or "cushion" pommel, to Eaglehead pommel, to an urn pommel. The popularity lasted from 1790 to until about 1820 when it was no longer produced. [http://hometown.aol.com/machood/5ball.html Internet Sword Collectors Association]

Footnotes

References

* P.G.W. Annis, "Naval Swords, British and American Naval Edged Weapons, 1660-1815", Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1970, p. 38.