The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-03-03
TIE SA.BER I'll T. LIE USED.
CAVALRY MEN SELDOM EN-
PLOY 1T IN BATTLE. vs.
..Struck With tho Saber'' 10 Familiar
Expression, but II Rarely Hap
pens--How silk Hand
kerchlsl Saved . Life.

From the time We reached the state
rendezvous until we went into camp
on the peninsula it was drill! drill!
drill! with the saber. A corporal
would take half a dozen the captain
the whole company, and for an hour
and a half we would go through the
cuts and thrusts and parties. There
was the front cut the down cut, the
savage thrust. the back-hand cut and
a dozen others, and we were told hat
our lives depended on knowing how to
give and receive each particular one.
It was good exercize. perhaps but on
the very first day we went into a fight
as cavalry all of us came to see the
absurdity of it.
Twas in thirty cavalry fights dur
ing the war and in none of them did I
witness or have use for anything like
the saber exercise, declares writer
in the Detroit Free Press. Not that I
did not see men struck with the saber,
but they were struck during the con-
fusion and melee when the other party
could claim no credit For instance,
our regiment drove full tilt into about
600 confederate cavalry at Brandy
Station. l used my revolver until it
was empty and then gripped my saber.
The smoke was very thick and men
and horses were greatly excited. In
the mad whirl a confederate rode upon
me and made savage slash with his
saber 1t missed my head and cut the
pommel of my saddle. Before he could
get away I ''swiped" at him and
know the edge of the saber struck his
face. I may have knocked out some
OF his teeth. but the edge was as blunt
as a hoe and could not have cut the
skin. .',- &@4'
At Shepardstown we were charged
about the same way. There were a
great many sabers flashing as they
came on. but by the time the shock
came the revolvers and carbines were
doing the heft of the work. had a
fair show in that fight to give thrust,
and it was lamentable failure. I
got the point of the saber in under the
enemy's appraised right arm, but I
doubt if drew blood; simply pushed
him half out of his saddle and he re-
taliated with a side cut which uncov-
cred my head and did no further dam.
age. 49,
There were probably more mon hit
with the saber at Gettysburg than any
where else during the war. The main
reason for this was the equality Of
numbers. together with the fact that
very few: of the union cavalry had
revolvers. We charged with our car
bines slung to our backs, and it was
saber or nothing. l had heavy silk
handkerchief inside my new hat that
day as a preventive of sunstroke. It
prevented a confederate cavalryman
from splitting my head open. I had
young, green horse; and he gave
Inc no end of trouble. While was
trying to prevent him from going out
of the fight backwards a confederate
approached me from the rear and ad-
ministered the down cut. It dazed me
for d moment but the heavy hat and
handkerchief, backed up by thick
growth of hair, saved my head. He
drew blood. and had a sore head for
a week after but he had wasted his
blow.
After the first ten minutes of thu at
cavalry encounter nothing but sabers
were used. We thrust hacked and
cut, hitting both horse and man. but
doubt If any one was killed outright
on either side with the steel. To
make saber effective it must carry a
keen edge. During my three years
in the army did not see above a
dozen sharpened sabers. We had no
orders to grind them, and so we car
ried them with a hoe-edge .-. \
Then it takes a strong armed man
to WELD a common cavalry saber so
as to strike an effective blow. His
horse must be reasonably steady, so
he can control him with the bride
arm, and there must be plenty of mus.
Gle in the arm to give weight to the
blow. With a sharp saber a man
weighing 100 pounds might split a
mans skull but man weighing thirty
pounds less, with a dull weapon.
would only make play towards it. In
fact realizing his incapacity in that
direction he wouldn't try it.
In cavalry encounter at Kelly's
Ford I struck confederate fair on
the neck with my saber. and struck
as hard as could. He tumbled from
his saddle and was captured. l did
not even draw blood. I gave him
such a blow as to stun him for a few
minutes the same as if had struck
him with club but aside from a
stiff neck he was all right. Big,
strong men with keen-edged sabers
would do some awful cutting, and
they would inspire fear wherever thew
charged, but average men and aver
age weapons accomplish very little
outside Of the moral effect.
Quantrell proved that there was
something far more effective than the
saber, Each Of his men was armed
with at least two revolvers Each
one could shoot right and left-handed.
A squad of thirty Of them thus armed
never hesitated to charge hundred
regular cavalry, and they never
charged without inflicting terrible de-
struction.
Science Mt Fault.
lit is a fallacy to saw that a N y