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How Battles Were Fought
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Weapons System

Backsword

Early Modern

A backsword, also called a pallasch or known in the British Army as the heavy cavalry sword, is a type of cavalry sword with a sabre-style hilt and single-handed grip but a long straight blade suited to thrusting during a cavalry charge. In simplified terms a backsword can be described as a straight sabre, just as a sabre can be described as a curved backsword. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)
Sword / Polearm / Bladed 1
Classification
Service Status
Retired 1
Weapon Class
Cavalry sword 1
Connections

Operated By

British Army, Armed Forces and Units
Source Wikipedia: Backsword
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Backsword
  • Lead, sentence 1
    is a type of cavalry sword
  • Weapon class (sword-polearm-blade) is a pre-industrial/melee weapon type by its own nature per the entity's own sourced description text; not carried in current active military service.
  • Operated By: British Army, Article text
    A backsword, or pallasch (British Army: heavy cavalry sword), is a type of cavalry sword, characterised by having a sabre-style hilt with a single-handed grip, but with a long straight blade, allowing it to effectively thrust in a cavalry charge.
  • In Group: Early Modern Swords and Sabres, Lead sentence
    A backsword, or pallasch (British Army: heavy cavalry sword), is a type of cavalry sword, characterised by having a sabre-style hilt with a single-handed grip, but with a long straight blade, allowing it to effectively thrust in a cavalry charge.
View the Source
Wikidata: Backsword
Wikidata Q798522, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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