The 1816 artillery short sword was a sidearm issued to the French foot artillery. Heavily influenced by the prevailing

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

of the day, the sword was based on ancient sculptural depictions of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

gladius ''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...

'', the standard sword of the Roman

legionaries The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius'', plural ''legionarii'') was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army after the Marian reforms. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republi ...

. The short sword would not have been a practical weapon for combat without a shield, but served as a

fascine knife The fascine knife was a side arm / tool issued to 17th to 19th century light infantry and artillery. It served both as a personal weapon and as a tool for cutting fascines (bundles of sticks used to strengthen the sides of trenches or earth ra ...

or a

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

to clear fields for the guns. It also served for other practical uses, the French soldiers calling it a ''coupe-chou'' ("cabbage cutter"). It was in service until about 1870. The model was reissued in 1831 with minor changes. Most visibly, the newer model had a ringed grip rather than the fishscale pattern seen in the earlier model. It also provided the inspiration for the American Model 1832 Foot Artillery Sword, though the American model retained the fishscale grip of the 1816 model.

References

Modern European swords Weapons of France {{France-mil-stub