Rules and Regulations for the Sword Exercise of the Cavalry. [LE MARCHANT (John Gaspard)].

29 folding engraved plates by S. J. Neale after P. Carey.

First Edition. 8vo. [235 x 148 x 20 mm]. xii, 98, [2] pp. Original marbled boards, rebacked with cream glazed paper and new label, plain endleaves, uncut edges.
London: printed for the War Office and sold by T. Egerton, Military Library, Whitehall, 1796

The title-page has the heading "By His Majesty's Command. Adjutant General's Office, 1st December, 1796" and Le Marchant's initials appear at the very end of the text. With the half-title and final leaf of "Books Printed for T. Egerton". The endleaves are watermarked 1796, and the front pastedown has the contemporary ink signature of "Thos. Kidman" and initials "J.W." which are repeated on the title. Plate 22 has been bound after plate 24. The plates are too tall for the text and are therefore folded. It is a fine copy.

ESTC records 13 institutional copies of this edition. There was another issue dated 1796 with a collation of xii, 90 pp, of which ESTC records six copies. It was republished in Dublin in 1797.

Le Marchant had been inspired to introduce the sword exercise after noting the clumsiness and high rate of injury of the dragoons in the Flanders campaign. He first sought tuition from foreign masters, and consulted sword-cutlers on improved blades. Eventually detachments from every regiment were tutored in his system. In 1799 he submitted to the Duke of York a plan for a national establishment for the instruction of officers, and in 1801 a parliamentary grant was voted for a royal military college (which eventually moved to Sandhurst). Le Marchant was Lieutenant-Governor of the schools until his promotion to Major-General in 1810. In 1812 he was fatally wounded by a musket-ball at the Battle of Salamanca - but not before he had cut down six of the enemy with his own hand.

Stock no. ebc5106