SIR HENRY ROBERT CARDEN’s SWORD
It is not certain that this is Sir Henry’s Sword,
though it is a fairly typical sword of a Dragoon officer during the Peninsula
War, and is engraved with the initials HRC.
The sword was offered on ebay in August 2016 by a seller in USA, and was bought by Mark Carden. It had been drawn to Arthur Carden’s attention by Richard Schenk of USA who had discussed it on the forum at http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?118093-What-s-this&highlight=carden where someone suggested that the initials HRC engraved upon it might be those of Sir Henry.
Schenk wrote:
This is
certainly a genuine Pattern 1796 Heavy Cavalry dress sword of the type
worn up to 1821 when it was replaced by the M1821 cavalry sword. It is mounted with an earlier blade
which appears to be from a Scottish broad sword. It is marked with the
name "Andrea Ferrara" (as is traditional with Scottish broad swords),
a crowned "GR", and the owner's initials "HRC" in an
ornate, hard to decipher style. From the style, it would appear the
initials were etched on the blade at a later time than the other markings,
probably when it was rehilted.
It probably wasn't the blade which was replaced but rather
the hilt. In cases like this when we see an old blade on a newer model
sword, it is usually because an officer wanted to use an old family sword when
he joined the military, so he would have the blade mounted in a current model
hilt and scabbard. This was a not at all uncommon practice at the
time. This blade could possibly date back to the 17th century; if
so, the Crown/GR etching would have been added sometime in the mid-1700s, and
the "HRC" monogram at an even later date.
As to whether Sir Henry wore this sword at Waterloo on
other engagements is uncertain. This was a dress sword. He probably
also had an undress sword which was in a plainer style which was the one
usually carried on informal occasions (such as a battle). This might
explain how it survived his capture on the Peninsula - when he was captured he
was likely wearing his undress sword while his dress sword was with his fancy
full-dress uniform back in camp. After his release he was probably able
to recover his old belongings.
(No other expert opinion is available at present.)
It seems almost certain that this was Sir Henry Robert
Carden’s sword. He inherited the baronetcy in 1822 and renamed many of the
Templemore streets after Peninsula War battles. Perhaps at that time he had his
Waterloo Medal refurbished. It seems likely that he also either obtained this
sword and adopted it as his own or had his own genuine sword refurbished.
The sword probably remained with the family in
Templemore until the contents of Templemore Abbey were sold at auction in 1921.
1 comment:
My website has two coats of arms with the surname Carden.
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