Principles of Squad Instruction for the Broadsword (Classic Reprint)

A tiny little book, but exactly what it purports to be. An authentic, no-nonsense drill for training saber and cutlass from an era when men still used such blades in deadly earnest.

There are many military manuals surviving from the era when the saber was the preeminent military sidearm. I have read most of them; I admit to being something of a saber swordsmanship geek.This manual, for its clarity, its omission of unnecessary elaboration, and its innocence of self serving puffery, stands out among the other books. It was prepared by the U.S. Naval Academy's fencing master, a man so well esteemed in his day that in later years the Navy named a ship after him.

Corbesier's "Principles of Squad Instruction for the Broadsword" is slightly misnamed, but excellent for the purpose for which it was intended. The intention of this book was as a lesson plan to instruct a relatively large group of people (and 12 to 1 is a very high student to instructor ratio for fencing) in the basics of the cutlass. The slight misnaming is that the sword of the time (1869) for the U.S. Navy was a curved, relatively short bladed cutlass rather than a broadsword which was generally straighter and significantly longer. Nevertheless, the instructions in this book are appropriate for most one-hand, cutting type swords.The book is organized into three lessons with an addendum on ripostes (attacks after a successful parry).-The first lesson is a brief review of some the drill movements and a lot of moulinets. The drill movements are to simplify the management of a relatively large group of students rather than to improve sword technique. The moulinets are the calisthenics of saber and cutlass use, the basic arm and wrist movements as strengthening exercises.-The second lesson is the basic fencing movements for the edged sword. Cuts, the thrust, and parries, along with rudimentary footwork. Only the basics, but well explained and adequately illustrated.-The third lesson is intended to be a double class size, where the students face other students and begin to learn how to apply the movements and footwork from lesson two.-The addendum is a discussion of the best ripostes to different attacks, and formated to compliment the third lesson.One of the things modern sport fencers might not appreciate is the weight of the weapons these sailors were training with. A cutlass with a twenty-four inch blade would weigh twice as much or more than a modern sport saber with a thirty five inch blade. So to a modern sport fencer, the movements will seem simplistic and ponderously slow, when the lessons are for the movements that were most of the practical ones with the weapon the sailors trained with.I say sailors because this is a piece of U.S. Naval history. It was written by a Naval Academy sword master. The leadership of the Navy thought highly enough of him to name destroyer escort after him in WWII, the USS Corbesier, DE 438. This book harkens back to the days when ships were wood and men were iron, to the finest traditions of the navy as Winston Churchill would say. A worthwhile bit of history and tradition for any sailor.N.B. Originals are scarce, but electronic copies and reprints are availible.A great little fencing book for any sabreur or sailor.E. M. Van Court