| Cutlass | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Sword (short sabre, single-edged) |
| Place of origin | Europe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th century |
| Used by | Sailors,pirates, andprivateers |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 28 to 32 in (71 to 81 cm) (leadcutter cutlasses were up to 36 in (91 cm) in length). |
| Blade type | Single-edged |
| Hilt type | Cup hilted guards, half-basket cup guards, and branch guards were commonly seen with cylindrical hilts and wire-wrapped hilts which are common and found on most cutlasses. |
Acutlass is a short, broadsabre or slashingsword with a straight or slightly curvedblade sharpened on the cutting edge and ahilt often featuring a solid cupped orbasket-shapedguard. It was a former common naval weapon during theAge of Sail.
The word "cutlass" developed from the 17th-century English use ofcoutelas, a 16th-century French word for amachete-like mid-length single-edged blade (the modern French for "knife", in general, iscouteau; in 17th- and 18th-century English the word was often spelled "cuttoe"). The French wordcoutelas may be a convergent development from a Latin root, along with the Italiancoltellaccio orcortelazo,[1] meaning "large knife".In Italy, thecortelazo was a similar short, broad-bladed sabre popular during the 16th century.[2]The rootcoltello, for "knife", derived ultimately from the Latincultellus meaning "smaller knife", which is the common Latin root for both the Italian and French words.[3]
In theEnglish-speaking Caribbean, the word "cutlass" is also used as a word formachete.[4][5]
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The cutlass is a 17th-century descendant of the edged short sword, exemplified by the medievalfalchion.
Woodsmen and soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries used a similar short and broadbacksword called ahanger, or in German aMesser, meaning "knife". Often occurring with the fulltang (i.e. slab tang) more typical of daggers than swords in Europe, these blades may ultimately derive through thefalchion (facon, falcon, fauchard) from thefalx orseax.[citation needed]
In England, about 1685 the rather long straight-bladed sword formerly in use began to be superseded by the "hanger". This weapon had a short and more or less curved single-edged blade with a brass hilt of a rather flat double-shell and knuckle-bow. The grip was generally of wood, bound with wire, but some specimens show a brass grip with spiral grooves. These are probably early models. The length of the blade is usually about 24 inches (61 cm).[6]
Although also used on land, the cutlass is best known as the sailor's preferred weapon, as it was robust enough to hack or cut through heavy ropes, thick canvas, and dense vegetation while being short enough to be used in relatively close quarters combat, such as duringboarding actions, in therigging, or below decks. Another advantage to the cutlass was its simplicity of use, as it required less training than that required to master arapier orsmall sword.
Cutlasses are famous for being used bypirates, although there is no reason to believe that Caribbeanbuccaneers invented them, as has occasionally been claimed.[7] However, the subsequent use of cutlasses by pirates is well documented in contemporary sources, notably by the pirate crews ofWilliam Fly,William Kidd, andStede Bonnet. French historianAlexandre Exquemelin reports the buccaneerFrançois l'Ollonais using a cutlass as early as 1667. Pirates used these weapons for intimidation as much as for combat, often needing no more than to grip their hilts to induce a crew to surrender, or beating captives with the flat of the blade to force their compliance or responsiveness to interrogation.[8][9][10][11]
Owing to its versatility, the cutlass was as often an agricultural implement and tool as it was a weapon (cf.machete, to which the same comment applies). It was used commonly inrain forest andsugarcane areas, such as theCaribbean andCentral America. In their most simplified form they are held to have become the machete of the Caribbean.
Theleadcutter sword was a weapon modelled on the cutlass, designed for use in shows and demonstrations of swordsmanship in the lateVictorian era.Wilkinson Sword made these swords in four sizes, no. 1 to no. 4, of increasing weight to suit the strength of the user. The leadcutter was so named because in demonstrations it was used to cut a lead bar in half.[12] Wilkinson included a mould for the lead bar with each purchase of their swords.[13]
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In 1830, after a constable of the LondonMetropolitan Police was shot and stabbed while on duty, theHome Secretary ordered that each police officer in the force "should be issued with a cutlass for his defence"; training in their use was provided atWellington Barracks. Initially carried while on night duty,[14] they were soon relegated to being kept in the localinspector's office for use in an emergency.[15] Provincial police forces sometimes deployed cutlasses during public disorder, using the hilts and flat edges of the blades to strike rioters, but there is no record of anyone being killed with one.[16] The last recorded issue of police cutlasses was during theTottenham Outrage, an armed robbery in 1909.[15]
In 1936, the BritishRoyal Navy announced that from then on cutlasses would be carried only forceremonial duties and not used in landing parties.[17] The last recorded use of cutlasses by the Royal Navy is often said to be on 16 February 1940 during the boarding action known as theAltmark Incident. However, this is disbelieved by the majority of theHMSCossack Association (Cossack was the ship that boardedAltmark) and the authors ofBritish Naval Swords and Swordsmanship. The authors point to another claim, a boarding byHMSArmada in 1952, but disbelieve this one too. In their view, the last use of cutlasses by the Royal Navy was by a shore party in China in 1900.[18] Cutlasses continue to be worn in the Royal Navy byChief Petty Officers when escorting theWhite Ensign and by Senior or Leading Ratings as part of an escort at acourt-martial.[19]
The cutlass remained an official weapon in theUnited States Navy until it was stricken from the Navy's active inventory in 1949. The cutlass was seldom used for weapons training after the early 1930s. The last new model of cutlass adopted by the US Navy was the US M1917 cutlass, adopted duringWorld War I; it was based on the Dutch M1898klewang. Although cutlasses were still being made duringWorld War II under the US M1941 designation, this was only a slightly modified variant of the US M1917 cutlass.[20] AUS MarineCombat EngineerNCO is reported to have killed an enemy combatant with a US M1941 cutlass at theBattle of Inchon during theKorean War.[21] A cutlass is still carried by the recruit designated as the RecruitChief Petty Officer for each recruit division while at theUS Navy Recruit Training Command. In a message released 31 March 2010, the US Navy approved optional wear of a ceremonial cutlass as part of the Chief Petty Officer dress uniform, pending final design approval.[22] That approval came in January 2011, and the cutlass was made available for ceremonial wear by Chief Petty Officers in August of that same year.[23]
According to legend, buccaneers invented the cutlass, but this may not be factual. It is said to have evolved from the long knives used by the early buccaneers to butcher their meat.
But as soon as they came up the shrouds, they clapped all hands to their cutlasses. Then I saw we were taken...
They immediately drew their weapons and, after beating us up severely with their cutlasses, drove us below.
[N]ine or ten men of a most ferocious aspect armed with muskets, knives, and cutlasses . . .ordered Captain Cowper, Mr. Lumsden, the ship's carpenter, and myself to go on board the pirate, hastening our departure by repeated blows with the flat part of their cutlasses over our backs.
[T]he man who gave the order commenced beating me severely with the broad side of his cutlass.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cutlass".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 671.
