French and Indian War infantry hanger as carried by the French infantry from 1750-1764 along with musket and bayonet. The "pontat simple" hilt with its half-clamshell guard was introduced in 1750 and withdrawn in 1764, though some units likely retained it for a time. Those infantry entitled to carry swords eventually drew the familiar 1767 briquet form. Examples are sometimes found with the anchor stamp of the compagnies franches. I see no markings on this one, indicating it probably came over with one of the metropolitan infantry units. As an example, I show a period portrait of a soldier of the Regiment de la Sarre advancing upon a fallen foe with his hanger drawn. The hilt seems pretty clearly to be of the pontat simple form. The second battalion of this regiment saw a lot of action over here, including Fort William Henry, Ticonderoga, the Plains of Abraham, etc.
31 1/2 inches overall with a 25 1.3 inch blade. Blade is single edged with a narrow fuller running along its upper edge to within 5 1/4 inches of the tip. From that point to the tip the blade is double edged, with a spearpoint tip.
The hilt is brass, with a globular pommel and raised capstan, knuckleguard and single clamshell counterguard. The blade is smooth brown overall, with a few very minor nicks between 3 and 10 inches from the hilt. The blade has a very narrow ricasso. There are some scattered bits of white paint, indicating someone had it stored in a garage or somewhere like that. This sword surfaced in a Pennsylvania estate, but no further provenance was available.
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