Model 1913 Cavalry Saber

In the summer of 1913, following his advising the Ordnance Department on sword redesign, Patton was allowed to return to Saumur to study once again under Cléry.

Patton was next assigned to the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, as a student and "Master of the Sword", the top instructor in a new course in swordsmanship.

The Model 1913 saber features a large, basket-shaped hilt mounting a straight, double-edged, thrusting blade designed for use by heavy cavalry.

It was designed in accordance with Patton's system of swordsmanship, which was published by the War Department as the 1914 Saber Exercise manual,[6] and which emphasized the use of the point over the edge.

According to KJ Parker, Patton's saber was light, slim, exceptionally ergonomic, and well-balanced – in short, "more or less perfect, the best sword ever issued to an army.

"[10][11] Amberger, on the other hand, considered the weapon to be poorly suited for the cavalry use intended, since at the speed of a cavalry charge, a thrust that transfixed an opponent could not be withdrawn quickly enough, and thus the attacker must either abandon his blade, break his wrist, or dislocate his sword arm by holding on to it, or risk worse consequences: "At worst, his dead opponent would drag him off his own horse, making him an unarmed foot soldier in an ocean of falling saber blades and trampling hooves.

He expanded on his "Saber Exercise 1914" manual the next year, at the request of his students at the Mounted Service School in Fort Riley, Kansas, with the publication of "Diary of the Instructor in Swordsmanship".

Marshal Saxe wished to arm the French cavalry with a blade of a triangular cross section so as to make the use of the point obligatory.

Their use except as a ceremonial item by officers was to end at once, they were to be stored pending further instructions, and all references to them were to be removed from future tables of organization and equipment of cavalry units.