Pattern 1821 Heavy Cavalry Officer's Sword carried by Colonel (later General Sir) Edward Hodge, 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards

Made by Thomas Osborn, Birmingham.

Edward Cooper Hodge (1810-1894) was first commissioned in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards in 1826. He probably acquired this sword when the 4th Dragoon Guards introduced a regimental variant of the Pattern 1821 Heavy Cavalry Sword with a pronounced and lengthened pommel.

As with the Light Cavalry Sword, the Heavy Cavalry type initially had a pipe-back blade which only began to be replaced by the stronger Wilkinson flat-back type in the late 1840s. The new pommel was similar to that of an existing sword of the 2nd Life Guards and seems to have been influenced by French styles.

Hodge commanded the 4th Dragoon Guards throughout the Crimean War (1854-1856) and led it in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava. He also commanded the Heavy Brigade itself briefly in 1855 and 1856.