A Brief History of the Manufacture de Châtellerault
By Jean Binck
History
The prevailing idea during
the 17th and 18th century was that the garrison troops at
the border of the country should rely on a quick supply of replacement arms in
case of conflict. The Napoleonic wars demonstrated that this strategy was too
risky, the arms manufacturers close to the borders being too vulnerable.
Therefore, in 1816 the
French Artillery Commission decided to create a new Government manufactory, in
a safer place, in the centre of France near the city of Poitier: Châtellerault.
Colonel Cotty, Director
General of the Weapons Manufactories, started the installation of the "Manufacture
de Châtellerault" on the bank of the river Vienne.
In 1819, Commandant Notret,
the last inspector of the renowned Manufacture de Versaille, started the
production with the help of two of the skilled workers of Klingenthal, Bick and
Donat and the local workers. The same year, a Royal Order confirmed the
creation of the Government manufactory of Châtellerault. During 1819 only tools
(axes and spades) were produced, then the production increased slowly with the
fabrication of swords of the pattern 1816.
In 1822, in parallel with
swords production, the fabrication of firearms started.
In 1829, the 44 workers of
Châtellerault produced 6000 swords. That was obviously far from the maximum
production of 60 000 swords/year reached by the 600 Klingenthal workers during
the Napoleonic wars!
At the beginning of the
1830ies, the Manufactory of Châtellerault was involved with the fabrication of
nearly all the patterns of swords then issued to the French army.
In 1831 new premises were
to be built and the Pihet brothers gave their financial support. They became
the first "Entrepreneurs" of the "Manufacture de Châtellerault";
the financial management of the manufactory was then the responsibility of
private persons, following the system of the "entreprise".
During 1833 social troubles
grew in France. There were strikes and rebellion among the workers of the factory.
The same year, a flood of the river Vienne damaged the manufactory; it was
nearly the end of the Manufacture de Châtellerault.
Fortunately, in 1835, a new
entrepreneur Creuzé, Proa & Cny, signed a contract valid until 1851.
With the help of a brilliant controller, J. Bisch, the production raised again.
The French government
decided in 1836 - 1837 to close the firearms manufactories of Maubeuge and
Charleville, close to the northern border of the country, and to transfer their
production to Châtellerault and Saint-Etienne. Likewise, the government rid
itself of Klingenthal too close to the eastern border. The premises were sold
to the Coulaux brothers (see article on Klingenthal). It was rumoured that
Marshal Soult, the Minister of War in 1834, did all he could to accelerate the
closing of the Manufacture de Klingenthal. He avenged himself on
Klingenthal for having refused in the past to buy steel from his personal
factories in the French province of Tarn. Anyway, the Manufacture de
Châtellerault was assured of the future.
In 1851, Creuzé signed a
new contract of entrepreneur valid until 1866.
In 1868, there were 300
machine tools installed by the entrepreneur Chassepot (1866-1878).
Nevertheless, it is interesting to notice that the blades will remain hand-forged
until 1916!
With the Franco-Prussian
war of 1870 came a period of confusion. When it became obvious that the war was
lost, the workers of Châtellerault retreated to the South of France, then came
back, all this in a great confusion. Finally the manufactory started again mid
1871.
During the second half of
the 19th century, the production of firearms increased in the
Manufacture de Châtellerault, and, as everywhere in the world, the swords
production declined and finally stopped in 1937.
The manufactory continued
to produce firearms until 1968.
Organisation
The financial management
was entrusted to a government-appointed "entrepreneur".
The task of the entrepreneur
was to buy the source material (steel, charcoal etc.), to pay with his own
money the salaries of the workers, and to organise the company in order to
comply with the contracts of the government. The government then bought the
final products from him, leaving him a profit of 20%.
The plant Director
controlled the production for the military contracts. He was an artillery
senior officer (Chef d' Escadron / Lt. Colonel), appointed only for a few years
and helped by a staff of artillery officers. It was his responsibility to
maintain quality control, speed of production etc. to fulfil the government
contracts. He was also in charge of the supervision of the accountancy
regarding the supply to the regiments and he reported to the ministry of war.
Following the regulation of
1822, there were different kinds of workers:
The workers who enlisted to
the Ministry of War and were considered as being part of the military staff,
they were really the backbone of the manufacture.
These workers worked only
for the production of military weapons and could not resign without permission
of the Ministry of War; trespassers would have been prosecuted as deserters and
court-martialled. As a counterpart, they had the benefit of a pension after 25
working years.
The best workers could be
promoted to reviser, controller and first class controller. They were highly
skilled and experienced workers and had to be able to read and write.
Furthermore, they were requested to have a natural authority upon the other
workers.
Controllers and revisers
were in charge of the training of the other workers and the quality control of
blades and swords for the military contracts. They have their personal stamp
that can be found on military blades and hilts.
Referring to information
dated 1822, they were paid a similar amount of money as the artillery officers:
Controller first class = 2
400 francs/year
Controller second class = 1
800 francs/year
Reviser = 1500 francs/year
This was the income of the
ranks Second Lieutenant to Captain in the artillery.
There were also soldiers
(military armourers, carpenters etc.) detached from their regiment to serve in
the manufactory.
Other workers were
civilians who had the opportunity to leave the manufactory after a prior
notification of a few months; of course, they could be kicked out by the entrepreneur
even more quickly!
Markings
The ricasso of the blade
should bear at least the stamps of the Director and the Controller. Often, the
Reviser stamp is also present.
|
|
|
Director & controller stamps on a Model 1822 cavalry trooper sword |
The hilt should bear the
stamps of the Director and the Controller on the knuckle bow. Usually, the
stamp of the reviser is stamped under the quillon.
Remark: regarding officers
swords, even if there were regulation patterns for the officers, it was a
custom of long standing that they were allowed to purchase their swords
wherever they want. Eventually many officers' swords were found not serviceable
on the battlefield! Some officers spent their money for an attractive hilt or
etched blade very decorative...but of a poor quality.
Therefore, the officers
were requested to use a service sword with a blade issued and controlled in the
government manufactory. The blade could be hilted by a civil sword maker or by
the manufactory itself.
For this reason, it is not
unusual to find officers swords with a Châtellerault blade, but without
markings on the hilt.
Manufactory markings
Basically the common
marking was the name of the manufacture + month + date of production.
This chapter gives a quick
view of the style of marking of the Manufacture de Châtellerault through
different period. These are the most common markings, it is probably not an
exhaustive list.
The manufactory's name
marking is usually found on the back of the blade when the type of blade allows
it, written in a cursive script.
Common abbreviations
The following abbreviations
are commonly found on French swords:
For the months (referring
to the Latin sound of the figures):
7 bre =
Septembre
8 bre = Octobre
9 bre = Novembre
X bre = Décembre
The other months being
written in full: Janvier, Février, Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin, Juillet, Août.
Manuf e =
Manufacture = Manufactory
M re
Manuf re
Manuf.
Chat t =
Châtellerault
Châtl
Châtl t
R le = Royale =
of the King
Rl e
Natl e =
Nationale = National
Nl e
N le
Impal e =
Impériale = of the Emperor
Impe ale
Impa le
Imp ale
Imp le
Imp.
Mle = Modèle = Model
M le
Off er =
Officier = Officer
O.
S s Officier =
Sous Officier = NCO
S.O.
Cav rie =
Cavalerie = cavalry
Cav rie L re
= Cavalerie légère = Light Cavalry
Art rie =
Artillerie = Artillery
Inf rie =
Infanterie = Infantry
Inf r
Markings during
different period
1820 - 1836
Châtellerault + year of
production
Châtellerault 1832
1836 - 1848
All the government
production is transferred to Châtellerault
|
|
|
Marking on a naval boarding sword model 1833 made in December 1847 |
Manuf re R le de Châtellerault x bre 1847
Abbreviation for:
Manufacture Royale de Châtellerault
décembre 1847
(King’s manufactory of
Châtellerault, December 1847)
1848 - 1852
After the abdication of the
King Louis-Philippe, the word "Royale" dissapeared and was replaced
by "Nationale" (abbreviation:
Nle ) or “Armes”.
Manuf Nl e de Châtellerault avril 1850
But also by
M re d' Armes de
Châtellerault avril 1851
1853 - 1870
Napoleon III became Emperor
Manuf re
Imp le de Châtellerault Fevrier
1853
In 1856 a new regulation
required that the model of the sword should be mentioned.
|
|
M re Imp ale de Chat t
x bre 1862 Cav rie l re M le
1822
Abbreviation for:
Manufacture Impériale de
Châtellerault, décembre 1862, Cavalerie légère modèle 1822
(Imperor’s Manufactory of
Châtellerault, December 1862, Light Cavalry model 1822)
1870 to 1937
After the abdication of
Napoleon III, the words "nationale" and "armes" (weapons)
appeared.
|
|
Manufacture nationale d' armes de Châtellerault 8 bre
1903 Off er d' Art rie M l e
1822 - 99
Abbreviation for:
Manufacture nationale d'
armes de Châtellerault, octobre 1903, Officier d’Artillerie modèle 1822 modifié
1899
(National Weapons
Manufactory of Châtellerault, October 1903, Artillery Officer model 1822
modified 1899)
Some sword patterns around
the end of the 19th century were available with different blade
lengths. The size of the sword was engraved on the spine of the blade: 1ere
taille (first size), 2eme taille (second size) or 3eme
taille (third size).
Example: the model 1898
Line Cavalry Officer’s sword was available with the following blades: 1st
size = 95 cm, 2nd size = 90 cm, 3rd size = 85 cm
Bibliography:
COTTY Colonel ,
Dictionnaire de l'Artillerie , Paris 1822
LHOSTE & BUIGNE , Armes
Blanches Françaises , France 1994
Magazine « Gazette
des armes » , France
Other source :
Markings on swords from
author’s collection
Text & pictures are the
property of the author.
Contact the author: jeanbck@hotmail.com
Back to Home Page EURO-SWORDS
Back to Mike’s SWORD COLLECTOR Home page