Were swords used in the early 1900s? Was it completely nuts to use them, since they'd made guns already...?

Question

well, i'm writing a story that takes place in 1906. i know they had old guns like in 1700s, too, but i don't want to use them.
i just don't want to seem completely off by using swords if no one ever used them anymore.

so basically, would it be ridiculous to have swordfights in the early 1900s?
i just want to keep SOME sense of reality here...

it takes place in florida's west coast.
not swordfights for fun, but for fighting. kind of like the way pirates carried swords around with them.

Answer 1

Not very real at all, swords had been since the end of the civil war, been mostly for ornamentaion for officers, used to wave and lead troops in formation, for ceremonial use. and if not soldiers, no one carried swords around since the 1500s.
now if you make it a duel, as in two men fighting with fencing swords, that could happen, but they didn't carry them around with them.. and as for the world of 1906, in the US they wher seeing themselves as a modern civilization, in heavy competition with europe, to show we where no longer a colony or pioneer breed of people, but refined and civilized, they thought they wherevery modern, and sword fighting wa never an American event, only byu calvary units, but even then rarely in the civilwar, not after to be worth metioning. so either make it a duel or ne on one impromptu battle with swords grabed from a wall, or just find sme other weapon, like say bowie type knives, or the old American fist fight, hith chairs and all. but no swords, especially if more than two involved, that would have never happened i the US at any time.

Answer 2

Swords were used extensively in the early 1900's as the hand guns of that period were terrifically unreliable. They also could only hold 5 or 6 bullets and when they were gone, the soldier didn't often have a chance to reload before he was killed. They would then resort to the sword. Now, of course, that wouldn't happen.
Marine Corps Officers still wear swords as part of their uniform.

Answer 3

Not completely, but the age was certainly coming to a close. Against well-armed opponents with rapid-firing weapons, it was risky, but there were still a lot of people using single-shot rifles, and it was still possible to get in close, especially in a cavalry charge, against less well-armed groups. Cavalry, by the way, was still quite useful during the second world war, though its use was largely as dragoons by that time, and it's a lot easier for well-trained troops to use a sword than a gun on horseback. However, the last US cavalry charge, while the rest of the world were in WW I, was not with swords but with 1911 pistols.

Answer 4

Certainly the British Cavalary regiments were using swords in 1906 - indeed I believe there were some cavalry charges using swords early in WWI. There wouldn't be 'sword fights', however, and duelling had completely died out (except at some German Universities)

Answer 5

So long as there was horse cavalry, there were also sabers. These were more useful in a charge than firearms. The horse cavalry in the US was not completely phased out until after WWII. Most National Guard units prior to WWII had horse cavalry although the regular army phased it out sooner.

Dueling was outlawed completely by 1900, but you could still have a duel if both combatants knew they couldn't afford to be caught.

Answer 6

Yes, swords were used, but they were being rapidly replaced by more effecient weapons, like a rapid firing rifle.

The early 1900s was a period of transition. Brand new things like the airplane were being introduced. Machine guns, airplane, automobiles, the telephone, tanks, women's rights, were slowly changing the face of human behavior and human history.

The sword was being used in warfare, especially in less developed countries, but as any child with a revolver could defeat any man with a sword, then the revolver quickly replaced the sword as a close quarters combat weapon.

Answer 7

OK hope this helps, German still taught a form of dueling at College. The Japanese still taught sword fighting in schools. Military academies taught fencing and it is part of the Olympics.
Japanese officers carried swords in battle during WWII. Polish Cavalry charged German tanks during the war for the last cavalry charge.

Answer 8

Spanish American War Swords

Answer 9

Yes, they were used. Generally just as ceremonial regalia. Officers still occassionally carried swords into battle, like in the Spanish American War. Depending on where your story takes place, however, it might fit in better. Japanese officers continued t carry, and use in battle, samurai swords, even through WWII.

Answer 10

I would not urge any Catholic to just sit idly by and not speak up because you just might be held accountable for not revealing the truth. While I agree that Protestants are Christian the issue is that Jesus Christ started the Catholic Church and man broke away from the church and started his own. Some people do think that Protestant means Protest- ant but the word actually means "publicly declare" and comes from the Latin protestari. There is a lot of confusion among non Catholics such as mentioned by Jermey B. The fact is Catholics *do not* worship Mary we worship God the father Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Catholics to practice intercessionary prayer, this would be about the equal to a Protestant asking his friends at church to pray for him, Catholics as all the Angels and Saints (as well as Mary) to pray for us. I would urge all Christians to study history and see exactly when the church you attend started, the Catholic Church can trace it roots back to Jesus himself. Now the question to ask yourself is "If Jesus Christ started the Catholic Church, how can Catholics not be Christian"