En Garde! 175 Years Of Fencing At The U.S. Naval Academy

Fencing, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, USA, by Lieutenant Whitman for Office of War Information, July 1942. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The United States Navy marked its 250th anniversary this past October with weeklong celebrations in Philadelphia, which went on despite the prolonged government shutdown. It included a parade of ships and a military flyover along the Delaware River, while President Donald Trump attended another naval celebration in Norfolk, VA, visiting the 10th and final Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77).

Another milestone for the U.S. Navy was noted this month at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. This year mark 175th anniversary of fencing as part of the USNA’s mission to develop morally, mentally, and physically.

In a post on Tuesday, the USNA explained that, since the academy’s early days, founded on October 10, 1845, by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft as the Naval School, sword masters have instructed midshipmen in the “Art of Defense.”

Fencing’s Ancient Origins to the First Competition

According to the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, the earliest recorded evidence of fencing as a competitive sport dates to around 588 A.D. in the Byzantine Empire. However, its origins can be traced back far further, with swordsmanship appearing in ancient Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.

It was during the Renaissance that Italian fencing schools first appeared, with styles refined in the centuries that followed. France and Spain, respectively, influenced the sport. Yet, it wasn’t until the 1880 Grand Military Tournament and Assault of Arms in London that there was a formal competition on the international stage.

Less than two decades later, fencing became an Olympic sport at the 1896 games in Athens, Greece. It consisted of men’s foil, master’s foil, and saber events—but only four nations, including Austria, France, Denmark and Greece competed!

The U.S. Navy And Fencing

Formal fencing instruction began at the United States Naval Academy in 1850, when Professor Edward Seager introduced it as a core element of midshipmen’s physical training.

In the 1860s, Belgian-born Antoine Joseph Corbesier was appointed “sword master,” a position he held for nearly half a century. Highly respected by his students, in 1913, Corbesier was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps by a special Act of Congress. When he passed away in 1915, the Brigade of Midshipmen joined local citizens and Academy officials to honor him, while the U.S. Navy later named the John C. Butler-class destroyer escort USS Corbesier (DE-438) for the sword master.

It should be remembered that swordsmanship wasn’t just about sport at the time. It was a valuable skill for officers in combat.

“In the 18th and 19th centuries, the sword served as a personal sidearm for military officers, and cutlasses were used for boarding ships or repelling boarders, so it’s not surprising that instruction in swordsmanship was envisioned for the Naval Academy curriculum, dating back to the birth of our nation,” explained Emil Petruncio, the Navy Fencing head coach and retired U.S. Navy Capt.

Moreover, although officers wear swords for symbolic and ceremonial purposes, the officer’s sword was formally eliminated from the uniform only in 1942, before being restored for ceremonial use in 1954. The enlisted man’s cutlass was also removed from the U.S. Navy’s active inventory only in 1949, after combat training was eliminated in the 1930s.

Sabers Cut Out

It isn’t known exactly when the last time a Navy man swung a blade in combat, but the Naval History and Heritage Command noted that there are accounts of naval battles during the American Civil War where swords were still carried.

“Photographs taken during this period show gun crews wearing the cutlass as a side arm,” NHHC suggested.

The new model cutlass, which offered a steel rather than a brass hilt, was adopted by the Navy only in 1917.

In the late 19th century, as intercollegiate athletics grew, the Naval Academy was a “powerhouse” in fencing. USNA joined the Intercollegiate Fencing Association (IFA) in 1896, the United States of America’s oldest collegiate fencing organization. Midshipmen went on to win numerous IFA team and individual titles across foil, epee, and saber.

“From 1924 to 1964, the Navy claimed eight IFA three-weapon team championships and more than 40 single-weapon team titles. In 1959, Navy achieved a historic feat – sweeping first place in all three weapons to win the NCAA Team Championship, a distinction shared by only two other programs in NCAA history (New York University and Columbia University),” noted the USNA.

The USNA also produced 57 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees and several Olympians, including five bronze medalists.

“After the varsity program was retired in 1993, fencing resumed as an Extracurricular Activity in 2002 and then as a club team in 2012,” said Petruncio. “Navy has won the Baltimore-Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference nine times, and our women’s team won the U.S. Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs (USACFC) National Championship in 2014.”