Patton's Journey to Saumur, France for Fencing Training 

In 09/1913, Second Lieutenant George S. Patton Jr. arrived at the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, following advanced fencing and cavalry training in France. During the summer of 1913, Patton attended instruction at the French cavalry school in Saumur, where he studied swordsmanship and mounted tactics. After returning to the United States in September, he was assigned to Fort Riley and given responsibility for developing and teaching modern saber techniques within the U.S. Army cavalry establishment. At Fort Riley, Patton served as the Army’s first designated “Master of the Sword,” a role in which he formalized mounted saber instruction and emphasized aggressive offensive use of the cavalry saber. He designed a straight thrusting weapon later known as the Model 1913 Cavalry Saber, sometimes called the “Patton saber,” and prepared training guidance for cavalry officers. His work at the Mounted Service School influenced cavalry training in the years leading up to World War I and established his early reputation as an instructor and innovator within the mounted arm.