Going by photographs of soldiers it seems like swords still had a role in military combat going to at least the american civil war. What was their role at that point? was sword wielding something that was being trained to soldiers in the 19th century?
Red Army, Rumanian and Italian, as well as Polish, cavalry still used sabres in WW2 and were, I assume, trained to use them. http://olive-drab.com/images/army-horses-mules_ww2_07_700.jpg http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/328535-1/bess6 http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/all_images/Historical/Avanti-savoia/Cavalry-03.jpg
