Sword fighting was taught even during the American civil war. When did soldiers phase out the training for it?
The use of military swords declined at varying rates for each nation, across the early to mid 20th century.
In America the last “sabre” in use was the straight bladed m1914 "Patton" cavalry saber, which was deployed during WWI but had no recorded actions. It remained a piece of war gear and training exercises until the Adjutant General's Office issued the following instructions on April 18th, 1934: "The saber is hereby discontinued as an item of issue to the cavalry. The saber is completely discarded as a cavalry weapon." This left only the officer's dress saber, which served as a badge of office.
Also in 1934 the British army removed all swords from code of dress for all forces except the cavalry, effectively ending its use as an infantry weapon. It continued to be used as a cavalry sword in the form of the 1908 pattern cavalry sword which was a long straight thrust-only blade.
During World War II there was continued use of swords in both European and Asian theaters.
The British1908p which had previously seen use in North African campaigns during WWI, continue to be used for select units such as the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force, which saw action in Vichy French Syria in 1941.
In the build up the WWII, the National Revolutionary Army in China, not as a strategic measure, but as a point of necessity both practiced with, and had units for the Dadao (big sword). Many under-equipped divisions needed to make do with what weapons were available, and this included weapons held over from Qing china, and the Warlords emerging in the early 20th century, which favored these large bladed cleavers. These Dadao units had a few famous early successes over the Japanese, such as Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, which helped cement its role as a symbol of resistance, and even in post occupation continued to see use by guerilla fighters in the 1940s.
The Japanese Imperial army continued to train soldiers in swordsmanship using twohanded shin-gunto in prewar and during WWII setting; this was combined with sport fencing (kendo) as well as other hand to hand combat such as bayonet combat (jukenjutsu). As part of the terms of surrender to the allies, Japan was required to halt all military related swordmanship practice, and all swords were to be confiscated excepting a special memo issued September 7th, 1945 which allowed Japanese swords to be maintained only as personal treasures and art objects: never weapons of war.
On ships, cutlasses remained available to seaman for virtually the duration of WWII. The British Royal Navy 1901 pattern cutlass was practiced through the early 1930s, until 1936 when it was retired as a weapon for landing parties and retained for ceremonial duties. It remained on ships armories until the end of WWII.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiIDHPO54BI
In the US Navy 1917 model cutlass remained available as an inventory item in the pre-war period, and an updated m1941 version was developed, and issued to some personnel in the Pacific Theater. Both versions remained available on ships until 1949, and still supplied to ROTC until 1956. However practice and training with it as a weapon was not not common after the 1930s.
The model for these American Cutlasses, and one of the longest serving examples of military swords in use was the Dutch 'cutlass' or Klewang. This was first developed during the Aceh war in Indonesia for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), and remained in use with slight modifications well into the 20th century. Used by naval, infantry, and even the (Army) Police Forces Corps, this Klewang enjoyed a very long operational life, continuing to be used into the 1950s-1960s. While deployed as late as the 1966 Telegraaf riots in Amsterdam, the klewang was finally retired from active service in 1968.
Sources cited:
U.S. Army Military History Institute Historical Services Division (30 Sep 05)
SWORDS & SABERS
A Working Bibliography of MHI Sources
The American Sword (2012)
by Harold Leslie Peterson
Mandarin Mansion: Dàdāo (大刀) 12 August 2020
by Peter Dekker
