French Model 1822 Light Cavalry Saber - please help me decipher it

[JJEH]

I finally won a Rock Island Auction (what a trip) and I'm very happy with the two sabers I received. I went specifically after this one because I wanted something French, and it had to be made during Lafayette's lifetime.

There are some markings I did decipher but there are others I can't and I'm hoping some of you might.

It's a French Model 1822 Light Cavalry Saber and the spine of the blade reads:

Manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault avril 1833

Châtellerault was the weapons manufacturer, avril is April in French and 1833 is the YOM.

Lafayette died in 1834 so there is a chance he might have had one like this... or even held this one? I know... let me dream

The hilt has the most markings.

There is BELGIUM stamped on the knuckle guard.

Further, there are markings of 517, which I think is the serial number. The W I don't know, Inspector maybe?!

The others I can't decipher. Here, I flipped the picuture.

There's a very curvy R and something I can't read at all... 1I6 or 9Il... I have no clue.

Nothing on the pommel.

The sheath has four asterisk (or very weird looking fleur-de-lis) stamped into it, and the number 2239 underneath, like

****
2239

Another serial number?

Looks like I need to invest in more sword books now

The other saber I got is a U.S. Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber and I'll start another thread as soon as the pictures are ready to go.

I appreciate any help

EDIT:

I just found two more markings, and one of them is on the blade

It appears to be the number 1 but it's partially covered. The other one is another asterisk (*) on the sheath. Pictures to follow...

 

[Camster]

No expert

Some numbers might be rack numbers. I had a Civil war 1860 cavalry saber that had numbers stamped into the handguard post Civil was service.

I don't understand why it was stamped in English, "Belgium". If anything, that should be Belgique.
A requirement for whenever it was imported here?

 

[JJEH]

Some numbers might be rack numbers. I had a Civil war 1860 cavalry saber that had numbers stamped into the handguard post Civil was service.

I don't understand why it was stamped in English, "Belgium". If anything, that should be Belgique.
A requirement for whenever it was imported here?

Great question, I don't know. Perhaps it's indeed an import/export mark?!

France has been involved in a variety of wars and since 1830 it really hasn't slowed down; it just went from "inside France" to "outside France" if you ask me.

So perhaps this was originally a souvenir by another country?

Here's what appears to be the number 1 on the blade.

And the star (or asterisk) on the sheath.

I think there's a good chance that this saber has seen some action. I don't really want to clean it up or restore.

 

[Rudi]

As I understand it, items this old should NOT be cleaned up. It destroys value. Very cool, history in your hand.