The continuing development of the 1786 pattern is completed and fully realized in the 1796 pattern. “The General Order introducing this new pattern now specified the sword in some detail: 

‘The sword to have a brass guard, pommel and shell, gilt with gold; with grip, or handle, of silver twisted wire. The blade to be straight and made to cut and thrust; to be one inch broad at least at the shoulder and 32 inches in length, conformably to former orders given out in April 1786.’”

– Brian Robson,  Swords of the British Army – The Regulation Patterns 1788 – 1914, Revised Edition, page 145 

To take the description even further the hilt has an “ ‘Adam-style’ urn pommel (from the Neo-classical architect Robert Adam, 1728 – 1792). Both pommel and quillon were decorated with acanthus leaves…One of the shell guards was hinged in order that it could be folded and so prevent chafing by the uniform. Blades were lavishly decorated with blue-and-gilt highlighted engraving.”

Harvey Withers, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Swords and Sabres, pages 58 – 59

While the General Order specifies that the hilt is to be gilt with gold, in accordance with the previous order I have seen examples of two (and only two) with steel hilts. One (which is actually a 1786 pattern with a rigid shell guard) in Robson’s book Swords of the British Army, but the photo is black and white so it is hard to get a feel for the look. The second one which is of 1796 pattern with a folding guard, is in the King’s Landing living history museum collection, in New Brunswick.

While a new pattern would be introduced to ‘flank’ companies, the British Infantry 1796 pattern would be the standard until it was superseded in the 1820’s by the 1822 pattern.