The Bayonet part 1

or bayonette or baïonnette if we would want to trace the origins of it.

Before XVII century, the infantry warfare was as simple. Everybody got a clear role, so we got the heavy infantry armed with pikes and armor to fight cavalry, “light” or let's say ranged infantry - the musketeers fighting with other infantry and artillerymen directing their fire to anyone. The tactics are like this mostly: at first, the artillery fires directly on the enemy from large distance (over 1 kilometers), then when the enemy come closer you send your deep line of musketeers that shoot volleys at the enemy line (about 150-100 meters). After the enemy is at 50 meters you send the pikemen to engage them directly. Repeat till you win. 

Scottish plug bayonet. About 1690

Then someone thought about a really simple idea! Let's provide all the musketeers a long, sharp, pointy pike blade that they can put in the barrel of the gun and stab their enemy. 

Like I said – simple.

Right, you can't shoot then... and it can fall out... also you can lose it during a long march through rough terrain... ahh you stabbed a fella' and the soft steel it just curved the blade making it useless... well I never said it was the best idea!

Alright back to the history point:

Why the bayonet is named a “bayonet”? Nobody can tell for sure. It's possible that the name came from the French city Bayonne that was know for forging very good blades. Also the French assigned them first to their musketeer units and naming them “fusiliers” which, in the XVII century, were seen as elite units.

Plug Bayonet

French Marine with a Plug Bayonet frog

Plug bayonet – first type of massively used blade-on-the-musket. The name comes from the method of fixing it to your weapon, just plug it in the barrel deep enough so it will not fall off during combat. First appeared in XVI century, probably used by hunters who were going after dangerous game like boars and bears. We can assume the origin of the military bayonet came from the hunting knife.

This simple idea stormed the military minds of the century. About 1660 most of the modern European armies carried this kind of bayonet, successfully eliminating the need of pikeman units and focusing mainly on ranged troops till the end of the XVII century.

Stay sharp and see you on the next post!

Below some original plug bayonets.

18th century plug bayonet with single edged blade

1690 English Plug bayonet at the National Army Museum, London