Bayonet

muzzle-loading musket with a plug bayonet attached from 1606. The weapon's instructional manual and specifications is shown above. The term bayonette itself dates back to the 16th century, but it is not clear whether bayonets at the time were knives that could be fitted to the ends of firearms, or simply a type of knife. For example, Cotgrave's 1611 Dictionarie describes the bayonet as "a kind of small flat pocket dagger, furnished with knives; or a great knife to hang at the girdle". Likewise, Pierre Borel wrote in 1655 that a kind of long-knife called a bayonette was made in Bayonne but does not give any further description. There are some accounts that place the invention of the bayonet in either France or Germany as early as 1570. Plug bayonets infantryman installing a plug bayonet. The first recorded instance of a bayonet proper is found in the Chinese military treatise, published in 1606. It was in the form of the , a breech-loading musket that was issued with a roughly long plug bayonet, giving it an overall length of with the bayonet attached. It was labelled as a "gun-knife" () with it being described as a "short sword that can be inserted into the barrel and secured by twisting it slightly" that it is to be used "when the battle have depleted both gunpowder and bullets as well as fighting against bandits, when forces are closing into melee or encountering an ambush" and if one "cannot load the gun within the time it takes to cover two bu (3.2 meters) of ground they are to attach the bayonet and hold it like a spear". Early bayonets were of the "plug" type, where the bayonet was fitted directly into the barrel of the musket. The British socket bayonet had a spike with a triangular cross-section rather than a flat blade, with a flat side towards the muzzle and two fluted sides outermost to a length of . It had no lock to keep it fast to the muzzle, and was well-documented for falling off in the heat of battle. Sword bayonets The 18th century introduced the concept of the sword bayonet, a long-bladed weapon with a single- or double-edged blade that could also be used as a shortsword. Its initial purpose was to ensure that riflemen could form an infantry square properly to fend off cavalry attacks when in ranks with musketmen, whose weapons were longer. A prime early example of a sword bayonet-fitted rifle is the Pattern 1800 Infantry Rifle, later known as the "Baker Rifle". Sword bayonets were used by German Jagers in the 18th century. The hilt usually had quillons modified to accommodate the gun barrel and a hilt mechanism that enabled the bayonet to be attached to a bayonet lug. A sword bayonet could be used in combat as a sidearm, when detached from the musket or rifle. When the bayonet was attached to the musket or rifle, it effectively turned all long guns into a spear or glaive, which made it suitable for both thrusting and cutting attacks. While the British Army eventually discarded the sword bayonet, the socket bayonet survived the introduction of the rifled musket into British service in 1854. The new rifled musket copied the French locking ring system. The decision to redesign the bayonet into a short sword was viewed by some as an acknowledgement of the decline in importance of the fixed bayonet as a weapon in the face of new advances in firearms technology. It was initially adopted by the German states in 1865; until the middle of WWI approximately 5% of every bayonet style was complemented with a sawback version, for example in Belgium in 1868, Great Britain in 1869 and Switzerland in 1878 (Switzerland introduced their last model in 1914). The original sawback bayonets were typically of the heavy sword-type, they were issued to engineers, with to some extent the bayonet aspect being secondary to the "tool" aspect. Later German sawbacks were more of a rank indicator than a functional saw. Generally, an average of 6% of all bayonets were sawbacks for non-commissioned officers. There were some exceptions, such as the kurzes Seitengewehr 1898 model, all of which were of the sawback design and meant for what was considered more prestigious units, such as machine gunners, telegraph troop and colonial troops. The sawback proved relatively ineffective as a cutting tool, and was soon outmoded by improvements in military logistics and transportation; most nations dropped the sawback feature by the early 20th century. In 1870, the US Army issued trowel bayonets to infantry regiments based on a design by Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Rice, a US Army officer and Civil War veteran, which were manufactured by the Springfield Armory. Besides its utility as both a fixed bayonet and a digging implement, the Rice trowel bayonet could be used to plaster log huts and stone chimneys for winter quarters; sharpened on one edge, it could cut tent poles and pins. Rice was given leave in 1877 to demonstrate his trowel bayonet to several nations in Europe. Despite its limitations, many modern assault rifles (including bullpup designs) retain a bayonet lug and the bayonet is issued by many armies. The bayonet is used for controlling prisoners, or as a weapon of last resort. Today's bayonets often double as multi-purpose utility knives, bottle openers or other tools. Issuing one modern multi-purpose bayonet/knife is also more cost effective than issuing separate speciality bayonets, and field or combat knives. Photo gallery File:Défilé de la Légion à Orange pour ses 40 ans de garnison.jpg|Legionnaires of the French Military with FAMAS rifles and fixed bayonets. File:01 ak47.jpg|Soviet AK-47 bayonet and scabbard. File:03 akm.jpg|Soviet AKM type II bayonet, multi-purpose knife and wire-cutter when combined with its scabbard. File:NVA AKM Bayonet (2 of 2).JPG|Multi-purpose AKM Type I bayonet of the Nationale Volksarmee shown cutting a wire File:6kh4 wire cutter.jpg|Soviet AKM type II bayonet and scabbard in wire-cutter configuration. File:Afghan policeman bayonet.jpg|Afghan policeman with AKM and AKM Type II bayonet. File:US-Military-M5-Bayonet1.jpg|The US M5 bayonet and scabbard used with the M1 Garand File:M6 Bayonet.jpg|The US M6 bayonet and scabbard used with the M14 rifle File:M7 Bayonet & M8A1 Sheath MOD.jpg|M7 Bayonet and M8A1 Sheath used with the M16 rifle File:M9bayonet2.jpg|Adopted in 1986, the US M9 bayonet and scabbard used with the M16 rifle and M4 carbine. File:US-Military-M9-Bayonet-used-as-Wirecutter.jpg|M9 bayonet and scabbard in wire-cutter configuration. File:USMC-110515-M-JG138-043.jpg|M9 bayonet-fitted M4 carbine firing during secondary target drills. File:Bayonet OKC-3S - Ontario Knife Company.jpg|The USMC OKC-3S Bayonet File:Combat knife attached to gun.jpg|US Marines at bayonet practice in 2005. File:4th MARDIV Rifle Squad Competition- Day 3 230130-M-SU940-1631.jpg|US Marine with OKC-3S attached to an M27 IAR in 2023. The USMC is one of only a few modern military forces to still teach bayonet fighting as part of basic training. File:SKS bayonet noBG.jpg|Folding an SKS-type bayonet. File:People's Liberation Army Navy sailor with type 56 assault rifle.jpeg|A Chinese sailor with a Type 56 with the integral folding spike bayonet, 1986. File:Honor guard of the People's Liberation Army.jpg|Chinese soldier with QBZ-95 rifle and multi-purpose knife bayonet. File:Indian Army soldier on guard at the India Gate, New Delhi.jpg|Indian Army Gurkha with L1A1 (FN FAL) and traditional bayonet. File:Present Arms fixing bayonet.JPG|Japanese Ground Self Defense Force infantrymen with their Howa Type 64 with bayonet fixed. File:Brazilian Army SOF.jpeg|Brazilian Army paratroopers with FN FAL rifles with Type C socket bayonets on parade. File:Early FN FAL.jpg|Early FN FAL and bayonet. File:Kuwaiti soldier with his FN FAL rifle.jpg|Kuwaiti soldier with his FN FAL rifle with bayonet. File:L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle MOD 45162213 (L3A1 crop).jpg|British-issue L3A1 socket bayonet. Note the slot in the blade to attach the wire-cutter scabbard. File:L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle MOD 45162213 (L3A1 scabbard crop).jpg|L3A1 scabbard. Note the lug to attach the bayonet for wire cutting. File:Sacrifice honoured at National Act of Remembrance MOD 45163258.jpg|British servicemen with fixed L3A1 bayonets on L85A2 rifles. The L3A1's blade is offset to permit firing. File:Palace guard at the royal palace, Oslo.jpg|Palace guard at the royal palace, Oslo. Note the G3-type rifle with a bayonet over the barrel. File:Glock Feldmesser FM 78.JPG|Glock field knife/bayonet and its scabbard. The upper crossguard is bent forward and can be used as a bottle opener. File:Defense.gov photo essay 120831-D-VO565-009.jpg|Irish Army Honor Guard. Note Steyr AUG with EICKHORN KCB-70 type multi-purpose bayonet File:Navy members of the Royal Guard of Honour - Flickr - NZ Defence Force.jpg|Royal New Zealand Navy Guard of Honour. Note Individual Weapon Steyr with American M7 bayonets. File:Changing the Guard ceremony in Québec during the summer 09.jpg|The Royal 22nd Regiment of Canada unfixing their bayonets. File:Marines Rehearse for Presidential Inauguration 130117-M-YO938-821.jpg|Marines from Marine Barracks Washington D.C. fix their bayonets during rehearsals for the presidential inauguration. File:LAPA FA Mod 3.svg|Brazilian LAPA FA-03. ==Linguistic impact==

The push-twist motion of fastening the older type of spike bayonet has given a name to: • The "bayonet mount" used for various types of quick fastenings, such as camera lenses, also called a "bayonet connector" when used in electrical plugs. • Several connectors and contacts including the bayonet-fitting light bulb that is common in the UK (as opposed to the continental European screw-fitting type). • One type of connector for foil and sabre weapons used in modern fencing competitions is referred to as a "bayonet" connector. In chess, an aggressive variation of the King's Indian Defence is known as the "Bayonet Attack". The bayonet has become a symbol of military power. The term "at the point of a bayonet" refers to using military force or action to accomplish, maintain, or defend something (cf. Bayonet Constitution). Undertaking a task "with fixed bayonets" has this connotation of no room for compromise and is a phrase used particularly in politics. ==Badges and insignias==

The Australian Army 'Rising Sun' badge features a semicircle of bayonets. The Australian Army Infantry Combat Badge (ICB) takes the form of a vertically mounted Australian Army SLR (7.62mm self-loading rifle FN FAL) bayonet surrounded by an oval-shaped laurel wreath. The US Army Combat Action Badge, awarded to personnel who have come under fire since 2001 and who are not eligible for the Combat Infantryman Badge (due to the fact that only Infantry personnel may be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge), has a bayonet as its central motif. The shoulder sleeve insignia for the 10th Mountain Division in the US Army features crossed bayonets. The US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team's shoulder patch features a bayonet wrapped in a wing, symbolizing their airborne status. The brigade regularly deploys in task forces under the name "Bayonet". The insignia of the British Army's School of Infantry is an SA80 bayonet against a red shield. It is worn as a Tactical recognition flash (TRF) by instructors at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick, the Infantry Battle School at Brecon and the Support Weapons School in Warminster. Fixed bayonets also feature on the cap badge and tactical recognition flash of the Small Arms School Corps. The vocation tab collar insignia for the Singapore Armed Forces Infantry Formation utilizes two crossed bayonets. The bayonet is often used as a symbol of the Infantry in Singapore. ==Bayonet charge==

The development of the bayonet from the 17th century onwards led to the bayonet charge becoming the main infantry tactic throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. The British Army under Wolesley, the later Duke of Wellington, evolved its tactics to adopt the "Volley and Bayonet Charge" from the earlier "Highland Charge" tactic of Highland regiments under his command. These proto "fire and maneuver" tactics were first introduced to the British Army by the 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch) at Fontenoy in 1745 although, they had been used by their antecedents, (The Independent Highland Watch Companies) prior to that. As early as the 19th century, military scholars were already noting that most bayonet charges did not result in close combat. Instead, one side usually fled before actual bayonet fighting ensued. The act of fixing bayonets has been held to be primarily connected to morale, the making of a clear signal to friend and foe of a willingness to kill at close quarters. Napoleonic wars (1813) The bayonet charge was a common tactic used during the Napoleonic wars. Despite its effectiveness, a bayonet charge did not necessarily cause substantial casualties through the use of the weapon itself. Detailed battle casualty lists from the 18th century showed that in many battles, less than 2% of all wounds treated were caused by bayonets. Antoine-Henri Jomini, a celebrated military author who served in numerous armies during the Napoleonic period, stated that the majority of bayonet charges in the open resulted with one side fleeing before any contact was made. Combat with bayonets did occur, but mostly on a small scale when units of opposing sides encountered each other in a confined environment, such as during the storming of fortifications or during ambush skirmishes in broken terrain. In an age of fire by massed volley, when compared to random unseen bullets, the threat of the bayonet was much more tangible and immediate – guaranteed to lead to a personal gruesome conclusion if both sides persisted. All this encouraged men to flee before the lines met. Thus, the bayonet was an immensely useful weapon for capturing ground from the enemy, despite seldom actually being used to inflict wounds. American Civil War , Virginia (1865) during the American Civil War During the American Civil War (1861–1865) the bayonet was found to be responsible for less than 1% of battlefield casualties, a hallmark of modern warfare. The use of bayonet charges to force the enemy to retreat was very successful in numerous small unit engagements at short range in the American Civil War, as most troops would retreat when charged while reloading. Although such charges inflicted few casualties, they often decided short engagements, and tactical possession of important defensive ground features. Additionally, bayonet drill could be used to rally men temporarily unnerved by enemy fire. While the overall Battle of Gettysburg was won by the Union armies due to a combination of terrain and massed artillery fire, a decisive point on the second day of the battle hinged on a bayonet charge at Little Round Top when Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, running short of musket ammunition, charged downhill, surprising and capturing many of the surviving soldiers of the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment and other Confederate regiments. Other bayonet charges occurred at Gettysburg, such as that of the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment. This was ordered in desperation by General Hancock earlier on July 2 in order to delay a Confederate brigade's advance long enough to bring up reinforcements for the holed Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Still another bayonet charge was conducted late in the evening on July 2 by the 137th New York Infantry Regiment defending the extreme right flank of the Union line on Culp's Hill. The charge of several companies managed to temporarily stall the advance of the 10th Virginia Infantry Regiment long enough for the 14th Brooklyn to move in on the 137th's right and repel the attack. Going over the top , in 1913 The popular image of World War I combat is of a wave of soldiers with bayonets fixed, "going over the top" and charging across no man's land into a hail of enemy fire. Although this was the standard method of fighting early in the war, it was rarely successful. British casualties on the first day of the Battle of the Somme were the worst in the history of the British army, with casualties, whom were killed. During World War I, no man's land was often hundreds of yards across. The area was usually devastated by the warfare and riddled with craters from artillery and mortar shells, and sometimes contaminated by chemical weapons. Heavily defended by machine guns, mortars, artillery, and riflemen on both sides, it was often covered with barbed wire and land mines, and littered with the rotting corpses of those who were not able to make it across the sea of projectiles, explosions, and flames. A bayonet charge through no man's land often resulted in the total annihilation of entire battalions. , France, 1919 Banzai charges The advent of modern warfare in the 20th century made bayonet charges dubious affairs. During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904–1905), the Japanese used human wave attacks against Russian artillery and machine guns,—a combination of infiltration and the shock tactics employed by the People's Liberation Army during the Korean War (1950–1953). A typical Chinese short attack was carried out at night by sending a series of small five-man fireteams to attack the weakest point of an enemy's defenses. Due to primitive communication systems and tight political controls within the Chinese army, short attacks were often repeated until either the defenses were penetrated or the attackers were completely annihilated. The term "human wave" was later used by journalists and military officials to convey the image of the American soldiers being assaulted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese on a broad front, which is inaccurate when compared with the normal Chinese practice of sending successive series of small teams against a weak point in the line. It was in fact rare for the Chinese to actually use densely concentrated infantry formations to absorb enemy firepower. Modern usage One use the Germans in World War II made of bayonets was to search for people in hiding. One person hiding in a house in the Netherlands wrote: "The Germans made lots of noise as they came upstairs, and they stabbed their bayonets into the wall. Then what we'd always feared actually happened: A bayonet went through the thin wallpaper above the closet, exposing the three people who were hiding there. 'Raus!' cried the Germans. 'Out!'".. During the Korean War, the French Battalion and Turkish Brigade used bayonet charges against enemy combatants. On 8 May 1970, National Guardsmen attacked student demonstrators with bayonets at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The demonstrators were protesting the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, and the killing of four students at Kent State University. Eleven were injured, some seriously. In 1982, the British Army mounted bayonet charges during the Falklands War, notably the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment during the Battle of Mount Longdon and the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards during the final assault of Mount Tumbledown. In 1995, during the Siege of Sarajevo, UN peacekeepers of the French 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment charged Serbian forces at the Battle of Vrbanja bridge. Actions led by the regiment allowed the UN peacekeepers to retreat from a threatened position. Two fatalities and seventeen wounded resulted. During the Second Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan, British Army units mounted several bayonet charges. == Usage ==

"Reach" controversy , equipped with non-lethal dummy weapons, in the Imperial fortress colony of Gibraltar in 1913 rifle. Prior to World War I, bayonet doctrine was largely founded upon the concept of "reach"; that is, a soldier's theoretical ability, by use of an extremely long rifle and fixed bayonet, to stab an enemy soldier without having to approach within reach of his opponent's blade. A combined length of rifle and bayonet longer than that of the enemy infantryman's rifle and attached bayonet, like the infantryman's pike of bygone days, was thought to impart a tactical advantage on the battlefield. In 1886, the French army introduced a quadrangular épée spike for the bayonet of the Lebel Model 1886 rifle, the Épée-Baïonnette Modèle 1886, resulting in a rifle and bayonet with an overall length of . Germany responded by introducing a long sword bayonet for the Model 1898 Mauser rifle, which had a 29-inch barrel. The bayonet, the Seitengewehr 98, had a 50 cm (19.7-inch) blade. These were intended for general use by infantry and cavalry. While the British P1903 and its similar predecessor, the P1888, was satisfactory in service, criticism soon arose regarding the shortened reach. One military writer of the day warned: "The German soldier has eight inches the better of the argument over the British soldier when it comes to crossing bayonets, and the extra eight inches easily turns the battle in favour of the longer, if both men are of equal skill." However, the long-barreled 98 Mauser rifle remained in service as the primary infantry small arm. Moreover, German military authorities continued to promote the idea of outreaching one's opponent on the battlefield by means of a longer rifle/bayonet combination, a concept prominently featured in its infantry bayonet training doctrines. Using this tactic, the German soldier dropped into a half-crouch, with the rifle and fixed bayonet held close to the body. In response to criticism over the reduced reach of the SMLE rifle and bayonet, British ordnance authorities introduced the P1907 bayonet in 1908, which had an elongated blade of some seventeen inches to compensate for the reduced overall length of the SMLE rifle. The 1907 bayonet was essentially a copy of the Japanese Type 30 bayonet, Britain having purchased a number of Japanese type 30 rifles for the Royal Navy during the preceding years. Whether in the close confines of trench warfare, night time raiding and patrolling, or attacking across open ground, soldiers of both sides soon recognized the inherent limitations of a long and ungainly rifle and bayonet when used as a close-quarters battle weapon. Instead of longer bayonets, infantry forces on both sides began experimenting with other weapons as auxiliary close-quarter arms, including the trench knife, trench club, handgun, hand grenade, and entrenching tool. Soldiers soon began employing the bayonet as a knife as well as an attachment for the rifle, and bayonets were often shortened officially or unofficially to make them more versatile and easier to use as tools, or to maneuver in close quarters. It has a Bowie style (clip-point) blade with saw-teeth along the spine, and can be used as a multi-purpose survival knife and wire-cutter when combined with its steel scabbard. The AK-74 bayonet 6Kh5 (introduced in 1983) represents a further refinement of the AKM bayonet. It introduced a radical blade cross-section, that has a flat milled on one side near the edge and a corresponding flat milled on the opposite side near the false edge. or for some models, that of the AKM Type II bayonet. The QBZ-95, has a multi-purpose knife bayonet similar to the US M9. Belgium The FN FAL has two types of bayonet. The first is a traditional spear point bayonet. The second is the Type C socket bayonet introduced in the 1960s. It has a hollow handle that fits over the muzzle and slots that lined up with those on the FAL's 22 mm NATO-spec flash hider. It has a hollow handle that fits over the SA80/L85 rifle's muzzle and slots that lined up with those on the flash eliminator. The blade is offset to the side of the handle to allow the bullet to pass beside the blade. It can also be used as a multi-purpose knife and wire-cutter when combined with its scabbard. Germany The H&K G3 rifle uses two types of bayonets, both of which is mounted above the G3's rifle barrel. The first is the standard G3 bayonet which has a blade similar to the American M7 bayonet. Austria The Steyr AUG uses two types of bayonet. The first and most common is an Eickhorn KCB-70 type multi-purpose bayonet with an M16 bayonet type interface. The second are the Glock Feldmesser 78 (Field Knife 78) and the Feldmesser 81 (Survival Knife 81), which can also be used as a bayonet, by engaging a socket in the pommel (covered by a plastic cap) into a bayonet adapter that can be fitted to the AUG rifle. These bayonets are noteworthy, as they were meant to be used primarily as field or survival knives and use as a bayonet was a secondary consideration. They can also be used as throwing knives and have a built-in bottle opener in the crossguard. France The French use a more traditional spear point bayonet with the current FAMAS bayonet which is nearly identical to that of the M1949/56 bayonet. The new French H&K 416F rifle uses the Eickhorn "SG 2000 WC-F", a multi-purpose combat knife/bayonet (similar to the KM2000) with a wire cutter. It weighs , is long with a half serrated blade for cutting through ropes. The synthetic handle and sheath have electrical insulation that protects up to 10,000 volts. The sheath also has a diamond blade sharpener. ==See also==