A while back I talked about collecting U.S. bayonets from the American Revolution to today and how it is an affordable way to collect early material. In this blog I’m going to go back to the use of the socket bayonet in the days before the Revolution. Since most of my research is Massachusetts centric, I have to rely on that info when talking about this period.
The socket bayonet in the British army came into use around the turn of the 18th century. They seem to have come over to North America in the early 18th century. Early forms have a flat blade and look to be of fairly crude manufacture. By the mid-18th century, it was realized that a bayonet attached to a musket or civilian hunting gun would be important to the militia. During late 1757 new militia regulations were being enacted and on February 9, 1758, the new laws were published in the Boston Newsletter. Amongst other things, “It is also further enacted, That one Half of the Non-Commission Officers and private Soldiers, liable to train, shall be furnished with a good Bayonet, with a Steel Blade not less than fifteen Inches long, fitted to his Gun, with a Scabbard for the same; for which Bayonet and Scabbard there shall be paid out of the publick Treasury not exceeding Seven Shillings.” The law also stated that bayonet returns for each company had to be turned in to the state. Many of those records survive, scattered through volumes at the Massachusetts State Archives. It did take some time to outfit half of each company in the state and a few of the returns are dated to 1760. To say we can identify the bayonets made for the companies in Massachusetts would be tough. There are some makers named, but not all the bayonets are maker-marked. It also isn’t known if all of the makers conformed to the “not less than fifteen Inches long” rule. With the variety of bore sizes and guns in Massachusetts at the time, it must have been a real pain for the blacksmiths who made them.
Standard British pattern bayonets were also used. One of the bayonets I have now is a British shield pattern circa 1740-50. It is marked “XXVII/15” which is thought to be an American way of marking rack numbers on guns and bayonets during the French and Indian Wars as well as the Revolution. British bayonets are pretty distinctive and there are references out there, the best being The Socket Bayonet in the British Army 1687-1783, by Erik Goldstein. But what about American-made bayonets?
Some American-made bayonets try to emulate the British, but many of them are really crude. One in the bayonet collection I have is fantastic in form. It is a shield pattern with a fourteen-inch blade and a fairly long shank. The weld on the socket is hidden by the bulbous shield but can been seen on the inside of the socket. It has “WALSH” stamped in larger letters on the side of the socket, which may be the maker although it is not known for sure.
For these and many other cool British, American, and French socket bayonets, check out our December Historic Arms & Militaria auction.
