The Bayonet as a Weapon
By Craig L. Barry · Originally published November-December 2023 · pp. 3–9
U On the Civil War battlefield, the bayonet turned out to be a relic, responsible for few battlefield wounds. Though there were many mass charges in Civil War battles, there were few hand-to-hand bayonet fights, and those were usually of short duration. Although infantry soldiers were issued bayonets and received bayonet drill, they found the weapon most useful for other purposes. Bayonets made excellent tent stakes and candle holders, and when a charge petered out they were useful for digging a hole to hide in. – (Kevin Eisert, civilwar.bluegrass.net)
nlike the knife, which was often carried for defensive purposes by civilians and soldiers alike, the bayonet as a weapon has always been strictly military in nature. Civilian rifles typically have no provision for a bayonet. In fact, the U.S. Model 1841 percussion rifle was the exception to the general rule for military arms taking bayonets. To the martial mind of the 19th century, the bayonet was seen as a fourth form of fencing, along with foil, epee’ (dueling sword), and dueling saber. It was, according to General George McClellan, “the brave man’s weapon.” The first official training bayonets were issued in 1858. Soldiers learned to affix and remove it on command and how to guard against cavalry and infantry using the rifle mounted with bayonet as a pike. They also drilled
the motions of bayonet fighting as a group drill using the actual blades. When it came time to practice bayonet fighting, soldiers would wear a plastron, or jacket, mask, and fencing gloves. The blades were mounted to old service rifles, rather than risk damage to newer long arms. How often and how exactly were bayonets used? Postbellum there was a tendency to downplay the role of the bayonet in close-quarter fighting. The 1870 Surgeon General’s Medical and Surgical History of the War of Rebellion (1861–1865) contained a table that listed the type(s) of wounds treated in Federal hospitals. Fewer than 1,000 bayonet wounds were noted there. Connecting the dots, historians concluded that the bayonet was little but an
impediment to soldiers who were issued them and that not all soldiers were issued bayonets, that they were used primarily as candlestick holders or cooking implements as noted somewhat erroneously in the heading. This is not necessarily a conclusion that can be drawn. The Surgeon General’s information can be interpreted another way: only the wounded were treated in hospitals and the casualties from bayonet wounds were primarily dead on the battlefield. There is some weight to the argument since the weapon was primarily used in hand-to-hand fighting. Close-quarter fighting provides a ratio of mortal bayonet wounds to recoverable injuries that is, expectedly, very high indeed. Some period accounts state that few bayoneted soldiers survived the trauma due to the heavy loss of blood that resulted in such a short time. Perhaps if there were cause of death or autopsy reports from burial details we would have a different perspective of the damage done by the bayonet, but none are known.
equipment issued to soldiers as discarded on the march. However, when one lends weight to the letters and diary entries that mention use of the bayonet in battle, a clearer picture emerges. Sam Watkins wrote in Company Aytch, “We gave one long, loud cheer, and commenced the charge. As we approached their lines…Officers with drawn swords meet officers with drawn swords, and man to man meets man to man with bayonets and loaded guns.” Jonathan Newcomb in the 3rd Maine Infantry noted during the Peninsula campaign, “We rose up and fired a volley, then pitched into them with bayonets and clubbed muskets and drove them back for nearly a mile.” Perhaps most famously, Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top carried the day and perhaps saved the Army of the Potomac by ordering that famous bayonet charge at Gettysburg. He noted in his report the following:
There are first-person accounts of soldiers discarding their bayonets as excess weight while on the march; but soldiers also discarded other essential pieces of equipment including their canteens and blankets which they later regretted. There are estimates of up to 50 percent of the
“My ammunition was soon exhausted. My men were firing their last shot and getting ready to “club” their muskets. It was imperative to strike before we were struck by this overwhelming force in a hand-to-hand fight, which we could not probably have withstood or survived. At that crisis, I ordered the bayonet. The word was enough. It ran like fire along the line, from man to man, and rose into a shout, with which they sprang forward upon
Confederate soldier wearing a frock coat, forage cap, accoutrement set with belt, percussion cap box, leather bayonet scabbard, bayoneted musket, and holstered revolver. Also is a sling for cartridge box hidden behind him. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
Private in Confederate uniform wearing a frame buckle and holding a bayoneted musket. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
the enemy, now not 30 yards away. The effect was surprising; many of the enemy’s first line threw down their arms and surrendered. … we made an extended ‘right wheel,’ before which the enemy’s second line broke and fell back, fighting from tree to tree, many being captured, until we had swept the valley and cleared the front of nearly our entire brigade.” The day of the bayonet was far from over. One must also consider the well-documented effect on morale of a phalanx of gleaming bayonets advancing steadily on defenders. The British Army command for fixing bayonets
features a movement where the blade is held overhead for an instant, to communicate the threat which it represents. It was especially effective to control civil unrest as well, often dissipating a crowd of rioters without firing a shot. Rather than concluding that the bayonet was obsolete by the time of the Civil War, it is fairer to say that the tactic of charging an entrenched position with bayonets alone should have ended with the Civil War; yet it did not. Because of its usefulness in hand-to-hand fighting no matter how infrequent or impractical, the bayonet remained a valuable part of the infantry soldier’s equipment well into the twentieth century.
Union soldier in uniform with Company H hat insignia holding bayoneted musket. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
About the Author Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from UNC (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation. He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011), The Unfinished Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013). He has also published four books in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.
o present a meaningful linear progression for the reader, a brief history of the designation of the 7th Regiment, NGSNY is in order. This military organization came into existence in 1806 with the organization of four artillery companies armed with cannon and muskets. Early in 1812, the four companies became the “Eleventh Regiment of Artillery.” By 1824, the unit’s designation had changed to the “Twenty Seventh Regiment, National Guards.” The militia law of 1847 brought about the last and final change to “Seventh Regiment National Guard State of New York.” The sword pictured in this discourse was presented to Linus Stevens as a token of appreciation from a grateful Regiment.
T The events related in this article deal with the period from 1824 to 1835 when the nascent Seventh was still designated the Twenty-Seventh Regiment.
Prosper Montgomery Wetmore. (February 14, 1798 – March 16, 1876) Born at Orwell, Vermont, on June 16, 1793, Linus W. Stevens was a cabinet maker by trade. Beginning his militia career as a private in the Eleventh Regiment of Heavy Artillery, he quickly rose through the ranks being appointed sergeant in 1815, elected second lieutenant in 1820, first lieutenant in 1821, and commissioned as a captain in 1822. With the 1824 reorganization, Stevens was allowed to transfer a part of his heavy artillery company to the Twenty-seventh Regiment as its sixth company. In 1825, he was elected major of the battalion, and in 1826 ascended to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Twenty-Seventh. The events enumerated below led to the presentation of the sword detailed in this article.
Seventh Regiment Uniform, 1835–1853. Portrait by H.A. Ogden.
In 1826 the Twenty-seventh was commanded by Prosper M. Wetmore, who in his civic role, was a prominent officer in the Lombard Association, a loan and trust company. With the financial failure of the Association in that year, great discord fell upon the Twenty-seventh Regiment due to accusations of fraudulent activities by Colonel Wetmore. These eventually resulted in a meeting of a Board of Officers on January 11, 1827, asking Colonel Wetmore to defend his integrity and character. The result of this meeting ended with a majority declaring Wetmore’s defense as unsatisfactory. This created a schism in the organization that resulted in the announcement by Colonel Wetmore that four officers had been placed under arrest for disobedience of orders.