And Now for Something Completely Different - A 19th Century Sword Bayonet! Part One©

 

 

Besides the wilderness and all things survival, my two other great passions are history and all-things-sharp and sword fighting.

 

Last weekend, I bought a mystery sword-bayonet, stamped with the year 1862 on the left ricasso. 

 

And now for something completely different, let’s talk about 19^th century swords-bayonets!

 

 

But just what model is it, and who made it...?

 

So, there is a mystery to be solved, who made this sword-bayonet and just what model sword-bayonet is it? 

 

Just the facts Ma’am, we know that this sword-bayonet, was made in 1862, although the number “2” is a little hard to read, but more on that in a moment.  And it has a re-curved or “yataghan” shaped blade. 

 

The word “yataghan” comes from the Turkish word for “one who lays down”, which describes the downward re-curved blade, of this Turkic-origin sword.  The re-curve added strength and rigidity to the blade, while keeping the hilt and point in alignment for maximum thrusting efficiency and at the same time kept the blade point away from the line of the muzzle bore, allowing for safer reloading of muzzle loading rifles.

 

But unfortunately, this doesn’t help us to identify this sword-bayonet, as the first yataghan sword-bayonet, the M1840 French Chassepot Bayonet (which was designed to fit the French M1866 Chassepot Rifled Infantry Musket) was one of the most widely copied designs of all the sword-bayonets.  During the 19^th century, the United States, Egypt, Belgium, and Argentina all manufactured or used this type of bayonet.

 

Since, it is a common blade type and there’s not a maker’s mark stamped on the blade, we are going to have to compare the brass hilt to pictures of other sword bayonets from around 1862 and to limit the search to something approaching reasonable, I started by assuming that this sword-bayonet is a relict of American Civil War and was made by the Union side.

 

The bayonet I purchased has 14 ribs on the grip, and it doesn’t have a steel rivet through the center of the cross into the blade.  Also, it has a lug slot that is chamfered on both sides, with the stop end is squared, and it has no guide slot.  Additionally, it has the number 10156 stamped vertically into the flat of the hilt.  Interestingly, the “2” in 1862, stamped on the blade, is equally as blurry on my blade as it is on the #203 reference blade from “US Brass Hilted Sword Bayonets”.

 

When the sword-bayonet that I purchased was compared to the examples shown on “US Brass Hilted Sword Bayonets”, HERE, it turns out that I bought one of approximately 10,900 Model 1841 Rifle Sword-Bayonet, Colt Alteration sword-bayonets that were produced by Collins & Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and delivered with re-bored rifles by the Colt Patent Firearms Company to the United State Arsenals in 1862. 

 

So, the mystery is solved, I found a M1841 Rifle Sword-Bayonet, manufactured in 1862, by Collins & Co., but just how did its original user, use it as a sword or as a bayonet?  That will have to be a mystery for next week!

 

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That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Sources

 

Bennett, Julian; “Bayonets for the Peabody-Martini Rifle”, Arms & Armour, Vol. 16, No. 1, pages 75 to 104, https://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/server/api/core/bitstreams/3ea5e93b-803b-4b7b-9751-3861eb721d37/content, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Green, Lieut., William Pringle; Instructions for Training a Ship's Crew to the use of Arms, 1812, [Academy of Historical Fencing], https://swordfight.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Instructions-for-training-a-ships-crew-in-the-use-of-arms-in-attack-and-defence-by-Lieutenant-William-Pringle-Green-1812.pdf, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Marey-Monge, Colonel Guillaume Stanislaus; Memoir on Swords, Etc., [John Weale, London, 1860], https://books.google.com/books?id=uLKxWGd4xt8C&pg=PR7&dq=%22yataghan+in+the+tower+armoury%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi17Jv98OWIAxU-FFkFHeV8IU8Q6AF6BAgKEAI#v=onepage&q=%22yataghan%20in%20the%20tower%20armoury%22&f=false, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Wikimedia; “Bayonet charge on Plateau of Touvent by French colonial Zouave troops from North Africa”, June 19, 1915, by L'Illustration No 3772, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bayonet_charge_on_Plateau_of_Touvent_by_French_colonial_Zouave_troops_from_North_Africa_1915.jpg, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Wikipedia, “M1841 Mississippi Rifle”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1841_Mississippi_rifle, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Wilson, Ronnie; “US Brass Hilted Sword Bayonets”, https://sites.google.com/view/us-brass-hilted-sword-bayonets/home?authuser=0, accessed September 28, 2024

 

Worldbayonets.com—The Collector's Edge Online Bayonet Reference; “Bayonets of France”, https://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/France/france_2.html, accessed September 28, 2024