French "solid bladed" bayonet

Dateca.1715-35

MediumIron & steel

DimensionsSocket: 3 1/4" Blade: 13 1/8" x 1" Overall: 17 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1986-113

DescriptionBayonet.
Label TextAs France progressed toward the basic socket bayonet design they would use from the early 1730s through the late 1760s, they briefly experimented with solid bladed triangular bayonets. Even though these bayonets were easier to produce than "hollow bladed" bayonets (those with fullered sides), they were heavier and weaker and were eventually deemed unfit for service.

While France is credited with many advances in bayonet technology, there is no doubt their earlier bayonets were less effective than their main adversary's on the battlefield. The British "Brown Bess" bayonet had a broader & longer blade, a more secure lug mortise, and was far more robust in construction than its French counterpart.

Examples of a number of different French "solid bladed" bayonets have been recovered from French & Indian and Revolutionary War sites in North America, including Fort Ticonderoga and Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.

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