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Bayonett 1951-338b
Early Land Pattern "Shield" Bayonet
Bayonett 1951-338b

Early Land Pattern "Shield" Bayonet

Dateca. 1745
OriginEngland, Birmingham
MediumIron and steel
DimensionsOverall: 21 3/8" Socket: 4" Blade: 17" x 1 5/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1951-338,B
DescriptionEarly Land Pattern bayonet of the "pointed shield" type, produced for commercial sale.

Label TextBy the late 1730s, the standard British musket bayonet had acquired a shorter, thicker shank which was set slightly back from the socket's muzzle. Instead of a rounded "shield" shaped decoration filed into the socket at the junction with the shank, these bayonets have a pointed "shield." While the blade changed little from that on the Pattern 1727 type bayonet, the wide face of the blade is markedly concave for its entire length and its two lower faces are fullered for added strength and rigidity. This commercially-produced example survives with a rarely seen accouterment; it’s original leather-covered wooden scabbard.

Produced until the period immediately preceding the French & Indian War, these distinctive weapons were amongst the most commonly encountered bayonets on the North American battlefield during the period. Archaeologists have recovered examples from British and American campsites spanning from Nova Scotia to Florida.
InscribedSocket engraved "No = 4"
MarkingsBase of blade struck with a "P" and another indistinct mark.
ProvenanceThis bayonet is one of many associated with, and numbered to, the muskets purchased for the "Blues" or York City Militia (UK) during the 1745 Jacobite Uprising.
Exhibition(s)