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2013-105, Bayonet
Dutch flat-bladed bayonet
2013-105, Bayonet

Dutch flat-bladed bayonet

Date1730-1750
OriginEurope, Netherlands
MediumIron and steel
DimensionsOL: 15 5/8"; Blade: 11 1/8" x 1 1/16"; Socket: 3 1/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2013-105
DescriptionSocket bayonet with a rectangular-sectioned flat blade, prominent guard, rounded shank and an open-ended socket cut with a 2-step mortise for an under-the-barrel bayonet lug.
Label TextThe British Board of Ordnance had been purchasing arms from the Low Countries at least since the reign of Henry VIII. Tens of thousands of so-called "Dutch" muskets & bayonets had arrived at the Tower of London between 1706 and 1759, where they were put into store.

Compared to a British "Brown Bess" bayonet, these Dutch flat-bladed bayonets don't even come close to measuring up. They are much shorter, much lighter in construction, and weaker in design.

Since these arms were clearly second-rate, many of them were sent to North America to satisfy the demands of the colonial governments who needed arms to fight the French & Indian War. Documents in the Public Record Office in London show that Virginia received 2000 Dutch muskets with their flat-bladed bayonets in 1754, while North Carolina received 1000 sets at the same time.

Relics matching this square-bladed bayonet have been excavated in French and Indian and Revolutionary War sites in the Champlain Valley in New York. Most notable is the example found aboard the wreck of the sloop Boscawen, which sunk at Fort Ticonderoga in the early 1760s.