Military interest in the bayonet arose out of a desire to increase firepower and mobility.  Because early matchlock muskets were heavy and slow to load, musketeers were defenseless and vulnerable to cavalry charges after firing.  Ranks of pikemen would fend off the cavalry while musketeers re-loaded between volleys.  However, the requirement for pikemen severely limited the firepower which could be brought to bear.  

The pike was a 12-16 foot long pole with a spear point at the end.  While a massed row of pikemen presented a formidable barrier to attackers, the pike had major disadvantages.  It hampered rapid movement and required the tallest, strongest soldiers be relegated to a primarily defensive role.  By the mid-1600s, muskets had become much lighter.  Lighter muskets enabled musketeers to do away with the forked musket-rest, which enabled them to maneuver more rapidly on the battlefield.  However, their reliance on heavily burdened pikemen limited the advantage which could be gained from the improved musket.

The first documented military use of the bayonet dates from 1647, during the Thirty Years War.

In his memoirs, published in 1690, Jacques de Chastenet, Chevalier, Siegneur de Puységur (Knight, Lord of Puységur), described an incident which occurred in 1647 in Flanders.  At the time of this occurrence, he was Colonel of the Régiment de Piedmont.  Hel later was Lieutenant Général du Armées du Roi (Armies of the King).He wrote:

"For me, when I was in command at Bergue, in Ypre, Dixmude, and Laquenoc, all the parties that I sent out passed the canals in this fashion. It is true that soldiers did not carry swords, but they had bayonets with handles one foot long, and the blades of the bayonets were as long as the handles, the ends of which were adapted for putting in the barrels of the fusils to defend themselves, when attacked after they had fired." [View an image of this passage from Chastenet's memoirs.] 

These earliest military bayonets lacked a crosspiece and pommel, more resembling a spear point, than a dagger.  One of the earliest images of a bayonet was published by Louis, Lord of Gaya, in his 1678 book: Treatise on Arms, with Machines of War, Ingenious Fires, Insignia & Military Instruments Former & Modern; with the Manner in Which it is Presented in the Armed Forces, both French and Foreign. 

Gaya was a Captain in the (French) Charlemagne Regiment.  He wrote:

“The bayonet is about of the length of the dagger. It has no guard, but only a wood handle length of eight to nine inches. The blade is pointed & cutting, one foot long & a good inch wide. The bayonet is of great utility with the dragoons, the fusiliers & with the soldiers who are often ordered to go to war; because when they made their discharges, and have no ammunition, they put the handle in the muzzles of their fusils and defend as well as with a partisan.”

Gaya's book also contains the earliest known illustration of a bayonet. [View an image of this passage and the bayonet illustration from Gaya's book.]

© Ralph E. Cobb 2009 All Rights Reserved