The suburban citizen., 1900-07-21
STORY OF THE BAYONET.
ORIGINALLY IT HAD NOTHING TO
DO WITH GUNS.


do with musket or rifle, but was sim
ply a short fat dagger. Three hun
dred years ago it was described as a
great knife to hang at the girdle like a
dagger. Lingard. the historian writ
ing Of 4 battle fought in France in
1853, says that the English commander
was slain, as he lay on the field, with
a bayOnet'-meaning, no doubt, the
kind of weapon we have just de-
scribed. British soldiers did not carry
n bayOnet Of the modern kind as part
of their equipment till the time of
Charles II. That not very warlike
monarch ordered by royal warrant
that the soldiers were "to have and to
carry one bayonet or great knife" In
those days the great knife was a
kind of last resource. The bayOnet in
its first form could only be used by
having its handle screwed solidly into
the musket barrel, thereby completely
blocking the muzzle; so it was noe un-
til the ammunition was exhausted, or
until the enemy We're so close that
there was not sufficient time for the
somewhat lengthy and complicated
process Of recharging the clumsy old
muZzle-loading muskets--it was not till
then that the bayOnet was brought
into play.
Our friends the enemy, however, be-
fore long taught us how to turn the
weapon to better account While the
battle of Families was in progress,
in May, 1906, some keen-eyed observer
on the British side noticed that the
French infantry were able to charge
with the bayonet Immediately they
had fired their yolley, not waiting to
screw their KNIVES" into the muZzles
of their muskets. When the battle
was over and Marlboro's victorious
troops held the field, some OF the fire
locks abandoned by the foe in their
fight We're picked up and examined,
and it was found that the bayonet was
secured by a circular band of metal
clasping the barrel, a simple arrange
ment, which left the muzzle perfectly
clear. The wonder is that such a
clumsy process as stufting the solid
handle of the bayOnet into the mouth
of the musket was ever adopted at all
Our military authorities, however, were
not above taking a hint from the en-
emy, and the English bayonets were
soon fitted after the French manner.
There has been some discussion as
to the origin of the word "bayonet."
The commonly received explanation is
that the weapon takes it's name from
the city Of Bayonne, in Southern
France, where the bayonet is supposed
to have been first made or first used
This is likely enough, although there
is no direct evidence on the point, but
1t is also possible that the word is de-
rived, as a diminutive from an old
French word, "bayon," which meant
the arrow or shaft Of a crossbow. The
transfer Of the name, with the added
diminutive termination of "ette," from
the longpointed arrow to the short,
stabbing dagger, would be natural and
easy, but the matter is of no great i'm
portance, and it is certainly not worth
dogmatizing about,
1t may be noted, by the way, that
the vulgar pronunciation Of "bayonet,'
or "bagnet'-"Now, genlmen, fall
on as the English said to the French
when they fixed bagonets,' remarked
Mr.. Weller at the plcnic--is Of very
long standing, and was originally Of
the highest respectability A diction-
airy maker of 1851, Benjamin Martin,
after defining the word as meaning "a
short dagger, having, instead of a hilt,
n hollow iron handle to fix it to the
muZzle of musquet, now used instead
of a pike" goes on to say: I'VE speak
the word bagonet" Another lexico-
grapher of few ye.:s later, remarks
somewhat naiyely, that the bayonet,
when ammunition is spent, is no bad
resource" A very early example of
the now vulgar pronunciation may be
found in the London Gazette Of 1902,
where, in No 2742, "bagonets and all
other arms" are mentioned in an Off
cial notice. And a little later, in
book published about 100, the author
ship of which has been attributed to
Defoe, some peaceful person plaintive-
ly pleads; II came not into the world
to be cannonaded or bagnoetted out of
It," The weapon, however, has pushed
a great many peaceful folk, as well S
its more legitimate prey, out Of the
world.
No army, Of course, can claim n mo-
nOpoly of the use Of the bayonet, but
1t has been peculiarly associated with
the heroic deeds Of British infantry on
many a hard-fought field, and in many
a struggle in the imminent deadly
breach. At Waterloo it was the brst-
ling lines Of bayOnets girdllng the in
vlncible squares Of infantry that the
French found It vain to attack. Again
and again the French cavalry surged
against those seemingly solid islands
Of men and steel, but could make no
impression on them. More recently,
at Abu Klea, and on other Egyptian
battlefelds, the gallant derylshes who
survived the fire Of rifles and MaXims
found the line Of bayonets a last and
impregn9ble line Of defense. As a
weapon Of offense, too, as well as Of