IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF . PROTECTING TROOPS UNDER FIRE, AND IN THE TOOLS OR APPARATUS CON- NECTED THEREWITH, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Shepard Wetmore, of New York, United
States of America, at present of 123, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
. PROTECTING TROOPS UNDER FIRE, AND IN THE TOOLS OR APPARATUS CON-
NECTED THEREWITH, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 21st March 1871, and dated the 14th January 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. William Shepard
Wetmore
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th January 1871.
$6 IM-
I, WILLIAM SHEPARD WETMORE, of New York, United States of
America, at. present of 123, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
PROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PROTECTING TROOPS UNDER FIRE, AND
TOOLS OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
IN THE
These improvements relate first to an Invention entitled "An Im-
proved Mode of Protecting Troops under Fire," for which Letters
Patent were granted to me dated 31st October 1870, and Numbered 2860:

page_text: The object of my former Invention is to make the entrenching spade
subserve not only the ordinary purpose for which it is required, but
when not actually in use for digging to afford protection to the person
of the soldier whilst under fire. The most important part to be thus
protected is the chest, and the blade of the spade is intended to be used
as a breastplate, the handle being detached from it, but when used for
digging or entrenching the handle is fastened to the blade by means of
a bayonet catch or a screw.
My present Invention is intended to supplement and extend my
former one, and consists, first, in various improvements connected
with the handles and blades of entrenching spades so that the spades
can be used for digging, for breastplates, and for other purposes.
In one arrangement of handle I make it of wood terminated with a
pointed piece of iron or steel, which piece is fitted firmly on the wooden
handle by means of a socket or screw, and into the socket of the spade.
The piece of iron or steel may be of any geometrical figure, but that
of a triangle with the. sides curved inwards, such as the section of a
bayonet point, is preferable. The handle when detached may be used
as a pick or a crowbar, or as a pike or weapon of offence and defence.
If desirable not to have the whole handle inseparable it may be con-
structed so as to be able casily to disconnect the metal piece, so that
the parts may be carried separately by arming the end of the wooden
portion with an iron or metallic point or end which shall fit firmly
into the socket, or this socket may be fitted with a bayonet catch, the
handle being provided with a button, so that the parts may be fastened.
as a bayonet is fastened to a gun, or the end of the handle may be
fastened to the socket by a screw, or for convenience in carrying the
above described handle may be made with a joint or elbow so that
oue part will double back, the joint being secured in its place when
the handle is in usé for any of the above purposes by a moveable band
or ring of iron or other metal, the same band serving to confine the
pointed piece of metal to the top of the handle when doubled back.
I modify this arrangement by using instead of a shaft of wood a
hollow cylinder of iron or other metal, and the lower portion is made of
smaller diameter than the hollow cylinder and slides into the same
by telescopic action. When desired each of the before-mentioned
handles is fitted with an elbow, by which the metal piece can be
placed at the required angle with the handle to form a single pointed

page_text: pick, the handle when straightened for other purposes being made firm
by an iron or metallic ring or band. Instead of the body of the
handle being of wood or a hollow cylinder of metal, it may consist of
two parallel bars of iron or other metal flat on the inner and convex
on the outer surface and fitted with a slide or pivot so that the metal
piece and blade may slide back or may turn on an clbow or pivot
between the two parallel bars. The pointed piece of metal may be
carried without the shaft or handle, and be provided with a socket in
which is fitted a bayonet catch, so that it can be fastened on the
muzzle end of a musket or rifle, thus connecting the gun with the blade
of the spade, the former being used as a handle, or the pointed picce
may be fastened to the gun by other suitable contrivance, and if
required to strengthen the barrel of the gun the socket may be pro-
longed as far as necessary, so as to ensheath as much of the barrel of
the gun as may be required.
In another arrangement I make the pointed piece of metal in the
shape of a bayonet and provide it with a socket which fits on to the
muzzle end of a musket or rifle by a bayonet catch.
When a gun is
used as a handle connected with the spade by the bayonet the socket
may be prolonged so as to strengthen the barrel of the gun. The
bayonet may be carried in the usual way, and when not in use for con-
necting the spade with the handle can be used with the latter or with
a gun as a weapon of offence or defence.
My next improvement consists in forming a combined spade and
double fluked pick. The spade is provided with two sockets, one along
the outer and the other along the inner axis. The handle being com-
posed of two parallel bars of iron or other metal flat on the inner and
convex on the outer surface and the metal end of the handle is formed
as a fork, and one prong is adjusted into the outer and the other into
the inner socket of the spade and kept firmly by a metalic band or
ring. In each of the prongs there is a joint by which they can be
turned at a convenient angle in opposite directions, and thus assume
the form of a double pick, the flukes being secured by a catch, bolt, or
other contrivance. For convenience in carrying the two forks may be
bent over like the blades of a knife or be passed into a hollow handle
of metal sliding into the same by telescopic action.
Method of Carrying the Spade.—When worn as a breastplate it can
be attached to shoulder straps by small supplementary straps passing

page_text: through slides and buckled to the shoulder straps, or small hooks are
attached to the inner surface of the spade near the top which fasten
into loops or eyes worked on the shoulder straps, the apex fitting.into
a pocket of leather and metal in the waist belt, where it is fastened
by a catch or a screw passing through a hole. Or the spade can be
worn concealed from view beneath the coat, and is fitted into a pocket
provided for the purpose suspended by a strap round the neck.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Shepard Wetmore in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 13th July 1871,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SHEPARD WETMORE, of New York, United States of America, at
present of 123, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in 'the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Shepard Wetmore,
Her special licence that I, the said William Shepard Wetmore, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Shepard Wetmore, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF PROTECTING TROOPS
UNDER FIRE, AND IN THE TOOLS OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Shepard Wetmore, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the

page_text: Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Shepard Wetmore, dó
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Figures
on the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, and to the letters of
reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
One part of these improvements relate to an improved mode of pro-
tecting troops under fire, for which Letters Patent were granted to me
dated Thirty-first October One thousand eight hundred and seventy, and
Numbered 2860.
The object of my former Invention is to make the entrenching spade
subserve not only the ordinary purpose for which it is required, but
when not in use for digging or entrenching to afford protection to the
person of the soldier whilst under fire. The most important part to
be thus protected is the chest, and the blade of the spade is intended to
be used as a breastplate, the handle being detached from it, but when
used for digging or entrenching the handle is fastened to the blade
by means of a bayonet catch, a screw, or other contrivance, and in the
Provisional and Complete Specification it is also stated that the blade
can be used as a back plate, a side plate, or combined with other defensive
armour.
My present Invention is intended to supplement and extend my
former one, and consists first in various improvements connected with
the handles and blades of entrenching spades so that the spades cannot
only be used for digging or entrenching, and the blades used for breast-
plates or other armour as described, in any former Specification, but
the handles used for tools and weapons of offence and defence.
In my former Specification I described handles terminated with
pointed pieces of metal which entered into sockets formed on the blades,
but these pieces were intended to be used only as handles for the blades,
but now I make the pieces to be used as certain tools and weapons,
and therefore make them of steel and have them properly tempered
to suit the intended purpose.
In my former Specification I described pointed ends of round, triangular,
and square shapes, and I now use pieces of steel of any desired figure.

page_text: When the piece is to be used as a weapon I prefer it to be triangular
with the sides curved inwards, such as the section of a bayonet, but
when the piece is to be used as a chisel it may be shaped as required,
and the handles can be used as pikes and weapons of offence and
defence.
On Sheet 1 of the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, Figure 1
is an elevation of an entrenching spade having a handle with a bayonet
end fitting a corresponding socket on the blade and fastened by a screw;
Figure 2, a top view of the blade; Figure 3, an elevation of the handle
only, and Figure 4 a section of the bayonet end at the line y, z. The
wooden part a of the handle is fitted and fixed into the socket 6,
below which is the bayonet c fitted into the socket d and held by the
screw e.
Figure 5 is a back view of an entrenching spade having a handle
with a chisel shaped end fitting a corresponding socket on the blade;
and Figure 6 a top view of the blade; and Figure 7 a side view of the
handle only, the chisel being marked fand the socket g.
If not found desirable to have the whole handle inseparable it may
be constructed so as to be able easily to disconnect the steel end in
order that the parts may be carried separately by forming below the
socket h, Figure 8, a screw i fitting a female screw in the socket k,
Figure 9, at the top of the piece of steel ; or the part m, Figure 10,
may be provided with a knob or button n and the socket o with a slot
or groove, so that the parts may be fastened together as a bayonet
is fastened to a gun. I modify this arrangement by using instead of a
shaft of wood a hollow metallic cylinder in which is fitted a cylinder
of smaller diameter carrying the pointed piece of steel, the two cylinders
sliding together as in a telescope.
In Figures 12 and 13 this description of handle is shewn in its
working position, the two parts p, q, being held firmly together by a
screw or by means of a bayonet catch, and in Figure 14 the lower
part is shewn ensconced in its upper one.
In another arrangement of handle shewn in Figures 15 and 16 I form
the body of the handle of two parallel bars s of iron or other metal,
flat on their inner and convex on the outer surfaces, the said bars
being fitted with a pivot so that the tool or weapon may turn on the
pivot between the bars, the joint being made firm when the spade is in
use by a screw or sliding band and in Figure 17 I represent the pointed

page_text: piece turned back between the bars. The pointed piece of metal may
be carried without the shaft or handle of the spade and be provided
with a socket having a bayonet catch, so that it can be fastened on the
muzzle of a musket or rifle, and thus the gun can be connected to the
blade of the spade, the former being used as a handle, and if required
to strengthen the barrel of the gun the socket may be prolonged so as to
ensheath as much of the barrel of the gun as may be required, and a
pointed piece with a socket and bayonet catch is shown in Figure 18.
In another arrangement I form the metal piece with the bayonet
shaped end in connection with a curved piece and socket similar to the
ordinary military bayonet, there being in the socket a slot or groove to
be used as a bayonet catch. Figures 19 and 20 are back and side
views of this arrangement in connection with a blade.
When a gun is used as a handle for the spade by means of the
bayonet the socket may be partially or entirely prolonged in order to
afford strength to the barrel of the gun, and thus the bayonet can be
used with the gun as a weapon of offence and defence, or be united to the
blade and gun to form an entrenching spade; and in Figures 21 and 22
I shew in connection with the socket ta strengthening piece u. In
order to secure the bayonet more firmly to the blade when the latter is
to be used for digging or entrenching I form on the bayonet a grooved
cross piece v, Figures 23 and 24, the grove fitting the top of the blade,
the socket in Figure 23 extending to the bottom of the blade, and in
Figure 24 divided into two parts, one near the top and the other at the
bottom.
In Figure 25 I represent another mode of fastening the upper part
of the bayonet to the blade of the entrenching spade, the lower part being
held in a short socket. To the part w is forged a clip or projection x
so as to form a space into which the top of the blade can enter, and on
the clip there is a spring y having a projecting knob which enters a
hole in the blade when the bayonet has to be fastened, and the knob
is taken out of the hole by pulling back the spring when the bayonet
has to be removed from the blade.
These improvements are used in connection with the blades of the
spades either as defensive armour or for digging or entrenching, the
blades when used as armour being carried as described in my former
Specification or in any other convenient manner, and although I have
described various forms of the lower parts of the handles of the spades

page_text: and modes of connecting them to the blades, it is evident that they can
be varied to an indefinite extent. The bayonet sheath may be made of
steel and provided with a cross piece and projection as above and with
the bayonet ensheathed within instead of the bayonet alone, and by this
arrangement a spade with short handle may readily be provided, and in
the same manner a straight sword sheath may be made to support a
blade and form a spade with a short handle.
Another part of my Invention consists in forming a light spade which
can be also used as an offensive and defensive weapon by a combination
of bayonet sheath and blade to be carried by the soldier at one side or
the sheath and bayonet at one side and the blade as desired.
The ordinary bayonet shewn in Figure 26, Sheet 2, is when combined
entirely ensheathed in a steel sheath a¹, Figure 27, which is enclosed
from to c¹ in an outer sheath d¹ made of wood or other material and
having at one end a lip e¹ for clasping the blade f¹ and a spring g' for
securing it. In this arrangement I employ a short wooden handle h¹
having at one end a knob ¹ and at the other end a metal collar l
provided with a pin or projection which can be locked in the groove
in the socket of the bayonet. At the bottom of the blade f¹ there is a
short socket for receiving the bottom of the steel sheath with the
bayonet enclosed, and the handle, sheath, and blade combined are shewn
in Figure 28.
In another arrangement shewn in Figures 29, 30, and 31 I rivet to the
blade a socket m¹ having in the centre a hole of the same shape as the
bayonet and at the outside a screw thread, and on the bayonet I place
a sheath of wood or other material having a metal hand n' with an
internal screwed thread to correspond with the thread on the band m²,
and on the blade there is a socket o¹ for the point of the bayonet to
enter.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim,-
First. The adaptation and application to the handles of entrenching
spades of bayonet or tool shaped pieces of steel or other metal to be
f offence and defence and also as tools as shewn and

page_text: Secondly. The adaptation of the blade of the entrenching spade to
the bayonet or other shaped metal pieces and the methods of securing
the same, as shewn and described.
Thirdly. The cross piece at the top of the bayonet or pointed weapon
for the purpose of securing the bayonet or weapon firmly to the blade
of the spade and also the clip spring and knob for the same object, as
shewn and described.
And fourthly. The combinations of bayonet and blade of the spade,
and of bayonet sheath and blade of spade as above described, or any mere
modifications of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Shepard Wetmore, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Thirteenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.