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| The bayonet |
On the battlefield, the bayonet could be
used when an enemy’s formation began to falter. Typically an army would fire
into enemy formations until gaps formed. Once these gaps formed, a bayonet
charge would provide the best opportunity to scatter and destroy the enemy.
Despite this strategy, the use of the bayonet on the battlefield often did not
occur because, as one contemporary remarked, “the fear of the bayonet, rather
than the bayonet itself, was the deciding factor.”
In some instances the use of the bayonet
did occur in battle. During the Battle of Lundy’s Lane both armies advanced so
close due to the large amount of smoke and the fact that the battle took place
at night. During the battle the British commander, General Drummond, lamented,
“Of so determined a character were their [American infantry] attacks directed
against our Guns, that our Artillery Men were bayoneted by the Enemy in the Act
of loading.”
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| The bayonet at Lundy's Lane |
A bayonet wound
was one of the most feared due to the blade’s triangular shape. Triangular
shaped wounds were difficult for a surgeon to sew up. As the surgeon sewed up
one side of the wound, the stitches on the other side would begin to pull open,
causing immense pain for the patient.
Most surgeons would not bother with bayonet wounds, and if they did, it
usually involved stuffing the wound with linen bandages and constantly checking
it, removing the bandages as necessary.
Today the use of
triangular shaped blades is banned by the Geneva Conventions, for good reason.
Make sure you visit the numerous battle reenactments this summer, you might
just see a bayonet charge in action.
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