In Game:
Bayonets were weapon attachments that could be fit onto the muzzle of muskets and rifles, often as sharp spikes or knives.
During the Louisiana Rebellion and American Revolutionary War, bayonets were utilized by soldiers from the French, Spanish, British and Continental armies, though generally as last-resort ancillary weapons.
The Assassins Aveline de Grandpré and Ratonhnhaké:ton, as well as the Templar Haytham Kenway and pirate Edward Kenway were able to disarm soldiers for their muskets, while the latter three could also grab them from nearby racks, in order to slash or impale nearby enemies. While a bayonet was embedded in a soldier's torso, Ratonhnhaké:ton, Haytham, and Edward could also aim and fire the musket itself, efficiently eliminating two opponents in quick succession.
In Real Life:
Bayonet, short, sharp-edged, sometimes pointed weapon, designed for attachment to the muzzle of a firearm. The inventor is unknown, but the first bayonets were made in Bayonne, France, in the early 17th century and became popular among European armies. The Maréchal de Puységur described the earliest bayonets as having a straight, double-edged blade a foot long with a tapering wooden handle, of equal length, that could be inserted into the muzzle of a musket. The new weapon, considerably shortened, spread through Europe and supplanted the pike. Historically, bayonet charges were meant to instill an aggressive nature in the weapon’s user and a psychological terror in the enemy
The first use of bayonets was simply a knife stuck on the end of a musket barrel used by French hunters catching wild boar. This combination was then used in warfare, and became known as a plug bayonet. Though an effective weapon, a downside of the plug bayonet was that the musketeer could not shoot after affixing it.
The plug bayonet was succeeded by the socket bayonet, which fit over the muzzle of the barrel. A zig-zag motion around the bayonet lug allowed the musketeer to easily affix or remove the bayonet while still securing it in place. The major advantage to the socket bayonet was that the musket could still be fired while the bayonet was attached.
To overcome the fact that not all soldiers used the same weapon, or weapons with the same barrel sizes, the socket bayonet was modified to have a split down the side. An intentional slit running the entire length of the socket allowed for an adjustable fit of the socket to the size of the barrel. Unlike the plug bayonet, the socket and split-socket bayonets had three edges, giving them the name “triangular bayonets”. Given forging processes at the time, a triangular blade was easier to create, and offered increased stability from a two sided or knife blade bayonet without much additional weight. During the War of 1812, bayonets for the British Brown Bess, French Charleville, and United States Springfield muskets were between 12 and 15 inches in length, and continued to have the triangular shape.
Socket bayonets were used through the middle of the 20th century; however the triangular shape became obsolete after the late 1800’s. Though many claim that the triangular bayonet was outlawed in the Geneva Convention in 1949, this is actually not the case. The Geneva Convention set many of the rules of war, and in response to bayonets it prohibits “bayonets with a serrated edge” (International Committee of the Red Cross). Triangle bayonets are not explicitly mentioned in the Convention. Since the wound inflicted by triangular bayonets is difficult to repair, and causes more initial bleeding than that of a two sided bayonet, one could classify triangular bayonets under a clause which prohibits weapons causing undue suffering after the conflict has ended. Indeed, the wounds caused by a triangular bayonet were recorded to last for years after a battle, or to never heal at all. However this would be a stretch. Prior to the mid-1900’s, this also meant that the wound was especially prone to becoming infected, the main cause of deaths in the War of 1812.
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In 19th Century warfare, including the War of 1812, bayonets were primarily used to drive the enemy from the field. The victor of a battle was the one controlling the land when all was said and done. Though the wounds from bayonet stabbings were brutal, less than 3% of casualties during the war were actually from bayonets. This is because the opposing side often dispersed as they were being charged.
The development of repeating firearms greatly reduced the combat value of the bayonet, particularly beginning to wane in popularity during the rise of rapid-fire weapons after World War I. Nevertheless, it was retained through World Wars I and II, though shortened into an all-purpose knife, equipped with a hand grip and carried in a scabbard when not affixed to a rifle.











