Original Item. Only One Available. This is one of the scarcest bayonets we have ever offered at IMA. The M-1816 Fencing Bayonet utilized the socket from a M-1816/22/27 socket bayonet, and had the blade removed, with a short rectangular receptacle replacing the blade. The receptacle accepted the end of a flexible bayonet “blade” made from baleen (referred to a “whalebone” in the period). The baleen was used to make items that were lightweight, but also strong and flexible and it served to make such menial everyday items as corset stays, collar stiffeners, parasol ribs and buggy whips. The baleen blade was topped with a rubber ball, covered in leather. This made for a relatively safe, flexible bayonet blade for fencing exercises, and the 1“ ball reduced the chances of someone having their eye put out!

The receptacle on the bayonet socket incorporated a setscrew to tension the baleen practice blade into place, and allowed it to be removed and replaced should the practice blade break. The bayonets appear to have been produced in rather limited quantities for practice purposes, although the altered M-1816 bayonet sockets do appear for sale from time to time. What rarely appears for sale is the complete fencing bayonet with the whalebone “blade” and the leather covered rubber ball. This is apparently due to the fact that baleen is a particularly tasty treat for rats and other rodents, and it is believed that the majority of the practice blades in storage were simply consumed by the scurrying pests.

The general belief is that the practice bayonets were manufactured during the National Armory Brown Period (c1822-1831) as all known examples of the socket and receptacle are browned. The baleen blades, when encountered have the same basic brown color, but it is not clear if this is a finish or the color of the baleen. The leather covered rubber ball tip is secured to the end of the practice blade by a combination of brass wire wraps and glue.

This example is in fair condition but does retain every part of the bayonet including the scarce baleen blade and leather-wrapped rubber ball. The bayonet has been mounted in a shadow box-style case with string tying it to the display at both ends. The socket end of the bayonet is in very rough shape, showing heavy oxidation and pitting, with the piece wrapped around the baleen blade showing some cracking. The repurposed socket of the bayonet bears its original mating code to match it to the musket that it was fit to, although due to the oxidation, it is impossible to read. The wiring for the rubber ball is still intact and connected to the end. A really phenomenal example of one of the scarcest bayonets out there!

We have never offered an example of this bayonet in its complete configuration, only the metal endpiece. This one is complete, and comes already mounted and ready to display.

It is not clear at what point in time the US Army started to codify and specifically train the infantry in bayonet drill and exercises. The general belief is that the training became standard during the late 1820s or very early 1830s. The first actual American military text on the subject of bayonet training was the 1852 Bayonet Exercises for the Army by Captain (and later General) George B. McClellan. This book was little more than a translation of the French military bayonet exercise manual of the era. The manual did include some new illustrations and plates, and among those was the first documentable US fencing bayonet, designed for use in “force on force” training. While it is one thing to teach a recruit to lung, parry and recover with a bayonet and musket, while screaming the associated commands in French (yes, they bayonet training used French commands through the Civil War era in America”.), it is quite another thing to actually fight with another man, one on one, with musket and bayonet. Obviously the use of real bayonets was quite dangerous, and was likely to result in injury or death. The solution found by the US military was to create a “fencing” bayonet that looked like a bayonet, and for the most part functioned like a bayonet, but was not lethal. The bayonet depicted in McClellan’s text is the one most collectors refer to as the M-1816 Fencing Bayonet, or simply as the Type I fencing bayonet, from the typology assigned to the four identified patterns of socket fencing bayonets identified by bayonet collector, researcher and author Robert M. Reilly.

Specifications:
Blade length: 19“
Blade style: Training
Overall length: 22 ½“