U.S. Socket Bayonet

U.S. Socket Bayonet - Ca. 1770-1812.  Early socket bayonet measures approximately 19 1/8 inches long.  Three punch marks on the socket with visible lap seam.

Colonial Militias began forming in the 1730s.  Because early militias focused primality on defending settlements against Indian attack, the production and procurement of bayonets was spotty, at best.  The more established militias, such as in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, are documented as having bayonets by the 1750s.  However, by 1775, when the Revolutionary war began in earnest, only about half of Massachusetts Bay Colony muskets were equipped with bayonets. 

Inventory Number: BAY 056