1873 Trowel Bayonet

1873 Trowel Bayonet In the late 1860s, Lieutenant Edmond Rice, a veteran of the recent civil war, began working on a solution to a problem that arose out of the recent conflict: the means with which an individual soldier could entrench and fortify a position. Prior to the Civil War, armies stood shoulder to shoulder in long battle lines, and fired upon each other in mass. The rifled muskets changed the battlefield forever, making it much easier to hit your target at long ranges. As such, the tactics changed, and soon trench warfare, and fortifying fixed positions became a necessity. Lieutenant Rice sought to find an answer to this issue, while at the same time not adding to the load the soldier was compelled to carry. His answer was simple, a bayonet that doubled as a digging trowel. The “trowel bayonet” had a couple iterations before being recommended for adoption by the 1874 equipment board, whose recommendation of adoption came with the caveat “soldiers will be deprived of a very efficient defensive weapon without providing them with an effective entrenching tool” [1]. The bayonet as produced between 1873 and 1876 was 14 ½ inches long, 3 ½ inches wide just below the shank, coming to a small spear point. The top of the shank rotated 90 degrees to allow the barrel and front sight of the rifle to pass through and be locked into place. Also issued with the bayonet was a wooden plug, measuring 5 inches long, that had a small iron spike in the side that locked into position within the shank. This provided the soldier with an effective digging handle. The scabbard of the bayonet was made of tin, covered in leather. The belt loop was attached to the bayonet scabbard using a “Hoffman” swivel which allowed for the bayonet to be put at an angle that was comfortable for the soldier while attached to his belt, and also allowed for easy withdrawal if in a prone position. The bayonet was not designed to be used as a digging implement while attached to the rifle, as it was found that the barrel of the springfield rifle would easily bend under the pressures exerted.