Post
by arthur1905 » Thu Aug 11, 2016 1:33 pm
It is highly unlikely that Battalions would have started the battle with bayonets fitted, even on the arrival of the new socket bayonet. With several armies developing the more effective platoon firing and concentrating on the amount of fire to weaken there opponent, having bayonets fitted would give them a disadvantage by slowing down the time to reload between each shot.
Also when you add into the mix that the first socket bayonets were not very sturdy to start with and that they had a tendency to come away from the muzzle, you would not wont them to be attached to early.
finally, the weight of any fixed bayonet makes it statistically more likely that any shot fired will have a downward trajectory and therefor have less affect.
if you want some detailed information on this I would suggest the folloing books:
Socket Bayonets: A History and Collector's Guide
By Graham Pries
The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics, 1689-1763 by Brent Nosworthy
hope this helps,
Mark