The Effect of Bayonets, The Oldest revolver

Cap and Ball is at it again, this time to answer a question that often comes up about Civil War rifles. Did the addition of a bayonet have any effect on accuracy? He also has some commentary on the use of bayonets during the war.

We often hear that Sam Colt invented the revolver, and that he got the idea during a transatlantic crossing in the 1840s while watching the helmsman turn the ship’s wheel. In truth, however, the revolver goes back much farther than that. The first one we actually have belonged to one Georg von Reichwein and dates all the way back to 1597. It’s more accurate to say that Colt designed the first practical mass-produced revolver. Guns like that of von Reichwein were hand made and available only to rich people and the nobility.

 


Posted

in

,

by

Comments

One response to “The Effect of Bayonets, The Oldest revolver”

  1. JAMES C KELLY Avatar
    JAMES C KELLY

    My Great-grandfather came home from duty with the 76th Pennsylvania in 1865 with various healed wounds. He always wore a mustache to hide the bayonet wound on his lip. Apparently regardless of up-to-date books, the bayonet was used in battle sometimes. There was one standard drill where infantrymen would kneel, muskets with fixed bayonets held at an angle, butts on the round. This was to stop approaching cavalry, as horses will not run up against sharp objects. This drill was passed down the family, from G-grampa to me. It was still used by some Civil War re-enactors here in Michigan, when some of their horses went out of control.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *