Civil Arms weaponry is studied and written about ad nauseum, and there’s not much I can say here about this bayonet that hasn’t already been written somewhere else. So instead of offering an exhaustive history of the M1816 bayonet, I’ll instead focus on how it might have come to rest in a northern Granville County homestead.

The M1816 pattern flintlock this bayonet was made for was manufactured by the tens of thousands from 1816 through the early 1840′s, and many of them remained in use throughout the Civil War. The bayonets for these weapons remained largely unchanged as the weapons beneath them evolved, and countless thousands of Civil War soldiers ventured into battle with an identical bayonet to the one pictured here.

Where this particular bayonet was made can only be a matter of conjecture; the markings on it include a cryptic letter “S” and the number “12″, and their meanings have been long lost to time (those more knowledgeable about these things have speculated that these markings may have been arsenal markings, but that seems a bit hopeful to me). And the musket that it was carried on has been separated from it — perhaps by decades, or more. Nonetheless, it remains a tangible reminder of the horrors of the American Civil War, and how close at hand death would have been during this so-called “industrial war”.

Soldiers that survived were commonly mustered out with their weapons. My g-g-g-grandfather John Mowday was mustered out of the 11th Pennsylvania Calvary in Richmond, VA with “1 Spencer Carb. $10.00, 1 Colts Revolver $8.00, 1 sabre & belt $3.00″. How he got home to Pennsylvania with this heavy armament is another story, but it illustrates how common it was for soldiers to take their weapons home. And for many soldiers, I suspect these weapons because useful instruments for procuring food for their family.

And thus likely describes how this bayonet came to rest in a northern Granville County homestead. The accompanying scabbard suffered years of neglect and non-use, and the leather required several weeks’ of soaking in a natural collagen-based conditioner to bring back its original suppleness. The bayonet carries its original sharp edge (there is very little evidence of the edge having been retouched over the years), and its heft speaks to its sturdy, hand-forged construction. Even the brass scabbard tip — dented from hard use and wearing a century-and-a-half old patina — whispers its story to anyone willing to listen.