An Assault At Arms - Sword Versus Bayonet · Fencing Arms & Artifacts

An Assault At Arms - Sword Versus Bayonet

Item

Title: An Assault At Arms - Sword Versus Bayonet
Subject: Military Fencing—USA; Mixed Weapon Fencing; Public Assaults—USA
Description: Engraving from Harpers Weekly depicting a fencing bout, or assault at arms, between a fencer armed with a fencing sabre (left) and the other with a fencing bayonet (right). A short article on the assault in includes with the article in the top and bottom left of the page.
Contributor: EJG (Engraver)
Source: Harper's Weekly
Date: May 16, 1874
volume: 18
number: 907
pages: 421
Temporal Coverage: See all items with this value 1870s
Relation: Internet Archive
Publisher: Fencing Arms & Artifacts
Rights: CC BY-NC 4.0
Is Part Of: Benjamin Bowles Collection
Extent: Page 15.875" tall by 10.5" wide (approximate, cut out from original binding). Image (horizontal) 11.75" wide by 8.75" tall.
Language: English
Type: Magazine article
Identifier: 2020.01.004
Provenance: Loaned for digitization by Benjamin Bowles; Digitized by Benjamin Bowles; Cataloged by Benjamin Bowles
content: SWORD VERSUS BAYONET.
The question whether the bayonet or the sword is the better weapon in the hands of a soldier is one which still remains undecided, although military authorities are inclined to award the palm to the latter. To non-military persons it would seem to be the more handy weapon, and, weilded by a skillful swordsman, would probably, as a rule, be at least a match for the heavier bayonet, although the latter, by reason of its length and weight, forms a very formidable weapon in hands accustomed to its use. The illustration on this page shows an animated trial of skill between two proficients in the use of these weapons, witnessed by a throng of interested spectators.