Comments by "COL BEAUSABRE" (@colbeausabre8842) on "Firearms Basics: Rifle Length Terminology" video.

  1. The reasoning behind the long bayonet is simple, a horse can NOT be made to charge an obviously dangerous object like a row of sharp points. It will refuse to move (except away), swerve, buck, even throw its rider. It will not charge. This is the reason that early modern armies had units of pikemen. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/301248662548901711This was brought in to the peak of perfection in the Spanish Tercio as employed by El Gran Capitan, Gonzalo de Cordoba , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_C%C3%B3rdoba which combined pikemen and musketeers in  one formation, the pikemen to protect the musketeers, the later to kill enemy cavalry.   https://crossfireamersfoort.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/nrdlingenterciotorralto.jpgAround the mid 1600's someone in Bayonne (France, not New Jersey) got the idea to stick a knife on the end of a musket, allowing the two duties to be combined. These original bayonets were designed to be stuck in to the musket's bore, hence the term "plug bayonet https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Plug_Bayonet_1650.JPG, which was eventually replaced by the familiar socket bayonet offset to one side. The British infantry battalion of the Napoleonic Wars had 8 musket companies and one each of light infantry and grenadiers ("flank companies). On campaign, the "Light Bobs" and Grenadiers were often detached to form ad hoc battalions with companies from other battalions. So when the command "Prepare to Receive Cavalry" was given, the battalion would form a square two companies (in two ranks, front kneeling and rear standing) wide that was impregnable to horsemen. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485758@N04/6288781127/ andhttp://www.stuartbriggs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wellingtons-squares-2.jpgThe only time I can remember reading about  a square having broken was when somebody shot a horse and the dying animal fell and collapsed the corner of a square, allowing the French to pour in and massacre the BritishThe last American bayonet charge occurred during the Korean War and routed the Communists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonet#/media/File:Millett;s_Charge.jpgMore than you ever wanted to know about bayonets.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonet"What is the spirit of the bayonet?" "TO KILL, DRILL SERGEANT, TO KILL!!"
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