The Edge of Independence: Swords and Bayonets in the American Revolution

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Have you ever wondered about fencing and martial combat during the Revolutionary War? Are you looking for a way to blend your historical fencing enthusiasm with the celebration of the United States’ two-hundred and fiftieth birthday? Then, do I have the blog post for you!
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Today, we will be traveling back in time and exploring what martial skills a non-commissioned officer of the Continental Army might have learned around the time of the Revolution. This blog post is combined with a fun workshop we did at our fencing club to celebrate the Fourth of July. So, grab your tricorn hats and take a swig of switchel as we explore the history and martial arts around the Revolutionary War!

I want to give a huge shoutout to our photographer, Zane Kupper, and to Purpleheart Armoury for providing the gear for this workshop! Also, This workshop would not have been possible Without the help of Kyle Norris who did the deep-dive on the sabre system we selected for this workshop. Thank you all for helping this workshop come to life!

​Setting the Scene

The day is July 4th, 1779. The Battle of Lexington and Concord was over four years ago, and the newly formed country you find yourself serving is entrenched in a bloody war. The Continental Army has seen its fair share of victories from the Battle of Trenton to the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. However, the war seems far from over. The British still occupy New York City and have recently captured Savannah. On top of that, a nation that was once an enemy is now seen as an ally and provides pivotal training and supplies to your fledgling nation’s army. After a couple of years of service, you have earned the rank of non-commissioned officer (NCO). With your new commission, you are studying the Valley Forge system in your Blue Book for your roles and responsibilities. You are expected to ensure the officers’ commands were done properly, drills were performed satisfactorily, and that your men maintain order during battle. On top of that, there are new gear requirements:

THE arms and accoutrements of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, should be uniform throughout.
The officers who exercise their functions on horseback, are to be armed with swords, the platoon officers with swords and espontoons, the non-commissioned officers with swords, firelock, and bayonets…”
- Regulations for the Order of Discipline of the Troops of the United States, 1779.

​While you were expecting a new uniform based on the new standards, the reality is that the new uniforms are delayed, so you don a red sash over your old uniform to signify your new rank. However, the rank does come with the carrying of a sword, a new piece of equipment to you… and even more weight on the battlefield.

​Use of the Sword

While less impactful than the bayonet, swords also still proved to be effective tools on the battlefield. There are many accounts of officers raising their swords to rally troops and to signal their command during combat. Furthermore, the light dragoons, a mounted light cavalry unit fielded by the United States and commanded by Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, participated in several cavalry actions with swords as their primary weapon  (Tallmadge, 1858).

Due to difficulties in production and supply, swords were not as uniform for the Continental Army as later European armies would be in periods more commonly studied in the historical fencing. Based on the catalog presented in Swords and Blades of the American Revolution by George G. Neumann, popular swords of the conflict on both sides were hangers, hunting swords or cuttoes, short sabres, spadroons, small swords, basket-hilted swords, sabers, and naval cutlasses. George Washington famously carried a silver and ivory-hilted cuttoe in the later years of the Revolutionary War (Mount Vernon, 2026). To celebrate the Fourth of July, Purpleheart Armoury has created a synthetic trainer modeled off of one of George Washington's hangers for all those interested in experimenting with this type of sword.

​Admittedly, the days of swordsmanship ruling the battlefield were long in the past by the Revolutionary War. However, officers and aristocrats still found themselves dueling to defend their honor, though, admittedly, more often with pistols in the United States than with swords (Neumann, 1973). Furthermore, like their European counterparts, the American colonies also had their own fair share of fencing guilds. The techniques of the various colonial fencing schools varied, and it is difficult to say which sources were being used. Boston featured a fencing school that printed advice on the backsword that appears to overlap with the techniques of William Hope and Donald McBane, but it is not stated definitively enough to suggest those were the systems being taught (Miller, 2009).

So perhaps as a newly commissioned NCO, you have been provided with a sabre and seek ways to learn how to use it. Swordsmanship is not part of the regular exercise and drills of the Continental Army, so you have to seek other avenues for learning fencing. You could learn from the other officers in the camp or potentially attend a fencing school in a city you are near.

For the workshop, we chose to focus on Thomas Page’s The Use of the Broad Sword, published in 1746. This system was relatively new and may have been taught around the time of the Revolutionary War, and it may have been based on Scottish swordsmanship observed during the Jacobite Rebellion. That war led to many British military lessons and tactics, which were then applied in the French and Indian War, during which many colonists learned the art of war before the Revolutionary War.

​What was most interesting to us about Thomas Page’s sabre was the differences between it and the systems we primarily study, Henry Angelo. The main differences come from Page’s under-utilization of the lunge compared to Henry Angelo. This results in more passing steps being used, which come with guards designed for left or right leg forward, as opposed to Angelo’s dominant leg forward guards.

​Use of the Bayonet

While the sword was more of a symbol of status, the bayonet was a critical battlefield tool during the Revolutionary War, and as an NCO picked from the ranks of soldiers, you would be very familiar with the musket and bayonet. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British army successfully took the Massachusetts militia’s position using bayonet charges (National Park Services, 2026). This engagement highlighted the colonists’ lack of bayonets, which led to the Continental Congress in February of 1776, forming a committee to contract the creation of muskets and bayonets for the United Colonies (Continental Congress, 1776).

One of the major changes Steuben and the Valley Forge system brought was the professional use of bayonet for combat. Steuben believed that “The American soldier, never having used this arm, had no faith in it, and never used it but to roast his beefsteak, and indeed often left it at home” (Landrigan, 2026). Bayonet drilling became a major feature in the Continental Army after 1778. This was a major shift and began to give them the tools needed to meet the British Army on the field.

​Joseph Plumb Martin’s memoirs from the Revolutionary War give us a rather unique perspective on the bayonet. Martin was a soldier, as opposed to an officer, in the Continental Army, so his primary melee weapon was the bayonet, as opposed to the sword, like Col. Benjamin Tallmadge discussed previously. He participated in the battle of Stony Point, one of the most decisive U.S victories in the war, which critically relied on bayonet for key action (Maloy, 2026). Martin describes how light infantry entered Stony Point with fixed bayonets and their muskets unloaded, as to not have an incident that would alert the enemy army of their raid (Martin, 1830). His memoirs also features less exciting jobs as a soldier with bayonet such as standing guard at camp.

​Interestingly, Bayonet techniques were not formally viewed from the individual perspective until the 19th century, such as the techniques taught in the Bayonet Exercise Manual for the U.S Army in 1852. That manual includes specific guards and parries that an individual could use in a bayonet fight (United States War Department, 1852). Instead, bayonet combat was looked at as a psychological tool for breaking armies. This led to most bayonet exercises at the time of the Revolutionary War to focus on maintaining formation while marching with a bayonet, as well as how to strike from the line with the bayonet. Some drills developed by the British prior to the war, such as the Culloden Drill, included instructions on how to attack when in an infantry line and in charge. In that instance, the drill was to attack to the right rather than the left, striking an opponent’s side not covered by a shield, a tactic commonly seen during the Jacobite Rebellion (Ritchie, 2023). These types of drills also sometimes included advice to not lunge with the bayonet because a lunge would put the attacker out of formation, resulting in them being uncovered or defended by the soldiers on their left or right.

​Closing Remarks

I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive into the history surrounding the arms of NCO’s for the Continental Army of the Revolutionary War. What fascinated me about the sources surrounding this manuscript was the contrasts with later-period sources on the same weapons. It highlights the shifting of warfare that was experienced after the Napoleonic Wars and also the shifts the United States had to make to achieve victory in its independence.

Most importantly, the club had fun!

Furthermore, I love the Fourth of July and am so excited to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America! It is great to dive into the history surrounding the time that shaped my home country. From how John Locke’s work shaped the colonists who motivated the revolution, to the challenges soldiers faced in the early phases of the war, are reminders of the principles on which the United States was founded.

As a bonus, I found one of my favorite sentiments regarding dueling. From Benjamin Tallmadge’s memoirs:

“Among all the vices and false pursuits to which the military life is liable, perhaps none is more prominent than dueling. Having early imbibed the sentiment, that no man had a right to expose his life in this manner, I openly avowed my opinion, and yet amidst all the clashing of interests and opinions to which we were exposed, I never was called upon to defend my honor by this heaven-daring resort.

I always determined that I never would be guilty of this murderous sin, and yet I am not conscious that any man ever thought me to be a coward. For this early imbibed opinion and subsequent restraining conduct, I desire most humbly and devoutly to adore and Bless God.” - Col. Benjamin Tallmadge

Thus concludes the memoirs of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge. What a beautiful and interesting look into the mind of someone not interested in dueling, a rare perspective than generally seen in the sources that inform historical fencing.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Have a fun and safe weekend, and I’ll see you for my next blog post.