The invention of the flintlock firing mechanism in the early 17th century CE
greatly increased the importance and numbers of muskets in armies and consequently decreased the number of pikemen.
This made the musketeers vulnerable to cavalry attacks when they had to reload.
They could employ their guns as clubs, though this had little effect.
In response, the bayonet was developed, appearing in the middle of the century.
The first bayonets were plugged into the barrels of the guns, so the weapon could not shoot and stab at the same time.
In 1678 CE Louis Pierre de Chastenet de Puységur invented the socket bayonet, which was attached around the barrel, rather than in it.
Despite its usefulness, it was adopted slowly.
In the following decades the blade was strengthened and its method of attaching made more secure.
Around 1700 CE, most armies dispensed with pikes and armed almost all their infantry with muskets and bayonets.
Bayonets can be as short as small knives or as large as a short swords.
Combined with the length of the gun, some bayonets can reach lengths that match those of spears.
Some heavier blades can be used not only to stab, but also to slash, like a glaive.
The bayonet is an auxiliary defensive weapon, next to the firepower of the musket.
Until the 19th century CE muskets were unreliable, had a slow rate of fire and were inaccurate, causing relatively little damage.
Once the enemy had been sufficiently weakened by gunfire, commanders often ordered a bayonet charge to break them.
Only when firepower greatly increased in the 19th century CE, could such charges be broken by heavy defensive fire.
By then, some ended up in massive casualties.
Still bayonets remained in use into World War II and in some places even today.
War Matrix - Bayonet
Age of Reason 1620 CE - 1750 CE, Weapons and technology