
The Swords of George Washington - pepys
https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/collections-holdings/washingtons-swords/washingtons-swords-an-interview-with-erik-goldstein
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ChuckMcM
Pretty cool, I did not know Washington was a collector of swords.

I started collecting swords when I had one commissioned in Scotland from a guy
that had been making display replicas for the British Museum. (I couldn't
afford an original) and since that time have ended with about half a dozen.
There is a tremendous amount of depth and variation in what is essentially a
piece of steel on a handle.

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learc83
I got really into 19th century British military swords after discovering the
Scholagladiatoria YouTube channel [1].

I've always like swords, but the 19th century is so interesting to me because
you can actually find relatively affordable originals. Plus we know a lot more
about how 19th century swords were actually used because of the abundance of
military manuals.

1\.
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt14YOvYhd5FCGCwcjhrOdA](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt14YOvYhd5FCGCwcjhrOdA)

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tlear
Very interesting read, for context small sword is a dueling gentleman weapon.
Not very good at protecting yourself in battlefield. Problem is that it is
very hard to parry a bayonet or a heavy sword with it, too light and since it
lack an edge it is also hard to snipe the hands of the opponent with bayonet
with a quick cut.

I wonder if Washington ever actually came to blows early in his career. What
sword he used on that occasion and what his thoughts of the effectiveness
were.

For an officer sword was weapon of last resort, however if you were gona have
one might as well be useful weapon. When someone wants to spear you with a
bayonet saber seems like a much better choice.

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sytelus
Quite funny that I visited his estate in Mt Vernon just hours ago and now
seeing this on HN frontpage. BTW, I think swords were necessecity in his time
as army man because guns were unreliable and slow to reload after one shot. So
all soldiers had to carry both. Washington was very wealthy man after he
married wealthy widow Martha and as a famous general I can imagine him having
collection of swords. He also had collected horse carriages. However on the
whole he lives very simple life style.

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chrisseaton
Well soldiers today all still carry and sometimes use bayonets, which some
regiments call 'swords', in case they need to fight in close quarters, so not
much has changed.

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CydeWeys
They sure as hell do not "all" carry bayonets. Most don't (dead weight), and
they are so very rarely used in modern combat that every time I ask for a cite
it's always that one skirmish in Afghanistan from over a decade where no one
was even _stabbed_ with a bayonet that gets linked.

Bayonets are obsolete, period, full stop. They aren't used in modern warfare
to any degree that affects anything at all.

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chrisseaton
Here’s a more recent one than a decade.

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9571522/Soldier-
who-led-Afghanistan-bayonet-charge-into-hail-of-bullets-honoured.html)

The reason they’re able to use them sometimes is that they’re routinely
carrying them. Fixing your bayonet is still a taught step in the drill for
clearing an enemy position in at least the British Army I think.

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CydeWeys
Ah, so two bayonet "charges" in two decades. So relevant in modern warfare.
And in neither situation were the bayonets even _used_ , just affixed.

It's worth pointing out that modern bayonets are basically just knives that
can be attached to some rifles. Knives are useful for all sorts of things
outside of combat. Bayonet length has also continuously decreased over time as
they've essentially turned into knives (we're now down to a third of the
original length). This is the modern US "bayonet". Note that it's essentially
just a fixed knife. Hunters and hikers carry very similar knives for similar
reasons, and not because they're being mounted on a rifle.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKC-3S_bayonet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKC-3S_bayonet)

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fapjacks
Except you don't use a bayonet for any task besides killing for which you
would otherwise use a regular knife.

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CydeWeys
Then by your standards bayonets have long gone extinct, as they are now
regular knives that can technically still be attached to some rifles, but
rarely are. See my link.

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fapjacks
I was in the infantry for twelve years. You do not use a bayonet (a weapon)
for tasks for which you would otherwise use a knife (a tool).

