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2025-128, Bayonet
"US" Marked Bayonet
2025-128, Bayonet

"US" Marked Bayonet

Dateca. 1776-1780
OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
MediumIron and steel
DimensionsOverall: 22 7/16"; Blade: 18 1/8" x 1 5/16"; Socket: 3 3/4"; Stud-to-Muzzle: 1 7/8"; Bore: 15/16" at the muzzle
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2025-128
DescriptionAmerican copy of a British "Brown Bess" bayonet, of similar proportions but with a slightly shorter socket and a longer blade. Its bore is the same as that of a standard British bayonet.Label TextFaithfully copied from a British "Brown Bess" bayonet, this American imitation was produced for the Continental Army and bears its "US" property mark deeply struck into the blade's wide face. While many of the British-styled bayonets made for Washington's troops are of smaller proportions made for French muskets, this example is full-sized, showing that it was meant for use on a Brown Bess, or an American copy. Since Patriot forces are believed to have pivoted towards making replacement bayonets for French muskets after 1776 or 1777, it makes sense that this bayonet was likely produced earlier in the Revolutionary War.

This example also carries the name of the armourer who made the bayonet, John Jacob Eckfelt (1733-1818). Born in Nürnberg, Eckfelt emigrated to Philadelphia in 1765 and began plying his trade as a highly-skilled blacksmith. Just three makers of Continental Army bayonets are known to have signed their pieces, including Eckfelt, Lewis Prahl, and Thomas Wylie, also of Philadelphia. Only a small handful of these are known, with just two or three carrying Eckfelt's mark.

Eckfelt is also known to have forged the dies for Robert Morris's speculative "Nova Constellatio" coinage of 1783. His son Adam expanded the family business, and made the first screw press installed at the United States Mint in 1792. Eckfelt descendants served the Mint in one capacity or another from its beginnings until 1929.Mark(s)Base of blade struck with a deep "US" below "ECKFELT."ProvenanceJohn J. Kraljevich, Jr. (Alexandria, VA); 2025, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation