French 1870 Franco-Prussian War 'Defense Nationale' Bayonet for the Remington Rolling Block Rifle, Repurposed M1831 Sword Blade
Straight unfullered blade with spear point, cross hilt with muzzle ring and hooked lower quillon with ball finial. Ribbed cast brass grip and beaked pommel, one steel rivet which also secures the external leaf spring which actuates the locking catch, peened tang at the pommel. Steel scabbard with frog loop. Blade length: 48.6cm (19 1/8 inches), overall length 61.1cm (~24 inches), muzzle ring diameter 18mm.
The hilt is stamped on one side with the serial number ‘859’.
These bayonets were made at the French arsenal of Chatellerault for two months of the year 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War (July 1870 - January 1871), intended to fit the Remington Rolling Block rifle. They are sometimes referred to as ‘Defense Nationale’ bayonets, presumably because they were commissioned as a matter of emergency for national defense.
They are in many respects like the German ‘ersatz’ bayonets of WW1, including the use of repurposed materials: the French combined the hilt and grip of the M1866 Chassepot bayonet with blades of the much older M1816 and M1831 infantry sidearms, (both of ‘gladius’ style). These obsolete short swords were presumably seen as expendable sources of good blade steel, but they needed significant reshaping to make serviceable bayonets.
One edge of the double-edged, diamond profile blade has been ground down to form a flat spine and clear the way for the rifle to be fired. The blade was originally leaf-shaped broadening slightly along its length, and this is still visible in the remaining edge. The shoulder of the blade has been slimmed on both sides. With no fuller and no additional distal taper the blade remains noticeably heavy for a bayonet: a standard M1866 weighs 622g while this piece weighs 774g, despite being nearly 10cm (4in) shorter.
Note the small divots on the third rib of the brass grips, placed as a guide to where a second grip rivet would usually be located. That rivet is always absent on these models.
Its scabbard is a modified version of the standard M1866 scabbard: identical in its upper section but in its lower section it remains straight rather than curving as the M1866 must to accommodate a yataghan blade. It is oversized in length relative to the bayonet it holds. They were finished in bright steel, never blued.
The French acquired around 210,000 Rolling Block rifles from Remington during the Franco-Prussian War, most being the model ordered by Egypt in 1869, chambered in .43. The Egyptian government had been delinquent in payment so Remington happily resold its initial order of 60,000 to France and produced the rest thereafter – the Egyptians had to wait until 1876 to get theirs. Many of the rifles acquired by France were adapted to use the M1866 Chassepot bayonet but these rare bayonets are examples of an attempt to go in the opposite direction. One may marvel today at the very idea of there ever having been a shortage of Chassepot bayonets.
See page 415 of Collecting Bayonets by Maddox for discussion of this type.
