Editing Bayonet (section)

===Multipurpose bayonets===
[[File:Bayonet, sawback (AM 1983.150-5).jpg|thumb|British Pattern 1875 Snider saw-backed bayonet (with scabbard) for the artillery carbine]]

One of these multipurpose designs was the 'sawback' bayonet, which incorporated saw teeth on the spine of the blade.<ref name="OWE"/> The sawback bayonet was intended for use as a general-purpose utility tool as well as a weapon; the teeth were meant to facilitate the cutting of wood for various defensive works such as barbed-wire posts, as well as for butchering livestock.<ref name="BRA"/><ref name="PUN"/><ref name="KNI">Knight, Edward H., ''Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary'' (Vol. 1), New York: J. B. Ford & Co. (1874), p. 252</ref><ref name="RHO">Rhodes, Bill, ''An Introduction to Military Ethics: A Reference Handbook'', ABC CLIO LLC, {{ISBN|978-0-313-35046-7}} (2009), pp. 13–14</ref> It was initially adopted by the German states in 1865; until the middle of WWI approximately 5% of every bayonet style was complemented with a sawback version, for example in Belgium in 1868, Great Britain in 1869 and Switzerland in 1878 (Switzerland introduced their last model in 1914).<ref name="BRA"/><ref name="PUN"/><ref name="KNI"/><ref name="RHO"/><ref>Foulkes, Charles J., and Hopkinson, Edward C., ''Sword, Lance & Bayonet: A Record of the Arms of the British Army & Navy'' (2nd ed.), Edgware, Middlesex: Arms & Armour Press (1967) p. 113</ref> The original sawback bayonets were typically of the heavy sword-type, they were issued to engineers, with to some extent the bayonet aspect being secondary to the "tool" aspect. Later German sawbacks were more of a rank indicator than a functional saw. Generally, an average of 6% of all bayonets were sawbacks for non-commissioned officers. There were some exceptions, such as the kurzes Seitengewehr 1898 model, all of which were of the sawback design and meant for what was considered more prestigious units, such as machine gunners, telegraph troop and colonial troops.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Anthony |title=German Bayonets |publisher=Tharston Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0946696086 |volume=2 |location=Norfolk, England |pages=55, 131}}</ref> The sawback proved relatively ineffective as a cutting tool, and was soon outmoded by improvements in military logistics and transportation; most nations dropped the sawback feature by the early 20th century.<ref name="BRA"/> The German army discontinued use of the sawback bayonet in 1917 after protests that the serrated blade caused unnecessarily severe wounds when used as a fixed bayonet.<ref name="BRA"/><ref name="RHO"/>

[[File:U.S. BAYONET MODEL 1873 TROWEL.jpg|thumb|U.S. Bayonet Model 1873 [[trowel]] bayonet]]

The ''trowel'' or ''spade'' bayonet was another multipurpose design, intended for use both as an offensive weapon as well as a [[entrenching tool|digging tool]] for excavating entrenchments.<ref name="RIP">Ripley, George, and Dana, Charles A., ''The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge'' (Vol. II), New York: D. Appleton & Co. (1873), p. 409</ref><ref name="BOA">Board of Officers Assembled at St. Louis, Missouri, Schofield, J.M. (Maj. Gen.) President, ''Bayonets: Resume of the Proceedings of the Board, June 10, 1870'', Ordnance Memoranda, Issue 11, United States Army Ordnance Dept., Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1870), p. 16</ref> In 1870, the US Army issued trowel bayonets to infantry regiments based on a design by Lieutenant-Colonel [[Edmund Rice (general)|Edmund Rice]], a US Army officer and Civil War veteran, which were manufactured by the Springfield Armory.<ref name="BEL">Belknap, William W., ''Trowel-Bayonet, Letter from the Secretary of War In Answer to a Resolution of the House of April 4, 1872'', The Executive Documents of the House of Representatives, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session (1871–1872), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1872), pp. 1–20</ref> Besides its utility as both a fixed bayonet and a digging implement, the Rice trowel bayonet could be used to plaster log huts and stone chimneys for winter quarters; sharpened on one edge, it could cut tent poles and pins.<ref name="BEL"/> Ten thousand were eventually issued, and the design saw service during the [[Nez Perce War|1877 Nez Perce campaign]].<ref name="MCC">McChristian, Douglas C., ''Uniforms, Arms, and Equipment: Weapons and Accouterments'', University of Oklahoma Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8061-3790-2}} (2007), pp. 128–142</ref> Rice was given leave in 1877 to demonstrate his trowel bayonet to several nations in Europe.<ref name="MCC"/> One infantry officer recommended it to the exclusion of all other designs, noting that "the entrenching {{sic}} tools of an army rarely get up to the front until the exigency for their use has passed."<ref name="BEL"/> The Rice trowel bayonet was declared obsolete by the US Army in December 1881.<ref name="MCC"/>