1898-1902 Span-Amer War:
Bayonets were used by both sides of the Spanish American War. This is when the shorter versions of the bayonet was found to be better for both combat and as a tool. The US used the US M1892 Krag Jorgensen Knife bayonet and the M1895 Winchester Lee bayonets and many different other US Krag bayonets from various years. The M1892 was designed to fit the US Military’s first bolt action magazine rifle. It had am 11 ½ inch blade and was made by Springfield. There was a M1898 Krag Jorgensen Bowie Knife Bayonet that was made during this time but never made it out of the experimental stage. It had the same hilt of the M1892 with an American bowie design and style. It was originally meant to be an all purpose tool for a soldier giving them a knife to fight with, a tool to use and a bayonet for close combat. It’s made with the bird head style pommel with the push button style integral spring latch. These were originally made to fit the military rifles from Krag Jorgensen and are rare finds as not to many were produced. The Spanish used a M1893 Spanish Mauser bayonet that had a 10 inch blade. There were a couple of different makers for this bayonet and most of these were made in Spain. The Spanish were notorious for using this bayonet against the US forces. They usually had a leather sheath.