By Christopher Scott Thompson

The Scottish fencing master Archibald MacGregor developed a system for fencing with the rifle and bayonet and described it in his "Lecture on the Art of Defence" of 1791. He based this system on the methods of the broadsword and quarterstaff. Highland soldiers in the 19^th century made considerable battlefield use of the rifle and bayonet, carrying out many bayonet chages led by officers wielding broadswords. For the average Highland soldier of the 19^th century, the rifle and bayonet replaced the broadsword as the primary weapon of the Highland Charge.

MacGregor’s system of bayonet fencing includes only two engaging guards, which may for convenience be referred to as the outside and hanging guards.

To practice the guards, begin with the weapon resting against your shoulder as in the position of slope swords. Now step forward with your left foot, and take an on-guard stance with the left foot pointed straight forward and the right foot at a right angle, as a left-handed fencer would do. As you step forward, bring your left hand around to grasp the stock of the rifle about halfway up its length, while your right hand grasps the weapon behind the trigger guard. Your left hand should be underneath, with the knuckles on top, while your right hand is on top with the knuckles underneath.

As you step forward, turn the rifle upside down into a hanging guard position, with the butt up behind your head and the tip of the bayonet pointed down.

Now turn the rifle into an outside guard position, with the butt end behind your hip and the bayonet pointed up.

The footwork of bayonet fencing is primarily linear, like broadsword fencing, and does not emphasize circular slips. You will need to get used to lunging from the right leg with your left foot forward, which Mathewson mentions as a weakness of many bayonet fencers. Practice advancing and retreating, traversing, lunging and shifting from this left-foot-forward stance.

The parry is performed by turning the weapon to the right or left from the hanging guard or outside guard. MacGregor prefers the parries from the hanging guard, but parrying from either guard is practical.

MacGregor also mentions a beat parry, performed by "beating the adversary’s bayonet violently down, or to one side."

The thrust is performed by extending both arms forcibly and lunging.

To combine all of these elements into a single exercise, practice your footwork in combination with parrying from both guards, riposting immediately after each parry with a thrust to various targets.

The following lessons are derived from the works of John Taylor. Taylor was instructing the broadsword fencer on how to defeat the bayonet fencer, but he also describes the bayonet fencer’s most likely counter against the grip described in lesson three. In the other cases, the counters used by the bayonet fencer are derived from MacGregor’s method. To practice these lessons, your training partner will need to be familiar with the broadsword exercise. See any work on the Highland broadsword, such as "Highland Broadsword" by Paul Wagner and Mark Rector, or "Lannaireachd: Gaelic Swordsmanship" by the author.

Take an outside guard with the rifle and bayonet. The opponent takes an outside guard with the broadsword. Thrust to his body with a lunge. The opponent responds by parrying with the outside half-hanger across the barrel of your weapon, intending to step forward with the left foot and seize the barrel of your rifle. As he parries, shift back while changing to a hanging guard to evade his attempt to seize control of your weapon. Thrust to his body.

Take an outside guard with the rifle and bayonet. The opponent takes a hanging guard with the broadsword. Thrust to his body with a lunge. The opponent responds by parrying with the inside half-hanger, intending to step obliquely forward with his right foot and seize control of your weapon with his left hand. As he parries, shift back while changing to a hanging guard to evade his attempt to seize control of your weapon. Thrust to his body.

Take an outside guard with the rifle and bayonet. The opponent takes an inside guard with the broadsword. Thrust to his body with a lunge. The opponent attempts to beat your bayonet to the outside and step in to seize your weapon with his left hand. As he attempts the beat, disengage under the hilt of his sword and thrust with a lunge.

There are several commercially available practice rifles for bayonet fencing. Loose play should be practiced with both the rifle and bayonet, and the rifle and bayonet versus the broadsword. As always, make sure you wear proper protective gear when practicing.