Spontoon
Also known as: espontoon
A short pike about 1.8-2.4 m long with a pair of side blades near the point, a badge of officers and sergeants from the 17th to 19th centuries, still carried at ceremonies today.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
The spontoon is a European polearm perhaps first used by the Italians. It was commonly carried from the mid-17th to the early 19th century. It measured roughly 1.8 to 2.4 metres, considerably less than the pike with its 4.3 to 4.9 metres. The head usually had a pair of blades or lugs on each side, so it resembled a military fork or trident. In the British army officers carried the spontoon as a badge of rank until 1786. Sergeants had the halberd until 1792, when it was replaced by the sergeant's pike, also a spontoon. During the Napoleonic Wars sergeants used it to defend the colours of the battalion or regiment against cavalry attack. American militia laws of 1792 prescribed the espontoon for officers, and the Lewis and Clark expedition carried it with them; in regions inhabited by large bears it served as a backup weapon. The spontoon still accompanied marching soldiers in the 1890s. It is still carried today by the drum major of the United States Army's Fife and Drum Corps.