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A spontoon, sometimes known by the variant spelling espontoon or as a half-pike, is a type of European polearm that came into being alongside the pike. The spontoon was in common use from the mid-17th century to the early 19th century, but it was used to a much lesser extent as a military weapon and ceremonial implement until the late 19th century.
Italians might have been the first to use the spontoon, and, in its early days, the weapon was used for combat, before it became more of a symbolic item.
After the bayonet and musket replaced the pike and arquebus as the primary weapons of the common foot soldier, the spontoon remained in use as a signalling weapon. In the British army commissioned officers carried the spontoon until 1786Charles ffoulkes, E.C. Hopkinson, 'Swords, Lance and Bayonet: A Record of The Arms of The British Army and Navy'. Cambridge University Press, 2013. Original publication 1938. , Page. 115 as a symbol of their Military rank and used it like a mace, in order to issue battlefield commands to their men, whilst generally carried the halberd until 1792 when it was replaced by the sergeant's pike, a spontoon.George C. Neumann, 'Swords and Blades of The American Revolution'. Stackpole Books, 1973. Charles ffoulkes, E.C. Hopkinson, 'Swords, Lance and Bayonet: A Record of The Arms of The British Army and Navy'. Cambridge University Press, 2013. Original publication 1938. . Page. 116 British Army officers used spontoons at the Battle of Culloden.Fitzroy MacLean, Bonnie Prince Charlie, New York: Atheneum, 1989, p. 208
During the Napoleonic Wars, the spontoon was used by sergeants to defend the colours of a battalion or regiment from a cavalry attack. The spontoon was one of few polearms that stayed in use long enough to make it into American history. As late as the 1890s, the spontoon accompanied marching soldiers.
The American Militia Acts of 1792 specified that commissioned officers were to be armed with an espontoon. Lewis and Clark brought spontoons on their expedition with the Corps of Discovery.Moore & Hanes, Tailor Made, Trail Worn: Army Life, Clothing & Weapons of the Corps of Discovery (Farcountry Press 2003) The weapons came in handy as backup arms when the Corps travelled through areas populated by large bears.Paul Schullery, Lewis & Clark Among the Grizzly bear (TwoDot 2002) Today, a spontoon (or espontoon, as it is referred to in the manual of arms) is carried by the drum major of the U.S. Army's Fife and Drum Corps, a ceremonial unit of the 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).
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