A bayonet is an edged weapon which is attached to the muzzle of a firearm. Early bayonets were shaped like long spikes and were important in the massed charges of the pre napoleonic and napoleonic era. Their effectiveness as a combat weapon diminished as the effectiveness of the firearms they were attached to increased. Todays bayonets, like the M4 for the American M16 looks and is used primarily as knife, it's combat role limited to cutting barbed wire with it's locking sheath and attached to the weapon for non lethal crowd control.