Quote Originally Posted by HopAlongBunny View Post
Easy to see why it might be hard to convince ground pounders that holding in the face of it was their best bet.
Keegan observed that this was one of the reasons the half-pike and the sword persisted as the battlefield weapons of sergeants and officers, respectively, for a century after musket/bayonet combo had become the dominant infantry weapon system employed.

They maintain usefulness as personal defense tools in a hand-to-hand encounter....and serve as great persuaders held sideways at the backs of your soldiers to stop those first few from edging out of line when the cavalry is coming at you (at least if the discipline is pretty solid to begin with).