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Bayonet wounds amounted to less than 2 % of Civil War combat casualties. Americans much preferred shooting one another to stabbing one another. There were two occurrences during the war, once at Spotsylvania, and again at Franklin, where the opposing armies were locked in combat for hours on the two sides of a trench. Even in these immediate contact situation, mostly they shot at one another, although rifles with bayonet were sometimes thrown like spears.
The most likely thing to kill you during the Civil War was disease which accounted for more than one half of all deaths. After that you were most likely to be shot, after that, blown up or blown apart. Wiping up the rear are the hand to hand casualties.
Bayonet wounds amounted to less than 2 % of Civil War combat casualties.
Bayonets were used to entrench or to cook, in combat they were merely a psychological weapon (one side or the other would break before they closed during a bayonet charge).
Grandstander are you sure it's even close to 2%? I think 2/10 of a percent (.2%) is more like it.
That 2% is very comparable to European figures from the 1700's through the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. This site gives a good breakdown on the European side...
Bayonet Fight.
"I have seen melees of infantry in defiles and in villages,
where the heads of columns came in actual collision
and thrust each other with the bayonet;
but I never saw such a thing on a regular field of battle."
- General Jomini
The majority of bayonet attacks ended up with one side fleeing before any contact was made. Usually it was an attack, a charge, but there was no bayonet fighting. The actual bayonet fight most often took place not in an open terrain but in:
- village (Eylau, Leipzig, La Rothiere, Ligny),
- wood or garden, broken terrain (Spain)
- in fighting for redoubts (Borodino 1812).
In general, a charge would generally result in the defender yielding the ground so that they could regroup or the attacker being repulsed by artillery and musket fire before they reached the defenders lines.
Bayonets were used to entrench or to cook, in combat they were merely a psychological weapon (one side or the other would break before they closed during a bayonet charge).
Grandstander are you sure it's even close to 2%? I think 2/10 of a percent (.2%) is more like it.
I keep finding it argued as between 1 and 2 % and decided to go with "less than 2 %" to avoid getting into any arguments with any champions of the 2 % figure.
Whatever the precise figure, the same picture emerges of a war which was mainly conducted via gunfire and artillery with hand to hand combat being the exception.
The most likely thing to kill you during the Civil War was disease which accounted for more than one half of all deaths. After that you were most likely to be shot, after that, blown up or blown apart. Wiping up the rear are the hand to hand casualties.
The bayonet was invented as replacement for the pike, and primarily an anti-cavalry defense. Some European armies and the Japanese had a tradition of being fond of bayonet charges (which more often than not resulted in the side that launched the bayonet attack getting honorably slaughtered before they even came close to the enemy, at least that was my impression).
The Americans were never that much in love with bayonets or swords, even their cavalry was much more likely to use firearms. I can't recall a single famous example of a saber charge by American cavalry, while these examples abound in the European warfare all the way up to WWII.
Many eyewitnesses, both combatants and civilian stated that the Crater Battle included a lot of extremely vicious hand to hand fighting using bayonets and rifle buts.
The geography of the crater and adjacent trenches probably contributed a lot to this. Also, many of the union soldiers in the first assault wave were from black regiments that were convinced that the time for vengeance (Fort Pillow etc.)had come where as many of the defending confederates were equally convinced that the assault represented an Armageddon of sorts and that it was "do or die".
Many eyewitnesses, both combatants and civilian stated that the Crater Battle included a lot of extremely vicious hand to hand fighting using bayonets and rifle buts.
The geography of the crater and adjacent trenches probably contributed a lot to this. Also, many of the union soldiers in the first assault wave were from black regiments that were convinced that the time for vengeance (Fort Pillow etc.)had come where as many of the defending confederates were equally convinced that the assault represented an Armageddon of sorts and that it was "do or die".
Assault on a fixed defense would usually denigrate into hand to hand at the point of the breach due to the short range and reloading time. Did not happen too often as the attacker would usually be shot to pieces before making a penetration. The defensive works offered security and raised the defender's morale to hold rather than flee compared to the situation in the open field. Then there is the nature of trenches that they constrict observation so one sees less to cause a panic and flee. Being flanked or taken in the rear is a perenial fear.
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