The Roar of Battle

shokan

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Jul 6, 2015
Location
Toronto
About 20 years ago. I read a lot of Civil War diaries. I am reminded of one description. I cannot remember who it was written by. I have never forgotten it, but I will have to paraphrase because I no longer have the original source.

He describes being on the march someplace down south in a company of soldiers, headed towards a major battlefield. He said, first, he heard what sounded like a rushing stream or river in the distance. It gradually became louder.

Eventually, as they approached closer, individual bangs and shouting began to distinguish themselves amidst the general roar. Imagine what they were thinking then, eh? Had to be a pretty nervous situation.
 
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Perhaps that's why so many of the vets ended up walking around with ear trumpets in their old age...
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I've read that Longstreet used one when entertaining guests at his Piedmont Hotel in his later years... anyone else have a good Ear Trumpet photo or anecdote...? (This photo is not Longstreet obviously).
 
That reminds me of a unit whose commander roused his men to action in the night because he heard the rumbling of approaching artillery on the march. Upon further investigation, the source of the noise was discovered to be a nearby waterfall.

The noises of a battlefield included a cacophony of "rattling" musketry, "booming" cannon, shrieking or whizzing shells, buzzing minie balls, distant trumpets, officers shouting, men yelling/cheering, incoming rounds bursting or striking objects and men, the wails of the painfully wounded, etc. I am reminded of the veterans of Omaha Beach who were surprised by the overwhelming din created by assorted weapons and men, which significantly added to the confusion. It is an integral part of combat that we often neglect to consider.
 
That reminds me of a unit whose commander roused his men to action in the night because he heard the rumbling of approaching artillery on the march. Upon further investigation, the source of the noise was discovered to be a nearby waterfall.

The noises of a battlefield included a cacophony of "rattling" musketry, "booming" cannon, shrieking or whizzing shells, buzzing minie balls, distant trumpets, officers shouting, men yelling/cheering, incoming rounds bursting or striking objects and men, the wails of the painfully wounded, etc. I am reminded of the veterans of Omaha Beach who were surprised by the overwhelming din created by assorted weapons and men, which significantly added to the confusion. It is an integral part of combat that we often neglect to consider.
Excellent observation, Tom Elmore. I've also always found it interesting that many times due to natural conditions (acoustic shadow), the extreme loudness of battle couldn't be heard at all by commanders on the field that used it to know where to send reinforcements but the same battles were said to have been heard up to 100 miles away.
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/10/acoustic-shadow-american-civil-war/
 
I think that is true what is said above about ear trumpets. Naturally, as people get older, hearing loss often occurs, but for combat veterans of the Civil War, many more than usual seemed to be afflicted judging from pictures I've seen. It had to because of frequent exposure to rifle reports and especially artillery. Them things are much, much louder than can be conveyed on a TV speaker.

I often cringe when I hear a car go by with some guy having his audio player cranked to the max. All I'm thinking is, bud, you will definitely have hearing loss later. People in rock bands and their groupies, technicians etc often get the same hearing problems.

I am reminded of what happened in Toronto in the War of 1812. It was then called York. The Americans were invading by sea (Lake Ontario). After landing, the troops made their way a mile or two to try and capture Fort York.

They were not aware that the British troops had evacuated the fort a short while before. They had rigged up a fuse for their huge munitions store. The blast occurred as the Americans approached from a few hundred yards away.

All the Americans were knocked flat senseless to the ground. Many had perforated eardrums. Some died.

That blast, by the way, has been called the largest explosion ever to happen in North America, with the possible exception the huge blast in Halifax harbor about 100 years ago.

As a postscipt, the leader of the special sharpshooter company in the vanguard of the Americans was described by his own men as "a man-killing idiot". If I remember right, I think his name was Forsyth. That leader, subsequent to the explosion, directed his men to ravage and loot the town of York. Many believe this action and the outrage it caused to be how the War of 1812 really got into high gear. It is cited as the primary cause of the British attack on Washington DC where they burnt down many important buildings. The President's wife, Dolly Madison, narrowly escaped. Her servant is credited with saving the famous portrait of George Washington from going up in flames.
 
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I remember reading (might have been in Jacobson's book) that in the Battle of Franklin the concussion from the cannon and combined noise of the musketry along the Federal works was so great that blood was running from the ears of the Confederates stuck in the ditch just in front. Hearing one musket go off without ear protection is loud enough, but thousands combined with artillery truly would have been deafening.
 
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"So that's why Canucks always say "eh?" "

lol, good one!

You know how to really spell Canada? It has two A's at the end. C-A-N-A-D-A eh?

I live in the Fort York neighborhood described above. I moved to Toronto from Quincy Massachusetts about twelve years ago. I say eh? all the time since moving here. It is a characteristic thing of Canadians. Many people don't realize that it's not unique, however. Many people in the country areas of England often put an eh? at the end of their sentences, most often in the West Country counties such as Wiltshire. I lived in London years ago, the place of many many raindrops.

I miss New England often. I don't miss NYC, where I was born.
 
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Written by Carl Von Clausewitz in the late 1800s in his book, 'Principles of War'

Let us accompany the novice to the battle-field. As we approach, the thunder of the cannon becoming plainer and plainer is soon followed by the howling of shot, which attracts the attention of the inexperienced. Balls begin to strike the ground close to us, before and behind. We hasten to the hill where stands the General and his numerous Staff. Here the close striking of the cannon balls and the bursting of shells is so frequent that the seriousness of life makes itself visible through the youthful picture of imagination. Suddenly some one known to us falls—a shell makes its way into the crowd and causes some involuntary movements; we begin to feel that we are no longer perfectly at ease and collected, even the bravest is at least to some degree confused. Now, a step further into the battle which is raging before us like a scene in a theatre, we get to the nearest General of Division; here ball follows ball, and the noise of our own guns increases the confusion. From the General of Division to the Brigadier. He a man of acknowledged bravery, keeps carefully behind a rising ground, a house, or a tree—a sure sign of increasing danger. Grape rattles on the roofs of the houses and in the fields; cannon balls howl over us, and plough the air in all directions, and soon there is a frequent whistling of musket balls; a step further towards the troops, to that sturdy Infantry which for hours has maintained its firmness under this heavy fire; here the air is filled with the hissing of balls which announce their proximity by a short sharp noise as they pass within an inch of the ear, the head, or the breast.

To add to all this, compassion strikes the beating heart with pity, at the sight of the maimed and fallen. The young soldier cannot reach any of these different strata of danger, without feeling that the light of reason does not move here in the same medium, that it is not refracted in the same manner as in speculative contemplation. Indeed, he must be a very extraordinary man who, under these impressions for the first time, does not lose the power of making any instantaneous decisions. It is true that habit soon blunts such impressions; in half-an-hour we begin to be more or less indifferent to all that is going on around us: but an ordinary character never attains to complete coolness, and the natural elasticity of mind; and so we perceive that here, again, ordinary qualities will not suffice; a thing which gains truth, the wider the sphere of activity which is to be filled. Enthusiastic, stoical, natural bravery, great ambition, or also long familiarity with danger, much of all this there must be if all the effects produced in this resistant medium are not to fall far short of that which, in the student's chamber, may appear only the ordinary Settled.

Kind Regards

Waterloo50
 
Perhaps that's why so many of the vets ended up walking around with ear trumpets in their old age... I'll bet a huge majority of Civil War Veterans were as deaf as a post. My outfit in Vietnam provided security for self-propelled 155mm artillery. I now wear hearing aids.
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I've read that Longstreet used one when entertaining guests at his Piedmont Hotel in his later years... anyone else have a good Ear Trumpet photo or anecdote...? (This photo is not Longstreet obviously).
 
@waterloo those are vivid descriptions. I have never been in combat. Somehow, though, such descriptions invoke some kind of memory, like I know exactly what he's talking about.

It has occurred to me that there is some kind of inherited memory of sorts. I'm not a Civil War fanatic, but a few months ago, I had a very vivid dream of suddenly finding myself crouched behind a stone wall with men in Confederate soldiers uniforms leaping over the wall (and me). I'm just theorizing that somehow shocking memory persists through the genes for generations after the events.
 
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Hi Shokan,

You wouldn't be the first person that has said that about that description from Carl Von Clausewitz. I don't know what it is about it but it does seem to unlock some strong emotions in people. It was written a long time ago and even though its only a few paragraphs long it is very powerful. It takes you to the battlefield, you can almost see the battle in front of you. I don't know if you agree but it kind of pulls you in. I had a relative who fought and survived at the Battle of Waterloo, I'm convinced that his memories are mixed in with my own. As you say memory persists through genes. that's probably why some people are fascinated with the roles that their ancestors had in the ACW.

Kind Regards

Waterloo
 
Comes too close to home.

In the inner ear are small hairs that read vibrations for the brain to interpret. Each loud report tears a few of them loose and they cannot be replaced. So each loud report diminishes the ability to read a normal sound.

When I was younger, I did a lot of shooting (unprotected). I acquired a Ruger Blackhawk chambered for the .30 carbine. Shot it once only, because its report caused real pain.

I'm not exactly impaired, but there are certain sounds I can't hear. Specifically, was hiking with my brother in Idaho and almost stepped on a rattler. He heard it; I didn't.

Them artillery fellers with that boom, boom for hours have my sympathy.
 
Grape rattles on the roofs of the houses and in the fields; cannon balls howl over us, and plough the air in all directions, and soon there is a frequent whistling of musket balls; a step further towards the troops, to that sturdy Infantry which for hours has maintained its firmness under this heavy fire; here the air is filled with the hissing of balls which announce their proximity by a short sharp noise as they pass within an inch of the ear, the head, or the breast.
The sound of bullets flying through the air is another thing. Often ACW soldiers tended to describe the sound of the Minie ball flying past a "zip" or "buzzing" sound. From what I've read, round musket balls, as mentioned by Clausewitz here, made more of a whistling sound. Whereas modern bullets make a sharp "crack" or "pop" since they break the sound bearer.

A good description of the sound of the Minie ball and the round buck and ball, by Lt. John M. Gould of the 10th Maine Infantry at Cedar Mountain:

"The enemy were armed with almost every kind of rifle or musket, and as their front exceeded ours three times, we were under a cross fire almost from the first. The various tunes sung by their balls we shall never forget, and furthermore shall never confront them with any others we have heard. The fierce "zip" of the swift Minie ball was not prominent by comparison, at that particular moment, though there were enough of them certainly. The main sound, or air of the tune, if I may be allowed the expression, was produced by the singing of slow, round balls and buck shot fired from a smooth bore, which do not cut the air as the creased ball does. Each bullet, according to its kind, size, rate of speed and nearness to the ear made a different sound. They seemed to be going past in sheets, all around and above us."
- History of the First - Tenth - Twenty-Ninth Maine Regiments by John M. Gould
 
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Aug351,

The one thing that I think was missing from the movie Gettysburg was the sound of the zip or buzzing. In the movie Saving Private Ryan, you can clearly hear the zipping or buzzing of the rounds as they pass, the same sounds can be heard in Band of Brothers.

Regards
Waterloo
 
It's a sound I never want to hear. Had a cousin that didn't hear the one that cut him down.
 
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