Tom Hughes
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- May 27, 2019
- Location
- Mississippi
This is a fired .58 caliber minie ball that was found in the skeletal remains of a Confederate soldier who was killed during the Battle of Raymond, MS on May 12, 1863.
It's a little morbid, I know.
But how many minie balls have been found that you know 100% entered the body of the enemy during combat?
Back in the early 1970's during road construction of Hwy. 18, a salvage archaeology operation revealed several skeletons of Confederate soldiers. Based on the position, it is pretty certain they were members of the famed 7th Texas Infantry. This fighting unit suffered over 50% casualties during the battle:
22 killed
66 wounded
70 captured
This bullet almost certainly felled one of those 22 boys from Texas.
"It was the 7th Texas which had struck us, a regiment which had never been beaten in any fight. We soon found they didn't
scare worth a cent."
- Lt. Henry O. Dwight, 20th Ohio Infantry, USA
It's a little morbid, I know.
But how many minie balls have been found that you know 100% entered the body of the enemy during combat?
Back in the early 1970's during road construction of Hwy. 18, a salvage archaeology operation revealed several skeletons of Confederate soldiers. Based on the position, it is pretty certain they were members of the famed 7th Texas Infantry. This fighting unit suffered over 50% casualties during the battle:
22 killed
66 wounded
70 captured
This bullet almost certainly felled one of those 22 boys from Texas.
"It was the 7th Texas which had struck us, a regiment which had never been beaten in any fight. We soon found they didn't
scare worth a cent."
- Lt. Henry O. Dwight, 20th Ohio Infantry, USA