Bite Marks on Confederate Roundball/ Olustee

[captaindrew]

Have you seen this title yet?

I haven't looked recently. There were some other episodes of that show on youtube but not that one. It was available for sale on dvd on Amazon. I'll take a look again. Keep an eye out on the Military channel and the AHC channel, they rerun those shows pretty regularly, I know I've watched it a few times. If I see it on I will definitely let you know.

 

[winchester]

I think Aquachigger settles the issue, but just in case you are still a believer in the "Pain" bullets just try one simple experiment. Put one in your mouth and bite down. If you can bite hard enough to make marks, your next move will likely be to your dentist.

 

[Package4]

I am on the fence with this. I can definitely see that this could be legend. But I would like to see some primary sources that address this question. Is "bite the bullet" a real thing? Not sure at this point.

Animals will pick up any thing foreign and give it a try and laying on the ground for XX number of years, no doubt it had plenty of chances of being masticated by one before erosion finally hid it away. ACW dealers love to boost the value of such a bullet, claiming it a pain bullet. Frankly biting on a leather strap or stick is more effective as it involves more of the mandible and thus teeth.

 

[Joseph3233]

Frankly, I doubt that any ball would have been used to bite on during surgery. Too small. What if the patient had swallowed the bullet and choked on it? I think they would have used something made from wood or leather the patient could cut his teeth in heartily without having to fear he might swallow the thing and die from choking or lead poisoning.

I dug a large chunk of lead 6or7 Minnie balls melted together I guess. It had human looking teeth marks all over it. I showed my dentist and he was intrigued by it because he identified some human definite bite marks he even named the teeth and had a number for the ones he knew were human. Mainly front top and bottom his thoughts were without anastesia intense pain men would bite their tongue to alleviate pain and actually bite their tongue off and also crack teeth as they bit down. It shook me up to hear that, it really makes you shutter, the horrors of war can't be imagined unless you were actually there. I'm new by the way my name is Gene and I live in Yorktown Virginia. Good to meet all of you and thanks for letting me be a member.

 

[FarawayFriend]

I dug a large chunk of lead 6or7 Minnie balls melted together I guess. It had human looking teeth marks all over it. I showed my dentist and he was intrigued by it because he identified some human definite bite marks he even named the teeth and had a number for the ones he knew were human. Mainly front top and bottom his thoughts were without anastesia intense pain men would bite their tongue to alleviate pain and actually bite their tongue off and also crack teeth as they bit down. It shook me up to hear that, it really makes you shutter, the horrors of war can't be imagined unless you were actually there. I'm new by the way my name is Gene and I live in Yorktown Virginia. Good to meet all of you and thanks for letting me be a member.

Welcome Gene!
Wow, that's interesting! And yes, I can understand that you shuddered when hearing that from your dentist. Same here!

 

[8thFlorida]

I dug a large chunk of lead 6or7 Minnie balls melted together I guess. It had human looking teeth marks all over it. I showed my dentist and he was intrigued by it because he identified some human definite bite marks he even named the teeth and had a number for the ones he knew were human. Mainly front top and bottom his thoughts were without anastesia intense pain men would bite their tongue to alleviate pain and actually bite their tongue off and also crack teeth as they bit down. It shook me up to hear that, it really makes you shutter, the horrors of war can't be imagined unless you were actually there. I'm new by the way my name is Gene and I live in Yorktown Virginia. Good to meet all of you and thanks for letting me be a member.[/QUOTE
Would you mind posting pics?

any pictures? Welcome

 

[captaindrew]

welcome to the forum Gene, @Joseph3233

 

[8thFlorida]

I couldn't find it on youtube they had some episodes but couldn't find that one, or the history channel site but if you google it it's available for download from several different sites, not sure how that works I've never used any of those sites. The dvd is for sale on amazon. There was a short video on youtube, Battle of Monmouth 1778, by some of the same people and they briefly mentioned bite the bullet but not in depth like the show. I'll keep looking for it, can't believe it's not on youtube.

New
Thank you. I just watched it. They really highlighted the saliva production during the battle due to the heat. This makes sense now and I think my bite marks are verifiable. Great excerpt! Also the video claimed that the "bite the bullet" expression phrase actually came out of the American Revolution. Biting Lead was utilized for lower ranking patients during amputations.

 

[captaindrew]

New
Thank you. I just watched it. They really highlighted the saliva production during the battle due to the heat. This makes sense now and I think my bite marks are verifiable. Great excerpt! Also the video claimed that the "bite the bullet" expression phrase actually came out of the American Revolution. Biting Lead was utilized for lower ranking patients during amputations.

Glad you got to watch it. I enjoy those Battlefield Detective shows, interesting stuff.

 

[8thFlorida]

Glad you got to watch it. I enjoy those Battlefield Detective shows, interesting stuff.

I finally visited the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg and they seem to believe in pain bullets. These were excavated at a hospital site in Gettysburg. Also shown are some first ever of their kind identification tags carried or worn by soldiers.