Fatal Bayonet Woundings

[Nathan Stuart]

In my readings, came across a vivid eyewitness account of combat fighting that involved a bayoneting.

Pvte. James Merrifield, Co. C, 88th Illinois Infantry, was part of Opdycke's brigade that launched a counter-attack from the rear when the Confederates broke through the center of the main Union line at Franklin. Merriman gave the following postwar account ('CV': Vol. XIII, at p. 563) of a bayoneting that he witnessed in the ensuing engagement:

…"As we started, we saw the Confederates inside the works. The first sight that caught my eye was a Confederate with the butt of his gun striking a 16th Kentucky soldier and knocking him down. Another of the 16th Kentucky then clubbed the Confederate with his musket and knocked him down. By this time the 16th Kentucky soldier, who was knocked down, was up and put a bayonet on his musket, turned it upside down, and plunged the bayonet in the Confederate, who was on the ground."… (Presumably, the Confederate soldier here died as a result of this bayoneting).

This account prompted me to inquire further about recorded fatal bayonet woundings during the CW.

Apparently, it's generally estimated that about 1% of CW battlefield casualties were due to bayonet woundings. At least earlier in the war, many commanders gave preeminence to the bayonet as a killing weapon in combat (Notwithstanding that these notions had become outdated in a new era where rifle-muskets now prevailed in the field). As examples. At Shiloh, Confederate General Bragg ordered as many as twelve futile piecemeal charges on the Hornet's Nest, believing the position could be carried by the bayonet. Similarly at Shiloh, the Confederate Army commander, General Johnston, rallied his regiments to move forward by urging them to use the bayonet to carry difficult Union defensive positions. Other commanders too, like Union General Humphreys at Fredericksburg and Confederate General Armistead during Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, attempted to rally their men by urging them to use the 'cold steel' against the enemy.

Believe the highest ranking commissioned officer killed by a bayonet wounding during the war was Union Colonel Harrison Jeffords, who commanded the 4th Michigan Infantry. On July 2, at Gettysburg, Col. Jeffords was mortally wounded by a Confederate soldier's bayonet wound in the left abdomen, while he attempted to recover the regimental flag seized by a Confederate, after the banner was dropped by the unit's color-bearer.

In the massed hand-to-hand engagements later in the war, like at Spotsylvania, the Crater and Franklin, where the fighting became more embittered and desperate, it's thought there would be multiple reported incidents of bayonet deaths in combat. Yet there seems to be a dearth of deadly bayonet encounters in any combat accounts.

Wonder if there are any other graphic eyewitness accounts found describing fatal bayonet fights.

 

[nc native]

At Gettysburg, Colonel Oates of the 15th Alabama Regiment which had the memorable encounter with Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine on Little Round Top, recorded that one of his men in his color guard used the bayonet to stab a Union solider in the head who was reaching for the unit's colors in his account if I recall correctly.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

At Gettysburg, Colonel Oates of the 15th Alabama Regiment which had the memorable encounter with Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine on Little Round Top, recorded that one of his men in his color guard used the bayonet to stab a Union solider in the head who was reaching for the unit's colors in his account if I recall correctly.

I've read about the assault by Col. Oates's 15 AL on LRT. But don't recall that his men got close enough to Col. Chamberlain's line of the 20 ME to engage in this type of combat. Will check this though.

 

[nc native]

I've read about the assault by Col. Oates's 15 AL on LRT. But don't recall that his men got close enough to Col. Chamberlain's line of the 20 ME to engage in this type of combat. Will check this though.

I am not 100% certain about the 15th Alabama being the regiment involved in this incident relying on memory but I do remember reading about this happening during Chamberlain's bayonet charge.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

At Gettysburg, Colonel Oates of the 15th Alabama Regiment which had the memorable encounter with Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine on Little Round Top, recorded that one of his men in his color guard used the bayonet to stab a Union solider in the head who was reaching for the unit's colors in his account if I recall correctly.

Yes, you are correct.

During one of the later attacks on the 20th Maine's line by Col. Oates's 15th AL (before Chamberlain's bayonet charge), an incident occurred that was described as follows by Phillip Thomas Tucker in 'Storming Little Round Top' at page 275.

…"A bold Maine soldier made a desperate attempt to wrestle the 15th. Alabama's flag from the hands of Color Sergeant John Archibald. Protecting the colors with his life as throughout the day, Sergeant Archibald stepped back to dodge the Yankee. The tough Irishman Sergeant Patrick O'Connor immediately drove his bayonet through the Federal's head with terrific force. So savage was his thrust with the bayonet that Sergeant O'Connor had difficulty removing it from the skull of the unfortunate Maine soldier, before turning to meet the next Yankee in hand-to-hand combat along the bloody hillside."…

As a postscript. Color Sergeant Archibald would carry this flag through the war. At the final surrender, he would tear the flag from its staff and hide it in his shirt, and delivered it back to southeast Alabama.

 

[Tom Elmore]

I have thus far identified 3,614 individuals at Gettysburg by type of casualty sustained. However, the bayonet was involved in only seven of those cases (7/3614). In addition, four of those seven cases also included at least one gunshot as a secondary or primary wound.

Only two deaths (from my records) were recorded among those seven bayonet cases:

1. Colonel Harrison H. Jeffords of the 4th Michigan died the next day (July 3) after receiving a gunshot wound in the leg and a bayonet wound in the chest. In this case, the bayonet thrust was probably directly responsible for his death.

2. Private Penuel H. Wood of Company I, 5th North Carolina received six wounds on July 1, including gunshots to the chin and testicles and a bayonet wound to the thigh. He died on July 12. It's unclear if the bayonet thrust was the primary cause of his death, especially if the other five wounds he received were by gunshot.

Of course as noted, others whose names were not recorded for posterity received bayonet wounds, but with the above sample, we can reasonably anticipate that of the 34,680 killed and wounded at Gettysburg (Busey and Martin figures), the bayonet was involved in just 67 cases, resulting in an estimated 19 deaths, with perhaps half of these being attributed solely to the bayonet and the other half being jointly shared with a gunshot or artillery cause.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

1. Colonel Harrison H. Jeffords of the 4th Michigan died the next day (July 3) after receiving a gunshot wound in the leg and a bayonet wound in the chest. In this case, the bayonet thrust was probably directly responsible for his death.

Agree. Of the two wounds that Col. Jeffords received fighting in 'the Wheatfield' at Gettysburg, thought the bayonet wound to the abdomen, not the gunshot wound in the thigh, was almost certainly the mortal wounding. Indeed that was the view of Harry Pfanz in 'Gettysburg: The Second Day' (at page 294) where he unequivocally states, ..."A Confederate ran him through with a bayonet, inflicting a mortal wound."...

 

[Tom Elmore]

Agree. Of the two wounds that Col. Jeffords received fighting in 'the Wheatfield' at Gettysburg, thought the bayonet wound to the abdomen, not the gunshot wound in the thigh, was almost certainly the mortal wounding. Indeed that was the view of Harry Pfanz in 'Gettysburg: The Second Day' (at page 294) where he unequivocally states, ..."A Confederate ran him through with a bayonet, inflicting a mortal wound."...

Unless the thigh wound cut the femoral artery, leading to sufficient loss of blood to induce shock.

 

[RedRover]

Humans evidently don't like to be bayonetted.

Mark that; that the bayonet was rarely crossed; not for lack of trying, but because one side or another would generally give way first...

But the wounded... and any others left in the wake of a withdrawing party, might too frequently fall victim to the use of the bayonet...

I was impressed by this rare account by a period soldier who was bayonetted on the field of battle; specifically at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, June 28, 1778, the last major battle of the American Revolution in the North. Mr. Solomon Parsons of Leicester, Massachusetts, serving with the 15th Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army, gave the following account of the unpleasantry of being bayonetted... and the possible difficulties of actually bayonetting someone...

So here we see there was a whole lot of "twitching" going on between the British soldier, and poor Parsons. According to Mr. Johnson's English Dictionary of the 1700s, to "twitch" means to contract, or pull away from, as if to snatch away.

So you see that first Mr. Parson's arm twitched away from the bayonet blade, but once he got hold of the bayonet with his hands, and held it tight, the British soldier became the one to "twitch" his musket, to try to snatch the bayonet away from his victim, and perhaps place it in a more deadly part of the anatomy. This the already critically wounded Parsons could not allow, and thus, as he notes, he was literally dragged along the ground by his desperate grip for 15 feet as the British soldier tried to clear his bayonet of him!

In the mid-19th Century, General Winfield Scott observed that it was only in the fancy of novelists and salon painters that the bayonet was used or received in some regular manner... It was a "shock" weapon moreso than a stabbing weapon...

Regarding Waterloo in 1815...

A Confederate officer at Murfreesboro describes a hand-to-hand or close-range encounter...

Regarding Chamberlain's 20th Maine and Oates' 15th Alabama at little round top in 1863, Chamberlain reported on July 6, 1863:

A strong fire opened at once from both sides, and with great effect, the enemy still advancinguntil they came within ten paces of our line, where our steady and telling volleys brought them to a stand. From thatmoment began a struggle fierce and bloody beyond any that I have witnessed, and which lasted in all its fury, a full hour. The two lines met, and broke and mingled in the shock. At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men. The edge of conflict swayed to and fro-now one and now the other party holding the contested ground. Three times our line was forced back, but only to rally and repulse the enemy. As often as the enemy's line was broken and routed, a new line was unmasked, which advanced with fresh vigor. Our "sixty rounds" were rapidly reduced; I sent several messengers to the rear for ammunition, and also for reinforcements. In the mean time we seized the opportunity of a momentary lull to gather ammunition and more serviceable arms, from the dead and dying on the field. With these we met the enemy's last and fiercest assault. Their own rifles and their own bullets were turned against them. In the midst of this struggle, our ammunition utterly failed. The enemy were close upon us with afresh line, pouring on us a terrible fire. Half the left wing already lay on the field. Although I had brought two companies from the right to its support, it was now scarcely more than a skirmish line. The heroic energy of my officers could avail no more. Our gallant line withered and shrunk before the fire it could not repel. It was too evident that we could maintain the defensive no longer. As a last desperate resort, I ordered a charge. The word "fixbayonets" flew from man to man. The click of the steel seemed to give new zeal to all. The men dashed forward witha shout. The two wings came into one line again, and extending to the left, and at the same time wheeling to the right,the whole Regiment described nearly a half circle, the left passing over the space of half a mile, while the right keptwithin the support of the 83d Penna. thus leaving no chance of escape to the enemy except to climb the steep side ofthe mountain or to pass by the whole front of the 83d Penna. The enemy's first line scarcely tried to run - they stoodamazed, threw down their loaded arms and surrendered in whole companies. Those in their rear had more time andgave us more trouble. My skirmishing company threw itself upon the enemy's flank behind a stone wall, and theireffective fire added to the enemy's confusion. In this charge we captured three hundred and sixty eight prisoners,many of them officers, and took three hundred stand of arms."

Col. Oates of the 15th Alabama notes that twice before the final charge of the 20th Maine, his men in places collided with men of the 20th:

Chamberlain noted that the Confederate attackers "pierced" his line in several places, by "squads" etc. Again from Chamberlain:

"Squads of the enemy broke through our line in several places, and the fight was literally hand to hand. The edge of the fight rolled backward and forward like a wave. The dead and wounded were now in our front and then in our rear. Forced from our position, we desperately recovered it, and pushed the enemy down to the foot of the slope. The intervals of the struggle were seized to remove our wounded (and those of the enemy also), to gather ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of disabled friend or foe on the field, and even to secure better muskets than the Enfields, which we found did not stand service well."

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Unless the thigh wound cut the femoral artery, leading to sufficient loss of blood to induce shock.

Fair point (also thought that).

Agree too, that it can be generally difficult to ascertain fatal bayonet wounds in cases where there are different causes of wounds to the subject person in the field.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Being armed (and seen) with a fixed bayonet rifle in the field seemed to have disproportionate psychological effects: creating shock in the foe; instilling confidence in the weapon bearer.

 

[Old Soldier]

The bayonet was never a 'primary' weapon. It was there for 'finishing off' a wounded foe - a coup de grace. The last volley before the assault wounded and killed the most. If the wounded - or anyone else - did not give up the fight, the bayonet was used. It was VERY useful in clearing trenches and other close quarter combat too.

There will have been few 'bayonet only' wounds, the tendency was to kill outright and, statistically in those days, a dead enemy is only 'a dead enemy', no one would be particularly concerned with the manner of their death. The wounded were a different matter being recorded by doctor, medic or surgeon.

As other have stated, the sight of a line of shouting, screaming, troops with the light flashing off their bayonets heading straight for you is a psychological battle tactic causing weapons to be dropped and hands to be raised, palm forwards (eyes closed, praying). I also suspect most bayonetting would be done in that first direct contact too.

The bayonet was also useful as a pike-substitute when confronted with cavalry, but rarely used against cavalry per se.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

the sight of a line of shouting, screaming, troops with the light flashing off their bayonets heading straight for you is a psychological battle tactic causing weapons to be dropped and hands to be raised

As one pundit previously said, its use was more for shock effects, than for fighting effects.

 

[Harms88]

Curtis Lee after the war recounted Crutchfield's Last Stand at Sayler's Creek and recounted:
"Perceiving that the superior numbers of the enemy would enable him to destroy us by his fire, I ordered bayonets fixed and attacked.

Through the extraordinary gallantry of the men, the attack was entirely successful. Many of the enemy were killed with the bayonet, and the rest were driven off in disorder, after a desperate struggle, distinguished by many acts of individual heroism."

He'd also say later that when the Confederates were surrendering, the Union troops started shooting the wounded and had to be talked down. The shooting of the wounded might have been revenge for those killed with the bayonet, because it seemed to be far more personal and savage to kill with it.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Curtis Lee after the war recounted Crutchfield's Last Stand at Sayler's Creek and recounted:
"Perceiving that the superior numbers of the enemy would enable him to destroy us by his fire, I ordered bayonets fixed and attacked.

Through the extraordinary gallantry of the men, the attack was entirely successful. Many of the enemy were killed with the bayonet, and the rest were driven off in disorder, after a desperate struggle, distinguished by many acts of individual heroism."

He'd also say later that when the Confederates were surrendering, the Union troops started shooting the wounded and had to be talked down. The shooting of the wounded might have been revenge for those killed with the bayonet, because it seemed to be far more personal and savage to kill with it.

By one account, at Sayler's Creek, the Federal soldiers approached a Confederate line expecting the Confederates to surrender because of the disparity in numbers and did not fire into their line. Some Union men were waving handkerchiefs and calling on them to surrender. When the Confederates responded with a volley which mowed down the first line of Union soldiers, the enraged survivors regrouped and engaged the Confederates in a brutal hand to hand melee. In such a situation, the treatment of the enemy wounded was likely not ideal.

 

[HATZENBELLER59]

Regarding redrover's quote above "but the drill with firearms was never so thorough as that with spears opposing troops rarely crossed to pay nuts nearly always the soldiers on one side ran before cold steel reached them never in modern warfare has has there been a stubborn hand hand conflict much less an actual pushing of a battalion out of place by mere momentum as often occurred in Greek and Roman warfare repeating rifles of long range have reduced the bane close order in general principles of Greek drill to relative insignificance for the warfare of the future." what source is that from?

 

[RedRover]

Regarding redrover's quote above "but the drill with firearms was never so thorough as that with spears opposing troops rarely crossed to pay nuts nearly always the soldiers on one side ran before cold steel reached them never in modern warfare has has there been a stubborn hand hand conflict much less an actual pushing of a battalion out of place by mere momentum as often occurred in Greek and Roman warfare repeating rifles of long range have reduced the bane close order in general principles of Greek drill to relative insignificance for the warfare of the future." what source is that from?

It's from Hittell's 1893 "History of the Mental Growth of Mankind in Ancient Times," Vol. III, p. 122.

A History of the Mental Growth of Mankind in Ancient Times

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The above was the general observation from the times. From 1871.

Once a Week

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Ambrose Bierce, of the US Army, in his observation of the nature of Civil War combat in "The Crime at Pickett's Mill" states that battlefields were puzzles in their aftermath. But at Pickett's Mill he had the chance to observe the exact phenomena of combat by the strange conformity of the ground, the federal troops advancing into, and up out of a steep ravine, got pretty close to the Confederate line before the latter's fire could tell on them... but even within 10 or 20 paces, they generally would not pass beyond a line of corpses marking the ground swept by a deadly fire... Any who attempted to do so would quickly fall...

 

[Old Soldier]

Regarding redrover's quote above "but the drill with firearms was never so thorough as that with spears opposing troops rarely crossed to pay nuts nearly always the soldiers on one side ran before cold steel reached them never in modern warfare has has there been a stubborn hand hand conflict much less an actual pushing of a battalion out of place by mere momentum as often occurred in Greek and Roman warfare repeating rifles of long range have reduced the bane close order in general principles of Greek drill to relative insignificance for the warfare of the future." what source is that from?

But so easily countered by accounts from the Indian Mutiny, the Australians in their trench battles of WW1 and, of course, the Falklands War and 2nd Bn Scots Guards taking of Tumbledown. Even our SMGs were fitted for bayonets. For a more modern example:

In May 2004, approximately 20 British troops in Basra were ambushed and forced out of their vehicles by about 100 Shiite militia fighters. When ammunition ran low, the British troops fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. About 20 militiamen were killed in the assault without any British deaths.

Luckily for you lot across the Pond, the Marines have not given up on the bayonet. Semper Fi !