Multiple Gunshot Cases among Confederates at Gettysburg

Tom Elmore

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Jan 16, 2015
Conclusion: A Confederate soldier who received a gunshot wound had at least a one in ten chance of being struck again by another gunshot projectile during the battle.

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The following analysis addresses confirmed (and probable) multiple gunshot wounds known from extant accounts. For the purpose of this study, any wounds inflicted by artillery (or other causes) are not considered.

My data shows that roughly four out of every five Confederate casualties on this battlefield were attributed to gunshot. In a great majority of cases, the generic term “ball,” in connection with a gunshot wound, referred to the elongated “minie” ball (also called a conoidal or conical ball). Less common smoothbore small-arms fired “buck and ball” ammunition, containing a spherical lead ball plus three small buckshot as a standard load. For this study, three or fewer buckshot wounds are considered as a single gunshot. Other weapons, such as revolvers and pistols used by many infantry officers, besides cavalrymen and artillerymen, were typically employed at short range and were seldom recorded.

Many well-documented cases are found in the reference, The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, although it focuses on Federal soldiers. Of course, soldiers on both sides who incurred multiple gunshot wounds would certainly have a higher mortality rate, meaning that fewer of them would have survived to make it to a hospital, but with that consideration in mind, here are the numbers from that reference pertaining just to Confederates at the battle of Gettysburg:
Total cases – 70
Single gunshot wound – 68 (97.1 %)
Multiple gunshot wounds – 2 (2.9 %) (two – 1, three – 1)

Another set of data that could be considered rather reliable are Confederate post-war pension applications, because they were often supported by a physician’s examination. Here are those numbers taken from a partial sample of Georgia, Virginia and Florida pension applications from Gettysburg veterans:
Total cases – 146
Single gunshot wound – 129 (88.4 %)
Multiple gunshot wounds – 17 (11.6 %) (two – 15, three – 2)

Finally, over the past 25 years I have assembled an all-source list of recorded Gettysburg gunshot cases from a multitude of primary sources, presented below for comparison with the aforementioned data (which is included). However, I have added an “other” category that captures cases with a lack of clarity or specificity. For instance, a wound described as “ball, arm and chest” or “ball, both thighs” could be inflicted by a single ball rather than two. In addition, a notation of “gunshot, chest and shoulder” might refer to separate entry and exit wounds caused by a single ball, rather than two. A third category arises when two or more wounds are mentioned, but only one of them is clearly identified as a gunshot, leaving the other(s) open to interpretation – although odds favor another gunshot, as noted there is a one in five chance it was caused by artillery. For the above reasons, I am only counting 70 percent of the “other” cases as multiple gunshots – an arbitrary percentage that probably understates rather than overstates the true figure.
Single gunshot wound: 1,328 (1,302 cases plus 26 from the “other” category below)

Multiple gunshot wounds: 132 (9.9 %), broken down as,
Two gunshot wounds – 45
Three – 18
Four – 3
Five – 2
“Several” (unspecified number) – 3
Other – 61 (or 70% of 87 cases; the rest are counted as single gunshot wounds)

Grand total – 1,460 gunshot cases. These 1,460 documented cases represent a significant sample size (roughly 10 percent) of the overall estimated number of gunshot wounds inflicted upon Confederates during the battle of Gettysburg (calculated at 13,639 cases out of the 17,028 who were killed and wounded.) (The latter number is taken from Regimental Strengths at Gettysburg, by Busey and Martin).

Comment: While I won’t venture to extrapolate the above summary to the entire war, we do have the interesting example of Daniel A. Wood of Company G, 4th Texas, who reported having sustained 11 gunshot wounds during the war, received in seven different battles (although he was untouched at Gettysburg!). (Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. XV, Texas, p. 700)

The attachment graphs the above all-source data. It suggests a likely occurrence of six, seven or more gunshot wounds among individual participants, some of whom no doubt survived, as shown by an example from Antietam (Sharpsburg): https://civilwartalk.com/threads/shot-seven-times-at-sharpsburg-–-private-s-hill-of-the-27th-georgia.170816/#post-2228598.

Identification and description of cases involving three or more gunshot wounds:

“Several
Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh, staff of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson, July 3. He was pierced simultaneously with several balls and instantly killed. (https://civilwartalk.com/threads/dividing-the-spoils-of-war-–-the-body-of-major-benjamin-watkins-leigh.173016/#post-2257132)
Lieutenant John A. Oates, 15th Alabama, July 2. Pierced through by “a number” of bullets, and a ball carried away his little finger. (The Battle of Gettysburg, by Colonel William C. Oates)
Private Jefferson B. Jessee, Company C, 37th Virginia. While bearing the colors on Culp’s Hill he reportedly received seven bullet holes in his thighs [indicating four gunshot wounds at a minimum]. His left leg was fractured and amputated in a Union 12th Corps hospital, where he died on July 4.

Five
Private Samuel L. McClure, Company H, 23rd North Carolina, July 1. He received three balls through his body and two more through his left arm, which was amputated above the elbow. He died on July 5. (Letter of W. J. O’Daniel to the mother of Leonidas Torrence, dated July 9)
Color Sergeant T. Rutledge Owens, Company F, 14th South Carolina, July 1. He was pierced by five minie balls and died the same day. (https://localhistory.richlandlibrary.com/digital/collection/p16817coll11/id/3540)

Four
Colonel John W. Carter, 13th Mississippi, July 2. He was struck by four minie balls and killed. (Diary of William H. Hill, quoted in, The Official Records of the 13th Mississippi Regiment … as told by those who were there, by Jess N. McLean, p. 444)
1st Lieutenant Arthur S. Segar, Company H, 38th Virginia, July 3. He was struck four times by spent balls, but escaped serious injury. (Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. IV, Virginia, p. 1138)
Lieutenant Randolph H. McKim, Aide-de-Camp, staff of Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart. He was struck by four bullets [probable gunshots] but not seriously hurt. (A Soldier’s Recollections, by Randolph H. McKim)

Three
Private Wilson J. Barbee, Company L, 1st Texas, July 2. Although a courier for Maj. Gen. Hood, Barbee abandoned his duties to fight at Devil’s Den. After a few minutes later a ball struck him in the right leg and he tumbled off a rock, but instantly climbed back. In less than two minutes a second ball struck his left leg. Mounting the rock a third time, he was soon shot in the body. He recovered, only to be killed on June 18, 1864. (Hood’s Texas Brigade, by J. B. Polley, Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1976)
1st Lieutenant R. Thomas Harper, Company E, 5th Texas, July 2. He was shot in three separate places [probably all gunshot], a gunshot wound of the thigh, shoulder and side, on Little Round Top. (Letter from “Rufus,” Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Compiled Service Record)
Private William H. Atkinson, Company B, 9th Georgia, July 2. He suffered severe gunshot wounds of the arm, thigh and scrotum. (Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg, 1:316)
Lieutenant William H. Baskin, Company K, 11th Georgia. Killed by three minie balls through his breast. (Houston Home Journal, June 4, 1891)
Brigadier General William Barksdale, July 2. He received a ball through the breast and gunshots through both legs. (Vermont at Gettysburg, July, 1863 and Fifty Years Later, by Thomas C. Cheney)
Private William M. Abernathy, Company B, 17th Mississippi, July 2. Wounded by three separate bullets [probable gunshots]. (Journal of William Meshack Abernathy)
1st Lieutenant Augustus W. Burt, Company A, 7th South Carolina, July 2. He received gunshot wounds in his right knee, shoulder and left ankle, the latter (by minie ball) resulting in amputation of the ankle joint. (Edgefield Advertiser, July 22, 1863; Compiled Service Record)
Private George W. Lawless, Company I, 24th Virginia, July 3. He was wounded by three balls, one in the left hip that was not removed, one that passed through his left shoulder, and one through his left foot. (Virginia Pension Applications)
4th Sergeant Bentley H. Tucker, Company K, 56th Virginia, July 3. He received three distinct gunshot wounds to the right arm (amputated close to the shoulder), a painful wound through the flesh of the right thigh, and a bad wound in the left heel. (Virginia Pension Application)
Lieutenant Colonel Rawley White Martin, 53rd Virginia, July 3. He suffered a gunshot fracture of his upper right thigh and flesh wounds to his left leg and thigh. (Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg, by John W. Busey and Travis W. Busey; Letters of R. W. Martin, UNC University Libraries)
Private William R. Underwood, Company K, 50th Georgia. He received minie ball wounds in the left leg, right thigh and upper arm (besides being struck by a canister round).
Adjutant Junius French, 23rd North Carolina, July 1. His foot was shattered by a ball; while lying on the ground struck he was struck twice more, one of these rounds penetrating his abdomen. He died at daybreak on July 2. (The University Memorial, Biographical Sketches, by Rev. Lipscomb Johnson)
Private George L. Oliver, Company A, 22nd Georgia, July 2. He received three gunshot wounds, in the left shoulder, left hand and left eye, causing partial paralysis of his left arm and damage to his eyesight. (September 10, 1863 report of Surgeon M. E. Swinney, 48th Georgia, Fold3, Confederate Letters)
Colonel William Gibson, 48th Georgia, July 2. He was severely wounded by three different balls. (Heroes and Martyrs of Georgia, by James M. Folsom, 1864)
2nd Sergeant Benjamin M. Horn, Company M, 2nd Florida. He was wounded through his right elbow joint by a musket ball, struck in his left heel by another ball, and was also struck in the leg bone below the right knee. (Florida Pension Application)
Adjutant Henderson C. Lucas, 11th North Carolina, July 1. He sustained “musket shot” wounds in the right forearm, left hip (flesh, but severe) and right calf (slight). He died on July 25. (Telegraph dispatch from Henderson C. Lucas to his father)
5th Sergeant John C. Buzzard, Company K, 14th South Carolina, July 1 and 3. He was struck twice by a crossfire on July 1, one ball going his knapsack and 12 layers of blankets and clothes and still penetrating his skin. He was hit twice again on July 3, by at least one minie ball in his right arm. (Confederate War Reminiscences by J. C. Buzzard; Compiled Service Record)
2nd Corporal Maze A. L. Enochs, Company E, 1st Tennessee, July 3. A minie ball entered his temple and lodged in the back of his neck. While lying on the ground he was struck twice more, in the thigh and hip. (Confederate Veteran, vol. 26 (1918), p. 216; Compiled Service Record)
Although not counted here, Private Thomas B. Gatch, Company G, 7th Virginia Cavalry was wounded three times by minie balls at Fairfield, one in the shoulder, another in the thigh, and a third through his foot.
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Conclusion: A Confederate soldier who received a gunshot wound had at least a one in ten chance of being struck again by another gunshot projectile during the battle.

The following analysis addresses confirmed (and probable) multiple gunshot wounds known from extant accounts. For the purpose of this study, any wounds inflicted by artillery (or other causes) are not considered.

My data shows that roughly four out of every five Confederate casualties on this battlefield were attributed to gunshot. In a great majority of cases, the generic term “ball,” in connection with a gunshot wound, referred to the elongated “minie” ball (also called a conoidal or conical ball). Less common smoothbore small-arms fired “buck and ball” ammunition, containing a spherical lead ball plus three small buckshot as a standard load. For this study, three or fewer buckshot wounds are considered as a single gunshot. Other weapons, such as revolvers and pistols used by many infantry officers, besides cavalrymen and artillerymen, were typically employed at short range and were seldom recorded.

Many well-documented cases are found in the reference, The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, although it focuses on Federal soldiers. Of course, soldiers on both sides who incurred multiple gunshot wounds would certainly have a higher mortality rate, meaning that fewer of them would have survived to make it to a hospital, but with that consideration in mind, here are the numbers from that reference pertaining just to Confederates at the battle of Gettysburg:
Total cases – 70
Single gunshot wound – 68 (97.1 %)
Multiple gunshot wounds – 2 (2.9 %) (two – 1, three – 1)

Another set of data that could be considered rather reliable are Confederate post-war pension applications, because they were often supported by a physician’s examination. Here are those numbers taken from a partial sample of Georgia, Virginia and Florida pension applications from Gettysburg veterans:
Total cases – 146
Single gunshot wound – 129 (88.4 %)
Multiple gunshot wounds – 17 (11.6 %) (two – 15, three – 2)

Finally, over the past 25 years I have assembled an all-source list of recorded Gettysburg gunshot cases from a multitude of primary sources, presented below for comparison with the aforementioned data (which is included). However, I have added an “other” category that captures cases with a lack of clarity or specificity. For instance, a wound described as “ball, arm and chest” or “ball, both thighs” could be inflicted by a single ball rather than two. In addition, a notation of “gunshot, chest and shoulder” might refer to separate entry and exit wounds caused by a single ball, rather than two. A third category arises when two or more wounds are mentioned, but only one of them is clearly identified as a gunshot, leaving the other(s) open to interpretation – although odds favor another gunshot, as noted there is a one in five chance it was caused by artillery. For the above reasons, I am only counting 70 percent of the “other” cases as multiple gunshots – an arbitrary percentage that probably understates rather than overstates the true figure.
Single gunshot wound: 1,328 (1,302 cases plus 26 from the “other” category below)

Multiple gunshot wounds: 132 (9.9 %), broken down as,
Two gunshot wounds – 45
Three – 18
Four – 3
Five – 2
“Several” (unspecified number) – 3
Other – 61 (or 70% of 87 cases; the rest are counted as single gunshot wounds)

Grand total – 1,460 gunshot cases. These 1,460 documented cases represent a significant sample size (roughly 10 percent) of the overall estimated number of gunshot wounds inflicted upon Confederates during the battle of Gettysburg (calculated at 13,639 cases out of the 17,028 who were killed and wounded.) (The latter number is taken from Regimental Strengths at Gettysburg, by Busey and Martin).

Comment: While I won’t venture to extrapolate the above summary to the entire war, we do have the interesting example of Daniel A. Wood of Company G, 4th Texas, who reported having sustained 11 gunshot wounds during the war, received in seven different battles (although he was untouched at Gettysburg!). (Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. XV, Texas, p. 700)

The attachment graphs the above all-source data. It suggests a likely occurrence of six, seven or more gunshot wounds among individual participants, some of whom no doubt survived, as shown by an example from Antietam (Sharpsburg): https://civilwartalk.com/threads/sh...hill-of-the-27th-georgia.170816/#post-2228598.

Identification and description of cases involving three or more gunshot wounds:

“Several
Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh, staff of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson, July 3. He was pierced simultaneously with several balls and instantly killed. (https://civilwartalk.com/threads/di...r-benjamin-watkins-leigh.173016/#post-2257132)
Lieutenant John A. Oates, 15th Alabama, July 2. Pierced through by “a number” of bullets, and a ball carried away his little finger. (The Battle of Gettysburg, by Colonel William C. Oates)
Private Jefferson B. Jessee, Company C, 37th Virginia. While bearing the colors on Culp’s Hill he reportedly received seven bullet holes in his thighs [indicating four gunshot wounds at a minimum]. His left leg was fractured and amputated in a Union 12th Corps hospital, where he died on July 4.

Five
Private Samuel L. McClure, Company H, 23rd North Carolina, July 1. He received three balls through his body and two more through his left arm, which was amputated above the elbow. He died on July 5. (Letter of W. J. O’Daniel to the mother of Leonidas Torrence, dated July 9)
Color Sergeant T. Rutledge Owens, Company F, 14th South Carolina, July 1. He was pierced by five minie balls and died the same day. (https://localhistory.richlandlibrary.com/digital/collection/p16817coll11/id/3540)

Four
Colonel John W. Carter, 13th Mississippi, July 2. He was struck by four minie balls and killed. (Diary of William H. Hill, quoted in, The Official Records of the 13th Mississippi Regiment … as told by those who were there, by Jess N. McLean, p. 444)
1st Lieutenant Arthur S. Segar, Company H, 38th Virginia, July 3. He was struck four times by spent balls, but escaped serious injury. (Confederate Military History, Extended Addition, vol. IV, Virginia, p. 1138)
Lieutenant Randolph H. McKim, Aide-de-Camp, staff of Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart. He was struck by four bullets [probable gunshots] but not seriously hurt. (A Soldier’s Recollections, by Randolph H. McKim)

Three
Private Wilson J. Barbee, Company L, 1st Texas, July 2. Although a courier for Maj. Gen. Hood, Barbee abandoned his duties to fight at Devil’s Den. After a few minutes later a ball struck him in the right leg and he tumbled off a rock, but instantly climbed back. In less than two minutes a second ball struck his left leg. Mounting the rock a third time, he was soon shot in the body. He recovered, only to be killed on June 18, 1864. (Hood’s Texas Brigade, by J. B. Polley, Press of Morningside Bookshop, 1976)
1st Lieutenant R. Thomas Harper, Company E, 5th Texas, July 2. He was shot in three separate places [probably all gunshot], a gunshot wound of the thigh, shoulder and side, on Little Round Top. (Letter from “Rufus,” Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Compiled Service Record)
Private William H. Atkinson, Company B, 9th Georgia, July 2. He suffered severe gunshot wounds of the arm, thigh and scrotum. (Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg, 1:316)
Lieutenant William H. Baskin, Company K, 11th Georgia. Killed by three minie balls through his breast. (Houston Home Journal, June 4, 1891)
Brigadier General William Barksdale, July 2. He received a ball through the breast and gunshots through both legs. (Vermont at Gettysburg, July, 1863 and Fifty Years Later, by Thomas C. Cheney)
Private William M. Abernathy, Company B, 17th Mississippi, July 2. Wounded by three separate bullets [probable gunshots]. (Journal of William Meshack Abernathy)
1st Lieutenant Augustus W. Burt, Company A, 7th South Carolina, July 2. He received gunshot wounds in his right knee, shoulder and left ankle, the latter (by minie ball) resulting in amputation of the ankle joint. (Edgefield Advertiser, July 22, 1863; Compiled Service Record)
Private George W. Lawless, Company I, 24th Virginia, July 3. He was wounded by three balls, one in the left hip that was not removed, one that passed through his left shoulder, and one through his left foot. (Virginia Pension Applications)
4th Sergeant Bentley H. Tucker, Company K, 56th Virginia, July 3. He received three distinct gunshot wounds to the right arm (amputated close to the shoulder), a painful wound through the flesh of the right thigh, and a bad wound in the left heel. (Virginia Pension Application)
Lieutenant Colonel Rawley White Martin, 53rd Virginia, July 3. He suffered a gunshot fracture of his upper right thigh and flesh wounds to his left leg and thigh. (Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg, by John W. Busey and Travis W. Busey; Letters of R. W. Martin, UNC University Libraries)
Private William R. Underwood, Company K, 50th Georgia. He received minie ball wounds in the left leg, right thigh and upper arm (besides being struck by a canister round).
Adjutant Junius French, 23rd North Carolina, July 1. His foot was shattered by a ball; while lying on the ground struck he was struck twice more, one of these rounds penetrating his abdomen. He died at daybreak on July 2. (The University Memorial, Biographical Sketches, by Rev. Lipscomb Johnson)
Private George L. Oliver, Company A, 22nd Georgia, July 2. He received three gunshot wounds, in the left shoulder, left hand and left eye, causing partial paralysis of his left arm and damage to his eyesight. (September 10, 1863 report of Surgeon M. E. Swinney, 48th Georgia, Fold3, Confederate Letters)
Colonel William Gibson, 48th Georgia, July 2. He was severely wounded by three different balls. (Heroes and Martyrs of Georgia, by James M. Folsom, 1864)
2nd Sergeant Benjamin M. Horn, Company M, 2nd Florida. He was wounded through his right elbow joint by a musket ball, struck in his left heel by another ball, and was also struck in the leg bone below the right knee. (Florida Pension Application)
Adjutant Henderson C. Lucas, 11th North Carolina, July 1. He sustained “musket shot” wounds in the right forearm, left hip (flesh, but severe) and right calf (slight). He died on July 25. (Telegraph dispatch from Henderson C. Lucas to his father)
5th Sergeant John C. Buzzard, Company K, 14th South Carolina, July 1 and 3. He was struck twice by a crossfire on July 1, one ball going his knapsack and 12 layers of blankets and clothes and still penetrating his skin. He was hit twice again on July 3, by at least one minie ball in his right arm. (Confederate War Reminiscences by J. C. Buzzard; Compiled Service Record)
2nd Corporal Maze A. L. Enochs, Company E, 1st Tennessee, July 3. A minie ball entered his temple and lodged in the back of his neck. While lying on the ground he was struck twice more, in the thigh and hip. (Confederate Veteran, vol. 26 (1918), p. 216; Compiled Service Record)
Although not counted here, Private Thomas B. Gatch, Company G, 7th Virginia Cavalry was wounded three times by minie balls at Fairfield, one in the shoulder, another in the thigh, and a third through his foot.
Gruesome, but interesting. Thank you for your research.
 
Hello Tom,

Question for you. Where did you pull the info for William Underwood's wound of the 50th Georgia? Got the regimental history on my tbr and was just curious.
 
The following analysis addresses confirmed (and probable) multiple gunshot wounds known from extant accounts.

Great work! A couple of the cases you listed are soldiers I've been researching, so I was able to glean some useful sources to round out their stories (Samuel L. McClure and Junius French, along with Leonidas Torrence, the source for the McClure information -- all 23rd NC). I don't think I would have taken into account this factor of multiple wounds if you hadn't pointed to it.

Roy B.
 
Hello Tom,

Question for you. Where did you pull the info for William Underwood's wound of the 50th Georgia? Got the regimental history on my tbr and was just curious.

Oops, good catch! I was attempting to write 50th Virginia, not 50th Georgia. Underwood's thigh and leg wounds were cited in his compiled service record, but I am relying more on a citation in the roster of John D. Chapla's book, 50th Virginia Infantry, which states (from my notes): "Leaders cut and bone shattered by grape shot, and minie ball wound (s) in left leg and right thigh and right arm." The specificity indicates an authoritative source. Of course, even a primary source might get it wrong, but the overall sample size is so large that minor discrepancies would not impact the conclusion, especially since chance ensures such errors wind up offsetting each other.
 
I was going to talk about it in my Muster Presentation at Shiloh (sadly can't make it cause of work issues) but it's been established that about 70% of Confederate generals were shot during the war whether just wounded or killed. Those who did get shot had an average of 2.5 wounds during the war, and if you served in 5 or more battles, the likelihood you'd get shot sky-rocketed.
 
@Tom Elmore, mainly keeping facts straight, especially for statistical purposes, I thought I should point out 4th Sergeant Bentley H. Tucker in '3 wounds' section. Three to the right arm, one to the right thigh, and one to the heel, if the wording is consistent, making 5 in total, in case it matters.
Lubliner.
 
Interesting study. It has been pointed out that multiple wounds could be due to firing by volley.
However, I wonder if multiple shots could be due to the fact that the wounded remained exposed on the field. I pity the wounded men at Marye’s Heights who remained exposed to that deadly fire and had no place to hide. Some wounded may have laid down against a tree or fence and this brought more fire directed at them.
Do these stats simply highlight the need for more medical orderlies?
 
@Tom Elmore, mainly keeping facts straight, especially for statistical purposes, I thought I should point out 4th Sergeant Bentley H. Tucker in '3 wounds' section. Three to the right arm, one to the right thigh, and one to the heel, if the wording is consistent, making 5 in total, in case it matters.
Lubliner.
Poor wording on my part, his three distinct wounds were: 1) to the right arm, 2) right thigh, and 3) left heel.
 
Interesting study. It has been pointed out that multiple wounds could be due to firing by volley.
However, I wonder if multiple shots could be due to the fact that the wounded remained exposed on the field. I pity the wounded men at Marye’s Heights who remained exposed to that deadly fire and had no place to hide. Some wounded may have laid down against a tree or fence and this brought more fire directed at them.
Do these stats simply highlight the need for more medical orderlies?

Good point; there were indeed a number of documented cases, perhaps a large percentage of these cases overall, where subsequent wounds were received while a wounded man was lying prone on the field. When a wounded soldier could manage it, he tried to place something between himself and the direction of the fire - a rock, a knapsack, even a frying pan!
 
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