An ounce of death and destruction...

[RustyRelics]

Picture this:

You are standing shoulder to shoulder in the early morning light with your regiment. You stomach twists itself into knots, knowing what is about to come. The sun climbs above the horizon, casting shadows behind the hills. Over 1,000 bayonets catch the first rays of sun, and cast a blinding light to your eyes. The morning frost is still on the wet grass, the same grass that the next few hours will be covered in many a young mans blood.

A bugle in the distance is called, and your senior officer barks out the order to "forward march". Will this be your last battle?

You march through the wet grass, the sun in your eyes, and the wind calmly blowing in your face. Your regimental flag waving in the early mornings light, and the beat of a thousand footsteps, trampling the frosty morning grass below. In the distance, you see a large puff of smoke, and then the scream of an incoming artillery shell. It slams into the dirt about 20 yards ahead of you, sending dirt, dust and shrapnel over your head. As the dirt comes down, and you wipe your eyes, another puff of smoke is seen. And another, and another...

"Double quick!" your officer calls, and with a sharp cry, the regiment surges forward. Into the impending jaws of death, and seemingly the gates of hell. A fence blocks your path, and the regiment pauses. By now, you are within the range of enemy fire. A thousand puffs of smoke are discharged, and the squeak of minie balls scream past your ears. You panic, and reloading your musket is difficult now. The pause is over, and now you find yourself, and your comrades over the fence, and into the ever closer reaches of death.

"Forward men! double quick and give 'em hell!" screams your officer. Now you are running, running with all the speed you can muster. The wet grass splashes now, with the footsteps of a thousand soldiers, a thousand soldiers running to doom.

You are almost there. Just a few more yards to the stone wall. To the stone wall, and your regiment has the victory. The sun illuminates the enemy, and in their eyes you can see the hatred and contempt he has for you. You fire your musket, but who knows if you hit anybody. You charge with your bayonet lowered, your friends are climbing over the wall, and now it is your turn to make a mark on history.


Just on the other side of that wall stands a soldier. He knows that it is up to him to stop that charge. If the defense fails, the enemy can sweep around, and destroy the army. He quickly reaches into his cartridge pouch, and pulls out the paper cartridge, and inside lies the deadly minie ball. He follows the loading procedure, and cocks the hammer. He fits the percussion cap to the nipple, and gets ready. He spots a young enemy soldier climbing over the wall. He starts squeezing the trigger...

You are now climbing over the wall, you take your rifle and begin to charge the enemy. But then you feel a sharp, burning pain. The deadly minie ball pierces your chest, the soft lead expanding and ripping a gaping hole in your flesh. It splinters your rib bones in nano seconds, and exits the body as fast as it came in. The sounds of battle are fading, the world is growing darker, and before you now it, you are on the ground.

When you wake up in the field hospital, the surgeon gives you a foul tasting medicine from a clear bottle. He puts a rag on your face, and the world becomes muted, and dark again...





This is an experience shared by many thousands of soldiers throughout the Civil War. Many were not lucky, and died on the spot, or worse, after hours of suffering. Field hospitals from both armies were swamped with the mutilated bodies of many thousands of young soldiers, all ripped to pieces by the deadly minie ball.

Bullets mean so much more to me, than any other relics. I take pride in each, and every bullet I own. I am fortunate to own these pieces of history, and I will cherish them forever.












Here is a pile of fired Civil War bullets, accompanied by a U.S.A Hospital Department bottle found in Union hospitals.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Grizz12]

Blue or grey, each one represents an American fighting for his Country, the United States

 

[Kray Gelder]

There are those who relish the idea of fierce fighting, of war. Just for the sake of it. Then there are those who do the fighting and dying. This War of Northern Aggression was horrific and unnecessary, and should not be forgotten, repeated, embellished, or glorified. The individuals who push for this sort of nightmare should be quietly removed by those citizens who prefer peace. By extrajudicial means if necessary. The consequences of not doing so have already been experienced.

 

[Dfxcobb]

great post

 

[devldog]

Good post. A lot of these old vets would survive the war and the wounds that they received only to go to the grave with the lead ball still lodged in parts of the body where the ball could not be removed. One story that I recall hearing of this was horrific and the old vet died an agonizing death from a Minnie' ball that he was wounded by as a young soldier years earlier.

 

[RustyRelics]

I remember a story about a man who was a CS vet, who got shot in the face with a pistol bullet. The docs thought they got rid of it, but many years afterwards, he would be vomiting, and doing stuff that wasn't for those with weak stomachs. One night, he threw up into a pan, and out dropped a pistol bullet! He kept it as a souvenir, and it was proudly displayed for years by the family. The reactions he was experiencing was lead poisoning, and e died because of it.

I wonder if we can claim this as a combat related death? He did die from the effects of the bullet.

 

[Davers]

Picture this:

You are standing shoulder to shoulder in the early morning light with your regiment. You stomach twists itself into knots, knowing what is about to come. The sun climbs above the horizon, casting shadows behind the hills. Over 1,000 bayonets catch the first rays of sun, and cast a blinding light to your eyes. The morning frost is still on the wet grass, the same grass that the next few hours will be covered in many a young mans blood.

A bugle in the distance is called, and your senior officer barks out the order to "forward march". Will this be your last battle?

You march through the wet grass, the sun in your eyes, and the wind calmly blowing in your face. Your regimental flag waving in the early mornings light, and the beat of a thousand footsteps, trampling the frosty morning grass below. In the distance, you see a large puff of smoke, and then the scream of an incoming artillery shell. It slams into the dirt about 20 yards ahead of you, sending dirt, dust and shrapnel over your head. As the dirt comes down, and you wipe your eyes, another puff of smoke is seen. And another, and another...

"Double quick!" your officer calls, and with a sharp cry, the regiment surges forward. Into the impending jaws of death, and seemingly the gates of hell. A fence blocks your path, and the regiment pauses. By now, you are within the range of enemy fire. A thousand puffs of smoke are discharged, and the squeak of minie balls scream past your ears. You panic, and reloading your musket is difficult now. The pause is over, and now you find yourself, and your comrades over the fence, and into the ever closer reaches of death.

"Forward men! double quick and give 'em hell!" screams your officer. Now you are running, running with all the speed you can muster. The wet grass splashes now, with the footsteps of a thousand soldiers, a thousand soldiers running to doom.

You are almost there. Just a few more yards to the stone wall. To the stone wall, and your regiment has the victory. The sun illuminates the enemy, and in their eyes you can see the hatred and contempt he has for you. You fire your musket, but who knows if you hit anybody. You charge with your bayonet lowered, your friends are climbing over the wall, and now it is your turn to make a mark on history.


Just on the other side of that wall stands a soldier. He knows that it is up to him to stop that charge. If the defense fails, the enemy can sweep around, and destroy the army. He quickly reaches into his cartridge pouch, and pulls out the paper cartridge, and inside lies the deadly minie ball. He follows the loading procedure, and cocks the hammer. He fits the percussion cap to the nipple, and gets ready. He spots a young enemy soldier climbing over the wall. He starts squeezing the trigger...

You are now climbing over the wall, you take your rifle and begin to charge the enemy. But then you feel a sharp, burning pain. The deadly minie ball pierces your chest, the soft lead expanding and ripping a gaping hole in your flesh. It splinters your rib bones in nano seconds, and exits the body as fast as it came in. The sounds of battle are fading, the world is growing darker, and before you now it, you are on the ground.

When you wake up in the field hospital, the surgeon gives you a foul tasting medicine from a clear bottle. He puts a rag on your face, and the world becomes muted, and dark again...





This is an experience shared by many thousands of soldiers throughout the Civil War. Many were not lucky, and died on the spot, or worse, after hours of suffering. Field hospitals from both armies were swamped with the mutilated bodies of many thousands of young soldiers, all ripped to pieces by the deadly minie ball.

Bullets mean so much more to me, than any other relics. I take pride in each, and every bullet I own. I am fortunate to own these pieces of history, and I will cherish them forever.







View attachment 1705174




Here is a pile of fired Civil War bullets, accompanied by a U.S.A Hospital Department bottle found in Union hospitals.

What a great post.

My thoughts , I do believe this is when "Trench" war fare became the common sense way to fight as those 'Napoleonic"(walking in a line, into fire ..is just a waste of life ), I admire the Sheer Courage of Men who followed the order to march strait into certain Death or suffering.

How a Spencer or Henry rifle would be like magic back then , I would have not traded mine for 'NOTHING". Except a Honorable Discharge at the time of the trade.

Any way all war is Hell.

also , as i have likely stated before all my fired bullets are more special than my drop's .
&
Knowing where they bullets came from is VERY important to me.
Davey

 

[BLK HOLE]

Well written post that causes one to pause in awe those boys in blue and grey.

 

[moosescout]

I’ve studied hours upon hours and books upon books about the civil war. Trying to understand what compelled these men to fight. There are opinions galore out there with each side claiming reasons. Most who fought had no stake in the battle but fought anyway. The south had better leaders and the north had more men. I’m getting closer to understanding but still struggle with reasoning. Every time I dig up a bullet I think about who held it last. No matter what u call it, it was a horrible war.

 

[devldog]

Rusty, I have always felt that a lot of the soldiers that survived the war and their wounds, would live into becoming elderly Veterans. A lot of these old Vets would succumb to their wounds received years earlier in that horrible war when they were young soldiers. In my opinion (which doesn't count for much), these Vet's died from combat wounds from that war, just years later. Your story is a proven point of this. One horror story I heard was of a young soldier and his regiment were assaulting a strong trenchline. The soldier was obviously just short of being out of range when he caught a Minnie' ball in his head in the bone just above the soldiers eye. The lead ball was so deep embedded in the bone that the Dr.'s were unable to remove the bullet. The cavity of the bullet was nearly flush with the bone above the soldiers eye. In time, skin grafted over the ball, but it was said that you could both see and feel the lump from the lead ball. Through the years the now elderly Vet began to suffer from severe migrane headaches. There was nothing the Dr.'s could do for this poor Vet. In the last days of this Vets life the migrane headaches became so severe that he would go into screaming fits of rage. The family had to lock their loved one away in a rear bedroom where he would die alone in severe pain amongst his screaming in agony. How horrible this was for this poor old Ge Vet and his family. I believe that in cases such as these that these soldiers named should have been listed with those that were killed in the war....just some years later.

 

[moosescout]

There was a study I read a couple of years ago where the gentleman tried to take this in consideration in his numbers. I believe the number ended up closer to a million deaths. The sad thing is that a huge majority of the death were relative to health issues such as typhus and dysentery.

 

[Davers]

Rusty, I have always felt that a lot of the soldiers that survived the war and their wounds, would live into becoming elderly Veterans. A lot of these old Vets would succumb to their wounds received years earlier in that horrible war when they were young soldiers. In my opinion (which doesn't count for much), these Vet's died from combat wounds from that war, just years later. Your story is a proven point of this. One horror story I heard was of a young soldier and his regiment were assaulting a strong trenchline. The soldier was obviously just short of being out of range when he caught a Minnie' ball in his head in the bone just above the soldiers eye. The lead ball was so deep embedded in the bone that the Dr.'s were unable to remove the bullet. The cavity of the bullet was nearly flush with the bone above the soldiers eye. In time, skin grafted over the ball, but it was said that you could both see and feel the lump from the lead ball. Through the years the now elderly Vet began to suffer from severe migrane headaches. There was nothing the Dr.'s could do for this poor Vet. In the last days of this Vets life the migrane headaches became so severe that he would go into screaming fits of rage. The family had to lock their loved one away in a rear bedroom where he would die alone in severe pain amongst his screaming in agony. How horrible this was for this poor old Ge Vet and his family. I believe that in cases such as these that these soldiers named should have been listed with those that were killed in the war....just some years later.

You are correct , many wounded warriors were left after that war and all that follow led, sometimes it was better if one died.
I say that only cause the suffering lasted so long , IMO Even first res-ponders carry a-lot of internal mental stress, from the war , that is life.

 

[Davers]

There was a study I read a couple of years ago where the gentleman tried to take this in consideration in his numbers. I believe the number ended up closer to a million deaths. The sad thing is that a huge majority of the death were relative to health issues such as typhus and dysentery.

In my opinion, & 'Please forgive my strange way of explaining my opinion' .

This does not cover all the reasons these Men fought .

Many fought for the honor of their State ,or their even County, most had 'Clicks' groups of friends / family's & were used to a way of life , yes many had Slaves but not all , they may have not been "Slaves " in the North but were look upon as inferior to the Whites , heck many people still hold this belief & it goes both way's Black & white , Hispanic , Asian.

Anyhow IMO they fought for their way of life & in honor of their Home State the after succession they fought under the umbrella of the Confederacy .

I suppose they in th North at that time fought for similar reasons , but Like now the ones who had the $ / Political Power , family ties ; Ran the Show.

It's strange ..'Really not ' that America tries to control the thoughts / ways of other countries of the world to this day , with false flags , Regime changes , etc , this is mostly done 'in secret'.

Hmm , again nothing new under the Sun.

 

[devldog]

You are right Davers. There has never been a war fought for one single reason or cause. One of my favorite all time Historical authors and story tellers was the Late, Great Mr. Shelby Foote. He was quoted a lot and appeared in some of the narrative scenes in Ken Burns documentary Civil War. Mr. Foote told the story of one Johnny Reb that was captured during the fighting when the war came to Georgia. Union soldiers asked the Confederate as to why he was fighting against the Union. " Because you are down here" came the reply. If you would have asked a great number of Reb's as to why they were fighting, I personally believe you would have been told that they were fighting for their country. Their country meaning the Southern State in which they were from.

 

[Davers]

You are right Davers. There has never been a war fought for one single reason or cause. One of my favorite all time Historical authors and story tellers was the Late, Great Mr. Shelby Foote. He was quoted a lot and appeared in some of the narrative scenes in Ken Burns documentary Civil War. Mr. Foote told the story of one Johnny Reb that was captured during the fighting when the war came to Georgia. Union soldiers asked the Confederate as to why he was fighting against the Union. " Because you are down here" came the reply. If you would have asked a great number of Reb's as to why they were fighting, I personally believe you would have been told that they were fighting for their country. Their country meaning the Southern State in which they were from.

Oh yes tho it's been a while I recall Mr, Foote in K.B's excellent series , I even have it on VHS , I guess it can be viewed on line or on-demand somewhere.

It's truly 'Must see TV'.
GD

 

[moosescout]

In my opinion, & 'Please forgive my strange way of explaining my opinion' .

This does not cover all the reasons these Men fought .

Many fought for the honor of their State ,or their even County, most had 'Clicks' groups of friends / family's & were used to a way of life , yes many had Slaves but not all , they may have not been "Slaves " in the North but were look upon as inferior to the Whites , heck many people still hold this belief & it goes both way's Black & white , Hispanic , Asian.

Anyhow IMO they fought for their way of life & in honor of their Home State the after succession they fought under the umbrella of the Confederacy .

I suppose they in th North at that time fought for similar reasons , but Like now the ones who had the $ / Political Power , family ties ; Ran the Show.

It's strange ..'Really not ' that America tries to control the thoughts / ways of other countries of the world to this day , with false flags , Regime changes , etc , this is mostly done 'in secret'.

Hmm , again nothing new under the Sun.

Many people in the north thought slaves were inferior people. To be pitied for slavery but not treated as complete equals. Even when they formed the all black companies they didn’t think they could fight so they were given meaningless work to do. This changed as the war progressed and they showed they were great soldiers. Especially at the crater in Petersburg. The worst position in the military was to be a white officer in a black company. If captured you were treated the same. Ie, shown no mercy.

 

[devldog]

It's interesting to note that you can see a photo from the CW of a Confederate camp with officers and blacks in the background and the caption will read: Confederate officers in camp with slaves standing in background. This very same photo/setting of a Union camp, and the caption will read: Union officers in camp with servants standing in background. Go figure.

 

[HIGHSTRUNG]

Great post. I've only dug a handful of mini and round balls but feel like I hit the lottery when I dug them. Thanks for sharing!

 

[d2]

A great post! Of the bullets I find, fired and drops, my most favorite are the bullets that have the ramrod mark on it. Regardless of the side he fought on when you start leaving ramrod marks on your bullets you have been in the fray so long that you are loading a rifle that needed cleaning several shots ago and couldn't. Cramming that bullet home before one from the other side finds you makes them very special to me...d2

 

[Davers]

Many people in the north thought slaves were inferior people. To be pitied for slavery but not treated as complete equals. Even when they formed the all black companies they didn’t think they could fight so they were given meaningless work to do. This changed as the war progressed and they showed they were great soldiers. Especially at the crater in Petersburg. The worst position in the military was to be a white officer in a black company. If captured you were treated the same. Ie, shown no mercy.

Again I agree .
I love the scene in 'Glory' the movie where US soldiers put down the Black Soldiers that were walking into a Battle they were leaving but then later 1 or some of those same men showed the Black soldiers some true honor , with a salute I believe.

I need to watch that again ,hopefully with my 11 year old.