Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig T
Seriously! Plus, if you got even superficially stuck with that bayonet a day after someone else got stuck with it...You died, or at least lost a limb, 14 days later from an infection. Brutal time for a young soldier.
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I had a great, great grandfather from Vermont killed at the battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on June 3, 1864. He was part of the "army wide assault" that Grant ordered on the Confederate lines. He was 54 years old when he enlisted! I suspect that the $300 enlistment bonus was what got him to sign up! The Federal army lost about 8,000 killed and wounded in 30 minutes and gained nothing! Later, it was the one charge that Grant said he wished he had never ordered.