Editing Bayonet (section)

===American Civil War===
[[File:Currier-Ives Third Petersburg.jpg|thumb|A bayonet charge during the [[Third Battle of Petersburg]], [[Virginia]] (1865) during the [[American Civil War]]]]
During the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) the bayonet was found to be responsible for less than 1% of battlefield casualties,<ref>O'Connell, Robert L., "Arme Blanche", ''Military History Quarterly'', Vol. 5, nº 1.</ref> a hallmark of [[modern warfare]]. The use of bayonet charges to force the enemy to retreat was very successful in numerous small unit engagements at short range in the American Civil War, as most troops would retreat when charged while reloading. Although such charges inflicted few casualties, they often decided short engagements, and tactical possession of important defensive ground features. Additionally, bayonet drill could be used to rally men temporarily unnerved by enemy fire.<ref>The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War</ref>
 
While the overall [[Battle of Gettysburg]] was won by the Union armies due to a combination of terrain and massed artillery fire, a decisive point on the second day of the battle hinged on a bayonet charge at [[Little Round Top]] when [[Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain]]'s [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]], running short of musket ammunition, charged downhill, surprising and capturing many of the surviving soldiers of the [[15th Alabama Infantry Regiment]] and other Confederate regiments. Other bayonet charges occurred at Gettysburg, such as that of the [[1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment]]. This was ordered in desperation by [[Winfield Scott Hancock|General Hancock]] earlier on July 2 in order to delay a Confederate brigade's advance long enough to bring up reinforcements for the holed Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Still another bayonet charge was conducted late in the evening on July 2 by the [[137th New York Infantry Regiment]] defending the extreme right flank of the Union line on Culp's Hill. The charge of several companies managed to temporarily stall the advance of the [[10th Virginia Infantry Regiment]] long enough for the [[14th Regiment (New York State Militia)|14th Brooklyn]] to move in on the 137th's right and repel the attack.