Editing Bayonet (section)

==Bayonet charge==
{{redirect|Bayonet charge|the Ted Hughes poem|Bayonet Charge (poem)}}
The development of the bayonet from the 17th century onwards led to the bayonet [[charge (warfare)|charge]] becoming the main infantry tactic throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. The British Army under Wolesley, the later Duke of Wellington, evolved its tactics to adopt the "Volley and Bayonet Charge" from the earlier "Highland Charge" tactic of Highland regiments under his command. These proto "fire and maneuver" tactics were first introduced to the British Army by the 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch) at Fontenoy in 1745 although, they had been used by their antecedents, (The Independent Highland Watch Companies) prior to that. As early as the 19th century, military scholars were already noting that most bayonet charges did not result in [[close combat]]. Instead, one side usually fled before actual bayonet fighting ensued. The act of fixing bayonets has been held to be primarily connected to morale, the making of a clear signal to friend and foe of a willingness to kill at close quarters.<ref name="firingline"/>

The bayonet charge was above all a tool of shock. While charges were reasonably common in 18th and 19th century warfare, actual combat between formations with their bayonets was so rare as to be effectively nonexistent. Usually, a charge would only happen after a long exchange of gunfire, and one side would break and run before contact was actually made. Sir Charles Oman, nearing the end of his history of the [[Peninsular War]] (1807–1814) in which he had closely studied hundreds of battles and combats, only discovered a single example of, in his words, "one of the rarest things in the Peninsular War, a real hand-to-hand fight with the white weapon." Infantry melees were much more common in close country – towns, villages, earthworks and other terrain which reduced visibility to such ranges that hand-to-hand fighting was unavoidable. These melees, however, were not bayonet charges per se, as they were not executed or defended against by regular bodies of orderly infantry; rather, they were a chaotic series of individual combats where musket butts and fists were used alongside bayonets, swords, and polearms.<ref>Rory Muir, "Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon," pp. 86–88.</ref>

===Napoleonic wars===
[[File:Großbeeren 1813.jpg|thumb|A bayonet charge during the [[Battle of Großbeeren]] (1813)]]

The bayonet charge was a common tactic used during the [[Napoleonic wars]]. Despite its effectiveness, a bayonet charge did not necessarily cause substantial casualties through the use of the weapon itself. Detailed battle casualty lists from the 18th century showed that in many battles, less than 2% of all wounds treated were caused by bayonets.<ref>Lynn, John A. Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610–1715. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print.</ref> [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]], a celebrated military author who served in numerous armies during the [[Napoleon]]ic period, stated that the majority of bayonet charges in the open resulted with one side fleeing before any contact was made. Combat with bayonets did occur, but mostly on a small scale when units of opposing sides encountered each other in a confined environment, such as during the storming of fortifications or during ambush skirmishes in broken terrain.<ref>Jomini, Antoine Henri. The Art of War. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1971. Print.</ref> In an age of fire by [[Volley fire|massed volley]], when compared to random unseen bullets, the threat of the bayonet was much more tangible and immediate – guaranteed to lead to a personal gruesome conclusion if both sides persisted. All this encouraged men to flee before the lines met. Thus, the bayonet was an immensely useful weapon for capturing ground from the enemy, despite seldom actually being used to inflict wounds.

===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.

===Going over the top===
[[File:Cpe french bayonet 01.jpg|thumb|French infantry bayonet charge, carrying [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle|1886 Lebel rifles]], in 1913]]

The popular image of World War I combat is of a wave of soldiers with bayonets fixed, "going over the top" and charging across [[no man's land]] into a hail of enemy fire. Although this was the standard method of fighting early in the war, it was rarely successful. British casualties on the first day of the [[Battle of the Somme]] were the worst in the history of the British army, with {{nowrap|57,470 British}} casualties, {{nowrap|19,240 of}} whom were killed.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|p=483}}{{sfn|Prior|Wilson|2005|p=119}}

During World War I, no man's land was often hundreds of yards across.<ref name="Hamilton">{{citation |first=John|last=Hamilton|title=Trench Fighting of World War I|publisher=ABDO|year=2003|page=8|isbn=978-1-57765-916-7}}</ref> The area was usually devastated by the warfare and riddled with craters from artillery and mortar shells, and sometimes contaminated by [[chemical weapon]]s. Heavily defended by [[machine gun]]s, [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, [[artillery]], and [[riflemen]] on both sides, it was often covered with [[barbed wire]] and [[land mine]]s, and littered with the rotting corpses of those who were not able to make it across the sea of projectiles, explosions, and flames. A bayonet charge through no man's land often resulted in the total annihilation of entire battalions.

[[File:No-man's-land-flanders-field.jpg|thumb|centre|upright=3|A stretch of no man's land in [[Flanders Fields]], [[France]], 1919]]

===Banzai charges===
The advent of modern warfare in the 20th century made bayonet charges dubious affairs. During the [[Siege of Port Arthur]] (1904–1905), the Japanese used human wave attacks against Russian artillery and machine guns,<ref name="Miller2014" /> suffering massive casualties.<ref name="Edgerton1997" /><ref name="O'ConnellBatchelor2002" />

[[File:Imperial Japanese Army Infantry 111th Regiment soldier and Indian National Army soldier.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army shout banzai]]

However, during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the Japanese were able to use bayonet charges effectively against poorly organized and lightly armed Chinese troops. [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] became an accepted military tactic where Japanese forces were able to [[rout]] larger Chinese forces routinely.<ref name=routledgegenocide/>

In the early stages of the [[Pacific War]] (1941–1945), a sudden bayonet charge could overwhelm unprepared enemy soldiers. Such charges became known to Allied forces as [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] from the Japanese battle cry. By the end of the war, against well organized and heavily armed Allied forces, a banzai charge inflicted little damage but at high cost. They were sometimes conducted as a last resort by small groups of surviving soldiers when the main battle was already lost.

Some Japanese commanders, such as General [[Tadamichi Kuribayashi]], recognized the futility and waste of such attacks and expressly forbade their men from carrying them out. Indeed, the Americans were surprised that the Japanese did not employ banzai charges at the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]].<ref name=iwojima/>

===Human wave attack===
The term "[[human wave attack]]" was often misused to describe the Chinese short attack<ref name=appleman363>{{harvnb|Appleman|p=363|1990}}.</ref>—a combination of [[infiltration tactics|infiltration]] and the [[shock tactics]] employed by the [[People's Liberation Army]] during the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953).<ref name=roe435>{{harvnb|Roe|2000|p=435}}.</ref> A typical Chinese short attack was carried out at night by sending a series of small five-man [[fireteam]]s to attack the weakest point of an enemy's defenses.<ref name=roe435/> The Chinese assault team would crawl undetected within grenade range, then launch surprise attacks with fixed bayonets against the defenders in order to breach the defenses by relying on maximum shock and confusion.<ref name=roe435/>

If the initial shock failed to breach the defenses, additional fireteams would press on behind them and attack the same point until a breach was created.<ref name=roe435/> Once penetration was achieved, the bulk of the Chinese forces would move into the enemy rear and attack from behind.<ref name=alexander331>{{harvnb|Alexander|1986|p=311}}.</ref> Due to primitive communication systems and tight political controls within the Chinese army, short attacks were often repeated until either the defenses were penetrated or the attackers were completely annihilated.<ref name=roe435/>

This persistent attack pattern left a strong impression on UN forces that fought in Korea, giving birth to the description of "human wave".<ref name=appleman353>{{harvnb|Appleman|1989|p=353}}.</ref> The term "human wave" was later used by journalists and military officials to convey the image of the American soldiers being assaulted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese on a broad front, which is inaccurate when compared with the normal Chinese practice of sending successive series of small teams against a weak point in the line.<ref name=appleman362>{{harvnb|Appleman|p=362|1990}}.</ref> It was in fact rare for the Chinese to actually use densely concentrated infantry formations to absorb enemy firepower.<ref name=marshall5>{{harvnb|Marshall|1988|p=5}}.</ref>

===Modern usage===
One use the Germans in World War II made of bayonets was to search for people in hiding. One person hiding in a house in the Netherlands wrote: "The Germans made lots of noise as they came upstairs, and they stabbed their bayonets into the wall. Then what we'd always feared actually happened:  A bayonet went through the thin wallpaper above the closet, exposing the three people who were hiding there. 'Raus!' cried the Germans. 'Out!'".<ref>Prins Marcel & Steenhuis, Peter Henk, "Hidden," Arthur A. Levine Books, New York,  2011, p. 35.</ref>

[[File:Aftermath of a Turkish bayonet charge.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of a bayonet charge at [[Korean War]].]]

During the Korean War, the [[French Battalion in the Korean War|French Battalion]] and [[Turkish Brigade]] used bayonet charges against enemy combatants.<ref name="grey1988"/> In 1951, United States Army officer [[Lewis L. Millett]] led soldiers of the [[27th Infantry Regiment (United States)|US Army's 27th Infantry Regiment]] in capturing a machine gun position with bayonets. Historian [[S. L. A. Marshall]] described the attack as "the most complete bayonet charge by American troops since [[Battle of Cold Harbor|Cold Harbor]]". The location subsequently became known as Bayonet Hill.<ref name="bgobit" /> This was the last bayonet charge by the US Army. Millett was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref name="pe20091114" /><ref name="wpobit" />

On 23 October 1962, during the [[Sino-Indian War]], 20 Indian soldiers led by [[Joginder Singh (soldier)|Joginder Singh]] fixed bayonets and charged a force of 200 Chinese soldiers. While the charge would prove futile for Singh and his men, it initially threw the Chinese off guard and forced a retreat despite outnumbering them 10 to 1.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

On 8 May 1970, National Guardsmen [[University of New Mexico bayoneting incident|attacked student demonstrators with bayonets]] at the [[University of New Mexico]] in Albuquerque. The demonstrators were protesting the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, and [[Kent State Killings|the killing]] of four students at Kent State University. Eleven were injured, some seriously.<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-05-16/bayoneting-victims-recall-50th-anniversary-of-unm-bloodshed Bayoneting Victims Recall 50th Anniversary of UNM Bloodshed] USNews. Associated Press. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2023</ref>
 
In 1982, the British Army mounted bayonet charges during the [[Falklands War]], notably the [[3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] during the [[Battle of Mount Longdon]] and the [[Scots Guards|2nd Battalion, Scots Guards]] during the final assault of [[Battle of Mount Tumbledown|Mount Tumbledown]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clack |first1=Tim |last2=Pollard |first2=Tony |date=2024-01-02 |title=The archaeological survey of remains from the 1982 Falklands war |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15740773.2024.2321397 |journal=Journal of Conflict Archaeology |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=65–101 |doi=10.1080/15740773.2024.2321397 |issn=1574-0773}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-12 |title=The Falklands {{!}} Remembrance {{!}} Royal British Legion |url=https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/stories/the-falklands-it-s-important-that-those-who-gave-their-lives-are-remembered |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203042000/https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/stories/the-falklands-it-s-important-that-those-who-gave-their-lives-are-remembered |archive-date=2023-12-03 |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=The Royal British Legion |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9BkEAAAQBAJ&q=bayonette&pg=PP1 |title=The Falklands War: Then and Now |date=2009-03-30 |publisher=After the Battle |isbn=978-1-3990-7632-6 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1995, during the [[Siege of Sarajevo]], UN peacekeepers of the French [[3rd Marine Infantry Regiment]] charged Serbian forces at the [[Battle of Vrbanja bridge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.granules-pellets.latretoire.org/video/PAPox1A3F6U/French-peacekeepers-assault-on-the-Vrbanja-bridge-Bosnian-war.html|title=- granulés & pellets|access-date=24 August 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043940/http://www.granules-pellets.latretoire.org/video/PAPox1A3F6U/French-peacekeepers-assault-on-the-Vrbanja-bridge-Bosnian-war.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Actions led by the regiment allowed the [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN peacekeepers]] to retreat from a threatened position. Two fatalities and seventeen wounded resulted.

During the [[Iraq War|Second Gulf War]] and the war in [[Afghanistan]], British Army units mounted several bayonet charges.<ref name = "Telegraph 2004 06 13"/> In 2004, at the [[Battle of Danny Boy]] in Iraq, the [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] charged mortar positions of the [[Mahdi Army]]. The ensuing hand-to-hand fighting resulted in an estimate of over 40 insurgents killed and 35 bodies collected and nine prisoners. Sergeant Brian Wood, of the [[Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment]], was awarded the [[Military Cross]] for his part in the battle.<ref name="bbcwyatt"/>

In 2009, Lieutenant James Adamson of the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]] was awarded the Military Cross for a bayonet charge while in Afghanistan. Adamson had run out of ammunition so he immediately charged a Taliban fighter with his bayonet.<ref name="bbcbayonet"/> Lance Corporal Sean Jones of The Princess of Wales's Regiment was awarded the Military Cross for his role in a 2011 bayonet charge.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-19755107 | work=BBC News | title=Shropshire soldier Lance Cpl Jones awarded Military Cross|date=28 September 2012|access-date=2012-09-28}}</ref><ref name="jstorbayonet"/>