150 years ago today: June 7, 1863

[RobDownSouth]

Today marks the sesquicentennial (that means 150-year anniversary, busybody) of the greatest bayonet charge in United States military history, and also a fundamental change in military doctrine.

In 1863, "colored troops", as they were then called, were deemed unfit for combat. As such, they were used primarily for garrison duty.

A colored troop regiment was used to protect a large Union supply depot and hospital at Milliken's Bend, Mississippi, during the siege of Vicksburg.

The Confederate Army sent the 2500-man Texas Greyhounds brigade to capture the supply depot, guarded by 500 Corps d'Afrique Louisiana colored troops and about 100 medical and supply personnel.

Fighting began at 3 a.m. and the well-entrenched colored troops withstood charge after charge until their ammo was exhausted. The Confederates then crushed the left flank, leaving the colored troops exposed to dearly enfillade fire (the confederates could fire unhindered down the now-exposed length of the trenches).

Faced with certain annihilation, the colored troops fixed bayonets and charged in a massive wave, resulting in one of the biggest hand-to-hand combat battles of the modern era. They held their position until two Union gunboats arrived, and the boats then proceeded to shred the exposed Texans with grapeshot cannon fire, forcing their retreat.

The formal account of the battle sent to Washington noted the courage of colored troops under fire, and military doctrine was subsequently changed to permit the use of colored troops in combat.

 

[ChinaBandit]

Why is this the greatest?

It is much smaller than that which took place at Cold Harbor and a few other Civil War battles.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

And it's a couple of kids roasting marshmallows on pointed sticks over an open fire compared to places like Verdun and the Somme, which happened years later . . . thereby disproving the "fundamental change in military doctrine."


Fucking moron.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Recall the movie GLORY, which celebrated the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiments capture of the fort at Wilmington NC? In 1864 Lincoln sent these black guys to capture Tallahassee.

As luck would have it the road to Tallahassee passed thru a swamp, across a raised road (causeway), with a large lake on one side, and the swamp on the other. The emgineer who placed the Confederate artillery was Lieutenant Miller B. Grant, a relative of mine. His brother, Lieutenant James B. Grant, was my ancestor.

Anyway, Miller sighted the guns on the causeway, and when the black troops were almost across the rebel gunners went to work. They fled back to Jacksonville.

Lincoln tried it one more time, in 1865, with the same results. The blacks tried a different route, but it, too, passed over a limestone causeway, and rebel gunners were waiting for them.

 

[rosco rathbone]

It's interesting that a generation after the Haitian Revolution it still hadn't sunk in, in the US, that "colored" troops could defeat whites. Even more odd since the ruling elites of the South were quite aware of the possibility, post Haiti, of slave uprisings.

 

[Busybody]

you know what Mr SOUTH?


I outa take my cane and beat you senseless


You are one of THE BEST, one of the WITTIEST, one of the (potentially) most interesting posters on LIT.............(after Anquan Jihad, of course), yet you try to resort to CRAP!

 

[Squibbs]

Today marks the sesquicentennial (that means 150-year anniversary, busybody) of the greatest bayonet charge in United States military history, and also a fundamental change in military doctrine.

In 1863, "colored troops", as they were then called, were deemed unfit for combat. As such, they were used primarily for garrison duty.

A colored troop regiment was used to protect a large Union supply depot and hospital at Milliken's Bend, Mississippi, during the siege of Vicksburg.

The Confederate Army sent the 2500-man Texas Greyhounds brigade to capture the supply depot, guarded by 500 Corps d'Afrique Louisiana colored troops and about 100 medical and supply personnel.

Fighting began at 3 a.m. and the well-entrenched colored troops withstood charge after charge until their ammo was exhausted. The Confederates then crushed the left flank, leaving the colored troops exposed to dearly enfillade fire (the confederates could fire unhindered down the now-exposed length of the trenches).

Faced with certain annihilation, the colored troops fixed bayonets and charged in a massive wave, resulting in one of the biggest hand-to-hand combat battles of the modern era. They held their position until two Union gunboats arrived, and the boats then proceeded to shred the exposed Texans with grapeshot cannon fire, forcing their retreat.

The formal account of the battle sent to Washington noted the courage of colored troops under fire, and military doctrine was subsequently changed to permit the use of colored troops in combat.

Interesting...

 

[RobDownSouth]

Why is this the greatest?

It is much smaller than that which took place at Cold Harbor and a few other Civil War battles.

I said "greatest bayonet charge" not "greatest battle", you stupid son of a bitch. 你不懂英语，傻瓜吗？

 

[ChinaBandit]

I said "greatest bayonet charge" not "greatest battle", you stupid son of a bitch. 你不懂英语，傻瓜吗？

I did not write greatest battle.

I said it was much smaller "than that which took place at Cold Harbor and a few other civil war battles", meaning a much smaller bayonet charge than that at Cold Harbor AND other battles. It could not be any clearer.

I guess this problem you have with reading comprehension is the reason you dropped out of High School? Pity, as if your social challenges and low self esteem were not enough.

I suggest that it wasn't the "greatest bayonet charge" either. Obviously,others are equally impressed with your command of military history.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

No one charges with a bayonet unless theyre outta ammo. Otherwise its lunacy and wastes precious time and strength.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Other accounts of the action spin the facts a little different.

Walkers Greyhounds attacked the Millikens Bend Supply Depot on 7 June 1863. The Greyhounds pushed the blacks off the levee and back to the river, where hand to hand combat commenced. Two union gunboats then fired on the rebels, forcing them to retreat.

I cant imagine a bayonet assault once the gunboats opened up on the rebels. I cant imagine a bayonet assault at all against rebel combat veterans who just flanked your high ground position, forcing you to flee. I can imagine a few desperate soldiers resisting capture with their bayonets, as rebel captivity was almost certain death, especially for blacks.

Note that as many soldiers died in the last year of the war as died during the whole 3 years that came before. It was carnage on a grand scale. And Vicksburg/Gettysburg were the opening band for the ball.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

 

[Byron In Exile]

Lolol!

 

[torchthebitch]

It's interesting that a generation after the Haitian Revolution it still hadn't sunk in, in the US, that "colored" troops could defeat whites. Even more odd since the ruling elites of the South were quite aware of the possibility, post Haiti, of slave uprisings.

Kipling's poem Fuzzy-Wuzzy praises the Beja for their martial prowess, because "for all the odds agin' you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square." This refers to the Battle of Tamai, fought in the Red Sea Hills on 13 March, 1884, when the Beja broke a British Infantry square, due to an impromptu charge by the Black Watch which left a gap in the line. Kipling's narrator, an infantry soldier, speaks in admiring terms of the "Fuzzy-Wuzzies", praising their bravery which, although insufficient to defeat the British, did at least enable them to boast of having "broken the square"—an achievement which few other British foes could claim. The poem takes a satirical look at the British soldiers of the time who perceived themselves as invincible.

Wiki.

Credit where credit is due. The "coloured troops" at least had equivalent weaponry.

“Fuzzy-Wuzzy”

Rudyard Kipling



We’ve fought with many men acrost the seas,
An’ some of ’em was brave an’ some was not,
The Paythan an’ the Zulu an’ Burmese;
But the Fuzzy was the finest o’ the lot.
We never got a ha’porth’s change of ’im:
’E squatted in the scrub an’ ’ocked our ’orses,
’E cut our sentries up at Suakim,
An’ ’e played the cat an’ banjo with our forces.
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
We gives you your certificate, an’ if you want it signed
We’ll come an’ ’ave a romp with you whenever you’re inclined.

We took our chanst among the Kyber ’ills,
The Boers knocked us silly at a mile,
The Burman give us Irriwaddy chills,
An’ a Zulu impi dished us up in style:
But all we ever got from such as they
Was pop to what the Fuzzy made us swaller;
We ’eld our bloomin’ own, the papers say,
But man for man the Fuzzy knocked us ’oller.
Then ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ the missis and the kid;
Our orders was to break you, an’ of course we went an’ did.
We sloshed you with Martinis, an’ it wasn’t ’ardly fair;
But for all the odds agin’ you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square.

’E ’asn’t got no papers of ’is own,
’E ’asn’t got no medals nor rewards,
So we must certify the skill ’e’s shown
In usin’ of ’is long two-’anded swords:
When ’e’s ’oppin’ in an’ out among the bush
With ’is coffin-’eaded shield an’ shovel-spear,
An ’appy day with Fuzzy on the rush
Will last an ’ealthy Tommy for a year.
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ your friends which are no more,
If we ’adn’t lost some messmates we would ’elp you to deplore;
But give an’ take’s the gospel, an’ we’ll call the bargain fair,
For if you ’ave lost more than us, you crumpled up the square!

’E rushes at the smoke when we let drive,
An’, before we know, ’e’s ’ackin’ at our ’ead;
’E’s all ’ot sand an’ ginger when alive,
An’ ’e’s generally shammin’ when ’e’s dead.
’E’s a daisy, ’e’s a ducky, ’e’s a lamb!
’E’s a injia-rubber idiot on the spree,
’E’s the on’y thing that doesn’t give a damn
For a Regiment o’ British Infantree!
So ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ’ome in the Soudan;
You’re a pore benighted ’eathen but a first-class fightin’ man;
An’ ’ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your ’ayrick ’ead of ’air—
You big black boundin’ beggar—for you broke a British square!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It's interesting that a generation after the Haitian Revolution it still hadn't sunk in, in the US, that "colored" troops could defeat whites. Even more odd since the ruling elites of the South were quite aware of the possibility, post Haiti, of slave uprisings.

No real Southerner frets much about black aggression; since the dawn of time blacks add bravado and chaos to every military action they've been involved in. They excel at shooting unarmed prisoners. Corner a black and he'll drop to his knees quicker than ROB in a bath house.

 

[RobDownSouth]

I did not write greatest battle.

I said it was much smaller "than that which took place at Cold Harbor and a few other civil war battles", meaning a much smaller bayonet charge than that at Cold Harbor AND other battles. It could not be any clearer.

I guess this problem you have with reading comprehension is the reason you dropped out of High School? Pity, as if your social challenges and low self esteem were not enough.

I suggest that it wasn't the "greatest bayonet charge" either. Obviously,others are equally impressed with your command of military history.

You Marines Without Honor can rationalize anything...It's really quite amusing. You tucked tail and ran like the coward you are from the NY Times Editorial thread yesterday and now you're trying to bluster your way out of this one.

Small wonder caucasian women unilaterally reject you. I'm glad you found a Chinese woman who could turn a blind eye to your lack of honor.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Oh look, another load of Movable Morals, just like Seen and the other homo-accusing homophobes.


Or is it really a phobia??? We doubt it, but that would require sentience on OP's part.


Better call in some gunboats, Fat-ass, because you're getting your ass wiped here.