The American Civil War taught Americans (unfortunately not the British and French, who would learn it in World War I) that the era of the “wise” bayonet was over. The tactical revolution ushered in by the adoption of the rifled musket with its cylindrical-ogival ball made for incredibly accurate shots that relentlessly mowed down men. Union statistics from the Civil War show that only 0.2% of deaths were caused by pointed weapons, and 2% of injuries were caused by brawls or self-mutilation. American generals took time to grasp the scope of the revolution, but European generals would have to relearn it at Verdun, on the Isonzo, and on the Somme.
