In defense of the myth, this did happen. Because of the way soldiers often carried them in coat puches near the front breast pocket, they could and did stop bullets. The myriad paper sheets took the force, spread it out, and prevented it from just punching through. The leather backing, meanwhile, caught the slowing bullet and fragments.
This happened often enough in World War I, though I can’t vouch for the Civil War. Eventually, so many stories of Bullet-stopping Bibles that merchants started selling metal-plated ones. This was a mistake, as the metal tended to fragment and turn an already-nasty hit into a shotgun shrapnel spray.
In addition (as is so often true in war stories) only the guys who had a bullet stopped by a Bible lived to tell the tale. Those who got zapped right through their copy never complained about it. Being dead and all.
(Kind of odd that Wiki says no one knows what the rebel yell sounded like, since you can hear them from members of the audience at almost any rock performance in these parts. As far as I can tell, we’ve never stopped making that noise since the War.)
Oh, and as to the books stopping bullets thing, I’ve no doubt it happened. In fact, I’m sure Bibles were strategically placed for that purpose. It’s just kinda funny that it always seems to come up in movies.
Incidentally, my own great-grandfather apparently told the tale of a buddy whose belt deflected a bullet during the War. He and his buddy were firing from inside a cabin, when his buddy took a hit and fell. Apparently breathing his last, the buddy weakly and pitiably delivered his final words (for my GGF to pass along to his family)…but then he didn’t die. Just lay there on the floor while my GGF continued to fire. Finally my GGF went over to him to check his “wound,” saw what had happened, said “You’re not shot!” and angrily told his buddy to get up and fight.
(It must have been a ricochet or must have hit the guy at an oblique angle. Otherwise, I can’t imagine a belt stopping a bullet of that era.)
Reading this thread reminds me that if it weren’t for Wikipedia, my knowledge of the American Civil War would be somewhat limited to what is recounted above :o
Every battle took place in a lightly wooded glade. After the battle, the trees are all still standing and the terrain is just as idyllic as it was before the fight.
Ken Burns also quoted some elderly Confederate vet, asked years after the war to do a rebel yell after a banquet, said it was impossible to do it justice as just a single person, after a good meal and with proper clothes on your back.
When I was a Civil War reenactor, one of the most viscerally thrilling moments I ever had was when we’d “repulsed” a Confederate attack and on impulse I shouted out, “Where you from, boys?” All of my pards, shoulder to shoulder around me, shouted as loud as they could, “Ohio! Ohio! Ohio!” Literally brought a tear to my eye. God, that was fun.
I’m reading this list and thinking of how many items were not taken from Gone With The Wind. However, the book did have that wonderful Klan defending all Southern white women.
It warms my heart greatly that in the glorious aftermath of this unbearable calamity that nearly divided our great nation, you have found the strength within you to take to pen, that which has been burdening our conscous for quite some time. I pray that God will allow me to contribute to your endeavor in such a manner as to bring you joy during this turbulant times.
I have learned, sir, that all negro soldiers are proud and articulate. In fact, they have demonstrated themselves to be flawless as soldiers and as men, superior to their white counterparts in every way.
The war was quite literally brother against brother. And those brothers were surely garanteed to face off against each other on the field of battle with tragic resluts.
If it pleases you, please send word that the Regiment is in urgent need of vital supplies. Most urgent, the fife and drum bands that must accompany every unit into battle.
The flag bearer is the most honored and sought after position. Any man would gladly trade in his rifle in order to bear our colors proudly into a hail of gunfire, most likely aimed at those colors.
I will be unable to attend the seige of Vicksberg this weekend as there is a formal gala being held that weekend that requires my attention
Tragic resluts? Do you mean some of those flowers of Southern womanhood forced into harlotry again by the necessities of survival in the face of Northern destruction?
The battles of Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, Stone’s River, Chattanooga, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, and Franklin never happened, apparently. Battles could not occur without Lee, who, as Captain Amazing noted, was the South’s only general.
Only the South had POW camps with atrocious conditions. We may assume that in Northern prisons, captured Confederates slept on feather beds and dined on veal.
Confederate soldiers and officers maintained a polite silence on the subjects of slavery and race relations.
No racial slurs ever passed Confederate lips. Only Yankees used such course language, which was usually directed at their own “colored troops.”
Slavery was never mentioned during the process of secession. The only concerns of the men in charge were honor and self-determination.
It never rained during the Civil War, and it was always summer.
