How did American forces reload in battle?

[Loyalist Dave]

The bayonet became a last-ditch effort. My dad was in the Korean War. He told me that when he heard the order, "Fix Bayonets" he knew they were going to be in a world of trouble. When/if you ran out of ammo it was always better than nothing.

Right. Today it's a secondary weapon. In the beginning of the AWI, and in previous centuries, the musket was NOT a gun with a knife attached when the bayonet was mounted. It was a spear that could shoot. A very different mind-set. The first couple of years of the AWI the British in open terrain would fix bayonets and charge. No preliminary volley needed.

When Continentals took the redoubts at Yorktown, they were ordered to remove the flints from their muskets, as it was a night, bayonet only attack, and any misfire or panic fire would've given the attack away.

LD