On the fiftieth anniversary of the War Between the States, retired U.S Army General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828 – 1914) wrote about his experiences at the Battle of Little Round Top for the editors at Hearst’s Magazine:
“Not a moment was to be lost! Five minutes more of such a defensive, and the last roll-call would sound for us! Desperate as the chances were, there was nothing for it, but to take the offensive. I stepped to the colors. The men turned towards me. One word was enough – ‘BAYONETTE!’ – It caught like fire and swept along the ranks. The men took it up with a shout – one could not say whether from the pit, or the song of the morning star! It were vain to order ‘Forward’. No mortal could have heard it in the mighty hosanna that was winging the sky.”
