Enfield Pot Hook Bayonet from Cold Harbor / SOLD

Excavated Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket bayonet fashioned into a pot hook. Its use in a fire is evident from the exceptional condition of the iron, which tempered the steel and prevented it from rusting underground. The bayonet was excavated at Cold Harbor. The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought near Mechanicsville, Virginia, from May 31 to June 12, 1864, with the most significant fighting occurring on June 3. It was one of the final battles of Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign and is remembered as one of American history's most lopsided battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified positions of Robert E. Lee's army. Grant said of the battle in his Personal Memoirs, "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. ... No advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained."

Inventory Number: BAY 201 / SOLD