bayonet charges
Fixed-knife infantry attacks
Bayonet charges are infantry assaults where soldiers rush enemy positions with bayonets fixed to their rifles, intending to engage in close combat.
The tactic dominated warfare through World War I but became largely obsolete with modern automatic weapons.
The phrase now often appears in historical or metaphorical contexts: The general ordered one last bayonet charge, a bayonet charge against entrenched opposition.
- over the topExcessively theatrical or extreme
- go overExamine or traverse
- attackAggressive act against another
- cold steelEdged weapons collectively
- enemiesHostile opposing parties
offensive · shock tactics · human wave · advance · combat · thrust · musket · American Civil War · Napoleonic Wars · hand-to-hand combat · close quarters · soldiers · frontal assault · last stand · no man's land · melee · infantry · battlefield tactics
- Union ArmyUnion Army, federal troops, bluecoats, Army of the Potomac, regulars
bayonet chargesartillery bombardment
Sustained heavy weapons fire
rifle fire · sniper fire · mortar fire · shelling · bombardment
bayonet chargesdefensive positions
Places fortified against assault
trench warfare · fortification · entrenchment · fighting retreat · tactical retreat
bayonet chargesdrone warfare
Military strikes using pilotless aircraft
drone strikes · cyber warfare · mechanized warfare · surgical strikes · nuclear deterrence
bayonet, charge, bayonets, bayoneted, bayoneting, charges, charged, charging, charger