IMO, there were actually very few melees involving hand to hand combat in the ACW. For that matter, even in the earlier periods of the Napoleonic and the Early American Wars, when the use of the bayonet was emphazied, there were not that many actual melee combats. Usually one side charged and the one side took off in the opposite direction. So the inflicting of large numbers of casualties in a melee is probably not very historical. However if a unit is surrounded and meleed I guess it could be viewed more as surrender. [:D]
Lt. Gen. Ed Blackburn
II/VI/AoS
"Forward Bucktails"