In this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews British historian Matthew Moss and the story of Major Patrick Ferguson and the first breech-loading rifle adopted by the British Army, one of the most intriguing inventions of the American Revolution. As your host says, “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the interview. . . .” New episodes of […]
In a previous article I said that there are “times when a gun would have come in real handy” but there were no guns to be found.[1] Well the flip side to that coin is when guns aren’t so useful—at least not to you—and those incidents generally involve guns that are being aimed at you. […]
Remember when I wrote that nobody ever said life on the Pennsylvania frontier was easy?[1] Well, as it turns out, it was a lot more difficult than even I previously thought. Between battling it out with Connecticut Yankees and Indians, dealing with localized violence, and having to put up with a relatively untrained and undisciplined […]
“…good weapons not wisely laid aside” Wartime brings urgency to the quest for better weapons systems. That is as true today as it was during the American Revolution. However, the search for effective weapons does not always require seeking out the new or untried inventions. The needs may sometimes be met using old technology. Indisputably, […]
I first heard the term “musket-shot” many years ago in a video about the Battle of Valcour Island. Having participated in Revolutionary War living history for years, I knew well the modern talk of the inaccuracies and poor range of the musket so I assumed the term meant something like 50 to 100 yards. The […]
Myth: British soldiers were taught not to aim, but merely to point the piece towards the target[1] …the British soldier was a poor marksman. Actually, he did not “aim” his musket but merely “pointed” it at the enemy. The British manual of arms did not even include the command “Aim!”[2] Its inaccuracy was reflected in […]
A musket is not an accurate weapon. That’s a well known fact. But, why is it inaccurate and what can we learn from its shortcoming we can apply to studies of the Revolutionary War battlefield. There are innumerable variables concerning the musket. To keep this analysis simple most of the variables will be ignored (things […]
When one thinks of a telescopic sight on a rifle one does not think of the Revolutionary War. However strange, there was one documented rifle with a telescopic sight. It was conceived and test fired by a very improbable rifleman: Charles Willson Peale. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was the most prominent American portrait painter of […]
