"Colonel, now General, Tarleton, and myself, were standing a few yards out of a wood, observing the situation of a part of the enemy which we intended to attack. There was a rivulet in the enemy's front, and a mill on it, to which we stood directly with horses' heads fronting, observing their motions. It was absolutely a plain field between us and the mill; not so much as a single bush on it. Our orderly-bugler stood behind us about three yards, but with his horse's side to our horses' tails. A rifleman passed over the milldam, evidently observing two officers, and laid himself down on his belly, for in such positions they always lie, to take a good shot at a long distance. He took a deliberate and cool shot at my friend, at me; and at the bugle-horn man. Now observe how well this fellow shot. It was in the month of August, and not a breath of wind was stirring. Colonel Tarleton's horse and mine, I am certain, were not anything like two feet apart; for we were in close consultation, how we should attack with our troops which laid 300 yards in the wood, and could not be perceived by the enemy. A rifle-ball passed between him and me; looking directly to the mill I evidently observed the flash of the powder. I directly said to my friend, 'I think we had better move, or we shall have-two or three of these gentlemen shortly amusing themselves at our expense. The words were hardly out of my mouth when the bugle-horn man behind me, and directly central, jumped off his horse and said, 'Sir, my horse is shot.' The horse staggered, fell down, and died . . . Now speaking of this rifleman's shooting, nothing could be better . . . I have passed several times over this ground and ever observed it with the greatest attention; and I can positively assert that the distance he fired from at us was full 400 yards."
Colonel George Hanger, To All Sportsmen and Particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers, 1814.
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"They are remarkable at Philadelphia for making rifled Barrell Gunns, [sic] which throw a Ball above 300 yards, vastly well, & much better than any other Barrells. People here in general Shoot very well with Ball, but don't doe [sic] much with Shot."
Sir William Johnson Papers, 1761.
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"A large part of the provincials are armed with grooved rifles, and have their molds. Lead in bars will suit them better than bullets likewise the Indians, but they also need fine powder FF."
Colonel Henry Bouquet. Carlisle. Pennsylvania, 1758.
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"On Friday evening last arrived here, on their way to the American Camp, Captain (Michael) Cresap's Company of Riflemen, consisting of 130 active, brave young fellows; many of whom had been in the late expedition under Lord Dunmore, against the Indians. They bear in their bodies visible marks of their prowess, and show scars and wounds, which would do honour to Homer's Iliad, etc. They shew[sic] you, to use the poet's words--'Where the goar'd bull bled at every vein.'
"One of these warriors, in-particular, shows the cicatrices (scar tissue) of four bullet holes through his body. These men have been bred in the woods to hardships and danger from their infancy. They appear as if they were entirely unacquainted with, and had never felt, the passion of fear. With their rifles in their hands they assume a kind of omnipotence over their enemies. You will not much wonder at this when I mention a fact, which can be fully attested by several of the reputable inhabitants of this place, who were eyewitnesses of it. Two brothers in the company took a piece of board, five inches broad, and seven inches long, with a bit of white paper, about the size of a dollar, nailed in the center, and while one them supported this board perpendicularly between his knees, the other at the distance of upwards of sixty yards, and without any kind of rest, shot eight bullets successively through the board, and spared a brother's thighs!
'Another of the company held a barrel stave perpendicularly in his hand, with one edge close to his side, while one of his comrades at the same distance, and in the manner before mentioned, shot several bullets through it, without any apprehensions of danger on either side. The spectators, appearing to be amazed at these feats, were told that there were upwards of fifty persons in the company who could do the same thing; that there was not one who could not plug 19 bullets out of 20 (as they termed it) within an inch of the head of a ten-penny nail; in short, to evince the confidence they possessed in their dexterity at these kinds of arms, some of them proposed to stand with apples on their heads, while others at the same distance undertook to shoot them off; but the people who saw the other experiments, declined to be witnesses of this. At night a great fire was kindled round a pole planted in the courthouse square, where the company with the Captain at their head, all naked to the waist and painted like savages (except the Captain, who was in an Indian shirt), indulged a vast concourse of the inhabitants with a perfect exhibition of a war dance, and all the manoeuvres [sic1 of Indians holding council, going to war, circumventing their enemies, by defiles, ambuscades, attacking, scalping, etc. It is said by those who are judges, that no representation could possibly come nearer the original. The Captain's agility and expertness, in particular, in these exhibitions, astonished every beholder.
'This morning they will set out on their march to Cambridge."
Pennsylvania Packet, August, 1775 Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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"Yesterday the company was supplied with a small quantity of powder from the magazine, which wanted airing, and was not in good order for rifles; in the evening, however, they were drawn out to show the gentlemen of the Town their dexterity at shooting. A clapboard, with a mark the size of a dollar, was put up; they began to fire offhand, and the bystanders were surprised, few shots being made that were not close to or in the paper. When they had shot for a time in this way, some lay on their back, some on their breast or side, others ran twenty or thirty steps, and firing appeared to be equally certain of the mark. With this performance the company was more than satisfied, when a young man took up the board in his hand, not by the end, but by the side, and holding it as it was held before, the second brother shot as the former had done. By this exercise I was more astonished than pleased. But will you believe me when I tell you, that one of the men took the board, and placing it between his legs, stood with his back to the tree while another drove the center. What would a regular army of considerable strength in the forests of America do with one thousand of these men, who want nothing to preserve their health and courage but water from the spring, with a little parched corn, with what they can easily procure in hunting; and who, wrapped in their blankets, in the damp of night, would choose the shade of a tree for their covering, and the earth for their bed?"
Extract of a Letter to a Gentleman in Philadelphia. Describing a Shooting Match Held by Captain Michael Cresap's Company of Riflemen , 1775.
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"The inhabitants of Red Bank are only hunters, or what are called foresters. They cultivate no ground, but subsist on the produce of their hunting and fishing, and are almost naked. The following trait may serve to give an idea of their character. At our arrival we found a number of these hunters who had assembled to regale themselves on the banks of the river with the spoils of their chace [sic] on the preceding day, when they had killed a very fine buffalo. They had drunk plentifully of whiskey, and though the greater number were intoxicated, they were amusing themselves in firing with carabines [sic] against a piece of plank tied to a tree, which is called shooting at a mark. The board, probably ill-fastened, fell at each shot; one of the party at length losing patience, took it up, and placing it between his legs, called out to his companion, 'Now fire away!' which they did immediately, and always with the same address; whilst he who held the board exclaimed at each shot, 'It is in!' This amusement, which lasted two hours without any accident taking place, may appear incredible to those who are not acquainted with the singular skill of these men; but it is suffficient to observe that they will aim at the head of a squirrel or a turkey and very rarely miss. The seeming intrepidity of the man who held the board becomes, therefore, only an ordinary circumstance."
General Victor Callot, 1796.
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"Their guns are rifled barrels, and they fight in ambush, five hundred provincials would stop the march of five thousand regulars. And a whole army might be cut off, without knowing where the fire came from."
Gentleman's Magazine, 1775.
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"I have many times asked the American backwoodsman what was the most their best marksmen could do; they have constantly told me that an expert rifleman, provided he can draw good and true sight, can hit the head of a man at 200 yards. I am certain that provided an American rifleman was to get a perfect aim at 300 yards at me standing still, he most undoubtedly would hit me, unless it was a very windy day . . ."
Colonel George Hanger, To All Sportsmen and Particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers, 1814.
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".. . they apprehend a Rifleman grows naturally behind each Tree and Bush on the Continent."
Captain Thomas Pinckney, Commenting on the British Fear of Riflemen, 1775.
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At one time, Thomas Jefferson advised Lafayette to retreat to the west so that the British would be exposed "...to their most dangerous Enemies, the Riflemen."
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, 1781.
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Well into the war, the commander-in-chief still believed that a ". . . corps of riflemen will be for several purposes extremely useful."
George Washington, Letter to the Secretary of War, 1778.
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"Let us take a view of the benefits we have received, by what little we have learned of their art of war, which cost us dear, and the loss that we have sustained for want of it; and then see if it will not be well worth our while to retain what we have, and also to endeavor to improve in this necessary branch of business. Though we have made considerable proficiency in this line, and in some respects out-do them viz. as marksmen, and in cutting our rifles, and in keeping them in good order; yet, I apprehend we are far behind in their manoeuveres, or in being able to surprize [sic], or prevent a surprize [sic]. May we not conclude that the progress we had made in their art of war contributed considerably towards our success, in various respects, when contending with Great Britain for liberty?
"Had the British King, attempted to enslave us before Braddock's war, in all probability he might readily have done it, because, except the New Englanders, who had formerly been engaged in war with the Indians, we were unacquainted with any kind of war: but after fighting such a subtil [sic] and barbarous enemy as the Indians, we were not terrified at the approach of British red-coats. --Was not Burgoyne's defeat accomplished in some measure by the Indian mode of fighting? and did not Gen. Morgan's rifle-men, and many others, fight with greater success, in consequence of what they had learned of their art of war? Kentucky would not have been settled at the time it was, had the Virginians been altogether ignorant of this method of war."
Colonel James Smith, An Account of the Remarkable Occurances in the Life and Travels of Colonel James Smith, 1799.
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"The fire was now return'd, but the enemy had a great advantage from their rifles . . ."
Colonel Henry Hamilton, 1779, describing his defense of Fort Sackville in the Illinois Country.
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"I cannot sufficiently thank your Excellency for sending Col. Morgan's corps to this army; they shall be of the greatest service to it . . ."
General Horatio Gates, Letter to George Washington, 1777, during the Saratoga campaign.
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"They either did not or would not take the signal; and though there were but two of us, from whom they could not possibly expect a design to attack, they did not cease firing at us. I may venture to say, that not less than ten guns were discharged with their muzzles towards us, within the distance of forty or fifty yards, and I might be nearer the truth in saying, that some were let off within twenty. Luckily for us, it was not our riflemen to whom we were targets
Alexander Graydon, Commenting on the Ineffectiveness of British Muskets in Battle, 1776. ..
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"An unusual number of the killed were found to have been shot in the head. Riflemen took off riflemen with such exactness, that they killed each other when they were taking sight, so effectually that their eyes remained after they were dead, one shut and the other open, in the usual manner of marksmen when leveling at their subjects."
A Loyalist's Description of Riflemen at King's Mountain 1780.
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"Shooting at marks was a common diversion among the men, when their stock of ammunition would allow it; this, however, was far from being always the case. The present mode of shooting off hand was not then in practice. This mode was not considered as any trial of the value of a gun; nor, indeed, as much of a test of the skill of a marksmen. Their shooting was from a rest, and at as great a distance as the length and weight of the barrel of the gun would throw a ball on a horizontal level. Such was their regard to accuracy, in these supportive trials of their rifles, and of their own skill in the use of them, that they often put moss, or some other soft substance, on the log or stump from which they shot, for fear of having the bullet thrown from the mark by the spring of the barrel. When the rifle was held to the side of a tree for a rest, it was pressed against it as lightly as possible, for the same reason.
"Rifles of former times, were different from those of modern date; few of them carried more than forty-five bullets (.47 caliber) to the pound. Bullets of a less size were not thought sufficiently heavy for hunting or war."
Reverend Joseph Doddridge, Notes on the Settlements and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. 1763-1783.
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"In consequence of the orders of His Excellency Gen'l Washington, I now send Major Miller for arms and clothing for the First Pennsylvania Regiment commanded by Colonel Chambers; they never received any uniforms, except hunting shirts, which were worn out and although a body of fine men, yet from being in rags and badly armed, they are viewed with contempt by the other troops, and began to despise themselves. The conduct of the Pennsylvanians the other day, in forcing General Grant to retire with circumstances of shame and disgrace into the very lines of the enemy, has gained them the esteem and confidence of His Excellency, who wishes to have our rifles exchanged for good muskets and bayonets, as experience has taught us they are not fit for the field, and a few only will be retained in each regiment which will be placed in the hands of real marksmen."
General Anthony Wayne, Letter to the Board of War, 1777.
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Interestingly, while Wayne acknowledged the victory of the riflemen, he also believed their arms to be inferior. The following year he issued an order to ". . . 'make a return of the number of Rifles in each Brigade, in order to Exchange them for an equal number of Muskets and Bayonets'."
General Anthony Wayne, 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment's Orderly Book, 1778.
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" Several different kinds of articles are manufactured at Lancaster by German mechanics, individually, principally for the people of the town and the neighborhood. Rifled barrel guns however are to be excepted, which, although not as handsome as those imported from England, are more esteemed by the hunters, and are sent to every part of the country.
"The rifled barrel guns, commonly used in America, are nearly of the length of a musket, and carry leaden balls from the size of thirty to sixty in the pound (from .53 to .42 caliber). Some hunters prefer those of a small bore, because they require but little ammunition; others prefer such as have a wide bore, because the wound which they inflict is more certainly attended with death; the wound, however, made by a ball discharged from one of these guns, is always very dangerous. The inside of the barrel is fluted, and the grooves run in a spiral direction from one end of the barrel to the other, consequently when the ball comes out it has a whirling motion round its own axis, at the same time that it moves forward, and when it enters into the body of an animal, it tears up the flesh in a dreadful manner. The best of powder is chosen for the rifled barrel gun, and after a proper portion of it is put down the barrel, the ball is inclosed [sic] in a small bit of linen rag, well greased at the outside, and then forced down with a thick ramrod. The grease and the bits of rag, which are called patches, are carried in a little box at the but-end [sic] of the gun. The best rifles are furnished with two triggers, one of which being first pulled sets the other, that is, alters the spring so that it will yield even to the slight touch of a feather. They are also furnished with double sights along the barrel, as fine as those of a surveying instrument. An experienced marksman, with one of these guns, will hit an object not larger than a crown piece, to a certainty, at the distance of one hundred yards. Two men belonging to the Virginia rifle regiment, a large division of which was quartered in this down [sic] during the war, had such a dependence on each other's dexterity, that the one would hold a piece of board, not more than nine inches square, between his knees, whilst the other shot at it with a ball at the distance of one hundred paces. This they used to do alternately, for the amusement of the town's people, as often as they were called upon. Numbers of people in Lancaster can vouch for the truth of this fact. Were I, however, to tell you all the stories I have heard of the performance of riflemen, you would think the people were most abominably addicted to lying. A rifle gun will not carry shot, nor will it carry a ball much farther than one hundred yards with certainty."
Isaac Weld, Travels Through the States of North America, 1799.
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" Rifle Men that for their number make the most formidable light infantry in the world. The six frontier countries (of Virginia) can produce 6000 of these Men (with) their amazing hardihood, their method of living so long in the woods without carrying provisions with them, the exceeding quickness with which they can march to distant parts, and above all, the dexterity to which they have arrived in the use of the Rifle Gun. Their [sic] is not one of these Men who wish a distance less than 200 yards or a larger object than an Orange -- Every shot is fatal."
Richard Henry Lee, Personal Letter, 1775.
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" Sirs: I am favor'd with yours of the 16th. The Spears have come to hand, and are very handy and will be useful to the Rifle Men. But they would be more conveniently carried, if they had a sling fixed to them, they should also have a spike in the but end [sic] to fix them in the ground and they would then serve as a rest for the Rifle. The Iron plates which fix the spear head to the shaft, should be at least eighteen inches long to prevent the Shaft from being cut through, with a stroke of a Horseman's Sword. Those only intended for the Rifle Men, should be fixed with Slings and Spikes in the end, those for the Light Horse need neither. There will be 500 wanting for the Rifle Men, as quick as possible."
George Washington, Letter to the Board of War, 1777.
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"I have formed two companies of grenadiers to each regiment, and with spears of 13 feet long. Their rifle (for they are all riflemen) slung over their shoulders, their appearance is formidable, and the men are conciliated to the weapon. I am likewise furnishing myself with four-ounced rifle-amusettes, which will carry an infernal distance; the two-ounced hit a half-sheet of paper 500 yards distant."
Charles Lee, Letter to George Washington, 1776.
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Riflemen picked off Tories, too, at Saratoga: "This misfortune accelerated their estrangement from our course and army."
Sergeant Roger Lamb, British Soldier, 1777.
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"In the open field the rebels do not count for much, but in the woods, they are formidable."
A Brunswicker, 1777.
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As for the Indians at Saratoga: ". . . not a man of them was to be brought in within the sound of a rifle shot."
British Officer, Conduct of the Canada Campaign, 1777.
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"These [rebel riflemen] . . . hovered upon the flanks in small detachments, and were very expert in securing themselves, and in shifting the ground . . . many placed themselves in high trees in the rear of their own line, and there was seldom a minute's interval in any part of our line without officers being taken off by a single shot."
General John Burgoyne, State of the Expedition. 1777 [Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. October. 1777].
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" . . . their rifle-barrel guns with a ball slit almost in four quarters, when fired out of those guns breaks into four pieces, and generally does great execution."
Virginia Gazette, 1775.
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"The Americans load their rifle-barrel guns with a ball slit almost in four quarters, which, when fired out of those guns, breaks in four pieces and generally does great execution."
London Chronicle, 1775.
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"I cannot help mentioning one thing, which seems to show the hellish disposition of the accursed rebels: by parcels of ammunition which were left on the field, their balls were all found to be poisoned."
A Loyalist Merchant, Boston, 1775.
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"No man could stand at the helm in safety; if the men went aloft to band the sails, they were immediately singled out."
Action Off Hampton Roads. Virginia, 1775, where riflemen fired upon the enemy from the shore.
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" . . . the Riflemen had in one day killed 10 men of a reconnoitering party, and it is said they have killed three officers. A sentry was killed at 250 yards distance."
Pennsylvania Gazette, Reporting news from the siege of Boston in 1775.
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[The] ". . . shirt-tail men, with their cursed twisted guns, the most fatal widow-and-orphan-makers in the world. "
London Newspaper, 1775.
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"The express, who was sent by the Congress, is returned here from the Eastward, and says he left the Camp last Saturday; that the riflemen picked off ten men in one day, three of whom were Field-officers that were reconnoitering; one of them was killed at the distance of 250 yards, when only half his head was seen."
Pennsylvania Packet, 1775.
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A riflemen had killed from a distance of 400 yards to which was added "take care, ministerial troops."
Virginia Gazette, 1775.
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"Lord Dunmore, it is said, is much afraid of the riflemen, and has all his vessels caulked up on the sides, above men's height."
Edmund Pendleton, Letter to Richard Henry Lee, 1775.
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"The time for which the riflemen enlisted will expire July 1st, and as the loss of such a valuable and brave body of men will be of great injury to the service, I would submit to the consideration of Congress whether it would not be best to adopt some method to induce them to continue. They are indeed a very useful corps; but I need not mention this, as their importance is already well known to the Congress."
George Washington, Letter to the President of Congress, 1776.
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"It is a certain truth, that the enemy entertain a most fortunate apprehension of American riflemen. It is equally certain that nothing can contribute to diminish this apprehension so infallibly as a frequent ineffectual fire. It is with some concern, therefore, that I am informed that your men have been suffered to fire at a most preposterous distance. Upon this principle I must entreat and insist that you consider it as a standing order, that not a man under your command is to fire at a greater distance than an hundred and fifty yards, at the utmost; in short, that they never fire without almost a moral certainty of hitting their object."
General Charles Lee, Letter to Colonel William Thompson, 1775.
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"At the distance, perhaps, of one hundred and fifty yards, nothing but his head above water, a shooting-match took place, and believe me, the balls of Morgan, Simpson, Humphreys, and others, played around, and within a few inches of his head . . ."
John Joseph Henry, Campaign Against Quebec, 1812, indicating that these rifle officers also used long arms
Riflemen… "can hit a man if within 250 yards, and his head if within 150."
Virginia Gazette, 1775.
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"A gentleman from the American camp says - 'Last Wednesday, some riflemen, on Charlestown side, shot an officer of note in the ministerial service, supposed to be Major Small, or Bruce, and killed three men on board a ship at Charlestown ferry, at the distance of full half a mile," [800 yards!?! ]
Pennsylvania Gazette, 1775.
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"The provincials have not a rifleman among them, not one being yet arrived from the southward; nor have they any rifle guns; they have only common muskets, nor are these in general furnished with bayonets; but then, they are almost all marksmen, being accustomed to sporting of one kind or other from their youth."
Dr. William Gordon, Personal Letter, 1775.
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[It is] ". . an unfair method of carrying on a war."
William Carter, British Soldier, 1775, expressing the typical redcoat opinion of the use of rifles in warfare.
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[They] ". . . do execution with their rifle guns at an amazing distance."
Warren Adams, Personal Letter, 1775.
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"They are grown so terrible to the regulars that nothing is to be seen over the breastwork but a hat."
Dr. Joseph Reed, Personal Letter, 1775.
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"Maryland, December 20, 1775 . . . Rifles, infinitely better than those imported, are daily made in many places in Pennsylvania, and all the gunsmiths everywhere constantly employed. In this country, my lord, the boys, as soon as they can discharge a gun, frequently exercise themselves therewith, some a-fowling and others a-hunting. The great quantities of game, the many kinds and the great privileges of killing, making the Americans the best marksmen in the world, and thousands support their families principally by the same, particularly riflemen on the frontiers, whose objects are deer and turkeys. In marching through woods, one thousand of these riflemen would cut to pieces ten thousand of your best troops."
A Minister of the Church of England to the Earl of Dartmouth, 1775.
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"This province has raised 1,000 riflemen, the worse of whom will put a ball into a man's head at the distance of 150 to 200 yards; therefore, advise your officers who shall hereafter come out to America to settle their affairs before their departure."
London Chronicle, 1775.
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"In this situation Your Excellency would not wish me to part with the corps the army of General Burgoyne are most afraid of."
General Horatio Gates, Letter to George Washington in Reference to Morgan's Riflemen, 1777.
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"'. . . rifles peculiarly adapted to take off the officers of a whole line as it marches to an attack,' and that each rifleman was attended by two men to load for him, 'and this is the real cause of so many of our brave officers falling, they being singled out by these murderers, as they must appear to be in the eyes of every thinking man."'
London Chronicle, 1775.
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"A party of these men at a late review on a quick advance, placed their balls in poles of 7 inches diameter, fixed for that purpose, at the distance of 250 yards."
London Chronicle, 1775.
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"Sir, you command the finest regiment in the world."
General John Burgoyne, Words Reputedly Spoken to Colonel Daniel Morgan, 1777.
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"August . . . Several companies of riflemen, amounting, it is said to more than 1400 men, have arrived here from Philadelphia and Maryland, a distance of from 500 to 700 miles. They are remarkably stout and hardy men; many of them exceeding 6 feet in height. They are dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at 200 yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of 7 inches diameter, at the distance of 250 yards. They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently proved fatal to British officers and soldiers who expose themselves to view, even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."
Dr. James Thatcher, Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War, 1775.
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". . . about twilight is found the best season for hunting the rebels in the woods, at which time their rifles are of very little use; and they are not found so serviceable in a body as musketry, a rest being requisite at all times, and before they are able to make a second discharge, it frequently happens that they find themselves run through the body by the push of bayonet, as a rifleman is not entitled to any quarter."
Middlesex Journal, 1776.
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". . . meeting a corps of rifle-men, namely riflemen only, I would treat them the same as my friend Colonel Abercrombie . . . treated Morgan's riflemen. When Morgan's riflemen came down to Pennsylvania from Canada, flushed with success gained over Burgoyne's army, they marched to attack our light infantry, under Colonel Abercrombie. The moment they appeared before him he ordered his troops to charge them with the bayonet; not one man out of four had time to fire, and those that did had no time given them to load again; the light infantry not only dispersed them instantly but drove them for miles over the country. They never attacked, or even looked at, our light infantry again without a regular force to support them."
Colonel George Hanger, To All Sportsmen and Particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers 1814, evidently referring to the action at Whitemarsh, December 7,1777. This account is not vouched for in any other contemporary description of that battle.
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"Riflemen as riflemen only, are a very feeble foe and not to be trusted alone any distance from camp; and at the outposts they must ever be supported by regulars, or they will constantly be beaten in, and compelled to retire."
Colonel George Hanger, To All Sportsmen and Particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers, 1814.
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"The riflemen, however dexterous in the use of their arm, were by no means the most formidable of the rebel troops; their not being armed with bayonets, permitted their opponents to take liberties with them which otherwise would have been highly improper."
Lieutenant Colonel John Simcoe, Simcoe's Military Journal, New York, 1844.
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"If muskets were given them instead of rifles the service would be more benefited, as there is a superabundance of riflemen in the Army. Were it in the power of Congress to supply musketts [sic] they would speedily reduce the number of rifles and replace them with the former, as they are more easily kept in order, can be fired oftener and have the advantage of Bayonetts [sic]."
Richard Peters, Letter to the Council of Safety, 1776.
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"The inhabitants of the Ohio country in general have very little of that unmeaning politeness, which we so much praise and admire in the Atlantic States. They are as yet the mere children of nature, and neither their virtues nor their vices are calculated to please refined tastes. They are brave, generous, and humane, and, in proportion to the population, are able to produce the most effective military force of any in our country.
"This preeminence may chiefly be attributed to their exposed situation on an Indian frontier, where they were not only kept in constant danger and alarm, but even found it necessary to teach their sons and daughters, as soon as they were big enough to raise a gun, to load and level the rifle. On more than one occasion have I seen these Spartan females, while engaged at the spinning wheel, or in some other domestic occupation, snatch up the loaded rifle, and fell the bounding deer as he incautiously passed within shot of the cabin. But since peace has been established with the Indians, (most of whom have removed to a greater distance from the whites,) the rifle has become the target of honour among these hardy Americans; and a Kentuckian would scorn to shoot a squirrel, or even a swallow, unless with a rifle; in the choice of which they are even more particular than in selecting a wife. There are a number of rifle manufactories established in this country, but the best and handsomest I have seen are to be procured in Kentucky and Tennessee, where they are made of every size from twenty balls (.61 caliber) to the pound up to one hundred (.36 caliber), and the price from fifteen to a hundred dollars."
Christian Schultz, Travels on an Inland Voyage, 1810.
Mario
Topic: Period Quotes Concerning Riflemen's Marksmanship (Read 241 times)