CS,
Unfortunately, there is very little to no information on what distance/s Riflemen opened fire during the ARW. Heck, there is darn little information on what distances infantrymen and artillery opened fire in most battles, so that is not unexpected. The account of George Roger’s Clark’s Riflemen moving within 120 yards of Fort Sackville at Vincennes (Now Indiana) and some getting within 30 yards of the fort before opening fire is one of the rare instances the range was mentioned in an overall general way
The number of British Ranks used in the ARW was ordered by General Clinton (after he took over as the Commander of all British forces in April 1778) to be “Loose Order” which meant just two ranks and each soldier was about a foot and a little more apart. That order remained if effect until the end of the war. Prior to that, the normal order was three ranks, where/when it could be done by the lay of the land on the battlefields. So the first major battle they probably used “Loose Order” was the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778. The Hessians remained in the normal “Continental” formations of three ranks deep with only a few inches between soldiers, though, until late in the war when they also adopted the “Loose Order.” I’m not sure if it is known when that was.
Now of course this is a LOT of generalizing and not exactly true in all points for all British Forces in each and every battle. “Light Troops” used the two rank formations even before Clinton ordered it overall, though the Light Troops were normally made up of only one company from each Regiment. That is a generalization, also, because sometimes they reinforced the “Light Companies” with one or two companies of the “Regular Infantry” Companies of a Regiment/s when the British felt the Light Troops needed the support. (I’m REALLY not trying to be confusing, though it may seem like it. Grin.)
Legend has it that the primary targets of the American Riflemen were British Officers or at least they were ordered to shoot Officers first, when they could. Of course, there wasn’t always an Officer to shoot at. Lower ranked Officers were in the British Ranks and could be identified by either the Gold or Silver trim on their uniforms. Higher ranked Officers were at the side of the formations or immediately behind them. The Highest Ranked Officers were back far enough they could see how most of their forces were deployed and where they could order changes of their forces during the battle. I think that the Highest Ranked British Officers were often out of sight of American Riflemen or just too far away to reliably hit them. So, perhaps the most common target for American Riflemen was Junior British Officers in the ranks. If a shot missed them, it might hit a soldier beside them or behind them.
I personally believe the mention of “the Best American Riflemen” being able to reliably hit a head size target at 200 yards (whether or not they REALLY could have reliably done it) was meant as their accuracy potential and not that they actually tried to hit the heads of British Officers. American Riflemen would surely have known how difficult it would have been to hit an enemy in the head at that range DURING a battle.
Though I can not document this, I DO believe American Rifleman AIMED at the Heads or even the Hats of Officers and other opposing soldiers, when the opposing soldiers were far enough away. This because it is a natural “finer” aiming point for the rifle balls to drop into the torso of the opposing soldiers when they were between say 150 and 200 yards. This comes from actual experience on my part and that of many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Marines and Soldiers over the years.
On the annual rifle requalification courses, both Marines and Soldiers shoot at various types of silhouette targets. Marines shoot at what we call “Dog Targets” for the rapid fire stages at 200 and 300 yards. That target is a silhouette of the upper half of a man (what one may have to shoot at when an enemy is laying down) and though at 26” wide, it is wider than a man’s torso and arms at say 22” on average. Our 500 yard target is a full silhouette 40 inches tall (including the head) and 20 inches wide. (This one is actually a really good approximation of an enemy’s head down to the bottom of his torso.) Now we are initially taught to aim at the bottom of each target to sight in and fire, but MANY Marines have figured out a BETTER aiming point for both targets is the bottom of the head because you can draw a finer “bead” on that part of the target or IOW, the front sight is about the correct thickness to easily center on the bottom of the head. This is true with modern US Rifles from the M1903 right up to the M16A2. When using the bottom of the head as your aiming point, individual scores go up and in the case of experienced shooters, it is easy to shoot perfect scores at 200 and 300 yards and for the most experienced shooters, to easily shoot a perfect score at 500 yards. Of course a perfect score on the Dog Targets would mean MOST of your shots would hit an enemy at 200 and 300 yards, while a perfect score at 500 yards means ALL your shots would hit an enemy at that range IF the enemy was not moving.
I have never fired the Army Rifle Qualification course with pop up silhouettes, so I can not make exact statements about it. I have asked Soldiers who I knew were good shooters and they told me they also used the head of the silhouette to aim at, as well when at around 200 to 300 yards. The Army quit firing at 500 yards in the 60’s and their furthest silhouette they shoot at is either 300 or 360 yards by some reports.
Now with the “fine” front sights we normally see on original Longrifles, it would also be easy to shoot at the base of the enemy soldiers head or the center of the head and that gives a better aiming point and that transfers to better hit potential. This is why I believe that is where they aimed at 150 – 200 yards along with the fact it allowed for bullet drop into the torso of an enemy.
Gus
