Homespun linen, linsey Woolsey, and other cloth production was often limited in the lower classes to just what they needed to clothe family members. It was not uncommon that boys got one long linen shirt per year and it was often recorded that the shirts were pretty thread bare and ragged as it drew close to the time to make the “new annual shirt.” Though such cloth was made in different thicknesses for hot and cold times of the year, it did not come in a wide variety of thicknesses or thread count - as it was home production.
I’m not disputing that linen cloth could not be made in a variety of thread count and thicknesses from 1725 to 1775, but it normally required a weaver to make the widest various ranges of sizes of cloth to choose from to find what might be best to patch rifle balls with for the individual rifle. The availability of looms and especially weavers was different in different times and areas of the frontier during this half century.
A good reference on cloth and clothing during our time period can be found here:
http://people.virginia.edu/~mgf2j/clothes.htmlNow, IF a weaver was available to the rifle owner and IF he could afford to pay or trade for the weaver’s cloth, then he would try to find the size cloth that best suited for his rifle and balls. There were no precision calipers or micrometers then, so it was trial and error. Too tight of cloth would not be used, so his choices were narrowed down to the thicknesses of cloth made and best fit his rifle. That’s a huge difference from today when we can walk into a fabric store with precision calipers or better still micrometers and choose a suitable cloth with texture, thread count, and most importantly the uniform thickness that best fits our the balls we use in our rifles for the best accuracy.
I am not sure what to make about the significance of cloth being more available during the Revolutionary War to American Riflemen as they got closer to the areas major battles were fought. Perhaps you mean closer to where weavers were set up or what was left of imported fabrics? If so, then it still remained trying to choose from what size of suitable cloth that was made with enough threads per inch and was available or was normally made by a weaver as mentioned above.
As to the wisdom of “pooh-poohing” the stories and legends of long range accuracy, anyone may certainly believe anything they choose, but some of the myths and legends are just that and can not be fact. I suggest that real wisdom comes from separating myths and legends from facts.
One of the most telling facts is that American Riflemen were ordered not to shoot past 150 yards because they missed too much from further ranges. This order no doubt came about from the general rule of thumb that most American Riflemen missed during war time beyond that range. That is not to say that a very small percentage of truly exceptional Riflemen could not have shot from longer ranges and hit their targets. This is separating myth/legend from fact.
There is no doubt in my mind that the most credible accounts of the accuracy of the Longrifle IN COMBAT came from British Major (later Colonel) George Hanger. He was known at the time as having been perhaps THE finest rifle shot in England. It was also known he interviewed many American Riflemen on the American Longrifle. After the war, he wrote a book strongly recommending Rifle Regiments be adopted into the British Army. Here is one comment he made during the war and I capitalized some parts to emphasize them, as I’m having a hard time emboldening or underlining in this thread:
“I have many times asked the American backwoodsmen WHAT WAS THE MOST THEIR BEST MARKSMEN could do; and they have constantly told me that an expert rifleman, provided he can draw good and true sight (they mean by this expression, when they can distinctly see the object aimed at in a direct line with the two sights on the rifle), can hit the head of a man at 200 yards. I am certain provided an American rifleman was to get a perfect aim at 300 yards at me, he would most undoubtedly would hit me, unless if was a very windy day, so much so as to occasion the ball considerably to deflect”
Now, this is what the BEST MARKSMEN of the American Riflemen or “expert riflemen” could do and not what the AVERAGE Rifleman could do at 200 yards. Since virtually ALL the American Riflemen were backwoodsmen, this distinction is critical when we talk about the accuracy of the Long Rifle. Is he still talking about what the BEST marksmen can do when describing hitting someone at 300 yards if their aim was (1) perfect and IF it was (2) not too windy? It would certainly seem so as he was talking about what “the best” or “expert riflemen” could do in the sentence immediately before it. Even if one suggests Colonel Hanger was now making a different and more generalized statement, in the very next sentence which is not likely, he still put two extremely important qualifiers [(1) and (2) above] in his assessment that can not be overlooked. If the rifleman’s aim was not perfect or if the wind was too much, then it was no longer a sure bet he would be hit at 300 yards. Further, we can not forget that American Riflemen were ordered NOT to fire beyond 150 yards as they missed to much at that distance as a rule of thumb.
Major now Colonel Hanger’s quote that was written down after the war:
“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 our horses fronting, observing their motions. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE PLAIN FIELD BETWEEN US AND THE MILL, NOT SO MUCH AS A SINGLE BUSH ON IT.. Our orderly-bugle man stood behind us, about three yards, but with his horse's side to our horses' tails.
A rifleman passed over the mill-dam, 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 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, amusing themselves at our expence.” The words were hardly out of my mouth, when the bugle-horn man said, “Sir, my horse is shot.” The horse staggered, fell down and died. He was shot directly behind the fore-leg, near to the heart, at least where the great blood-vessels lie, which lead to the heart. He took the saddle and bridle off, went into the wood, and got another horse. We had a number of spare horses led by negro lads.
Now, speaking of this rifleman's shooting, nothing could be better, BUT, FROM THE CLIMATE, HE HAD MUCH IN HIS FAVOUR. FIRST AT THAT TIME OF THE YEAR, THERE WAS NOT ONE BREATH OF A WIND, SECONDLY, THE ATMOSPHERE IS SO MUCH CLEARER THAN OURS, THAT HE CAN TAKE A MORE PERFECT AIM.
*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 four hundred yards.”
OK, let’s analyze the shooting conditions in this case “by the numbers.” Grin..
1. It was a very clear day for shooting with not a breath of wind. That’s the equivalent of virtually perfect environmental conditions for shooting that are not common. Modern military rifle ranges with high berms on each side of the range almost never offer that kind of “no wind” conditions at 400 yards.
2. There was nothing between the American Rifleman and the British, as the ground between them was an absolutely plain field with not a bush on it. Here it is very similar to a modern military rifle range.
3. The American rifleman took the time to lay down and take up the best shooting position possible to make a long distant shot AND he was not disturbed while doing so. Wow, what an advantage!
4. The uniforms the two British Officers wore were plenty distinctive, even at that distance, to mark them as Officers because they were trimmed in SILVER. There can be no doubt the American Rifleman knew he was shooting at Officers in such perfect environmental conditions. Here is a portrait of Major/Colonel John Hanger himself in his Legion uniform that was painted only one to two years after his return to England after the war and it is easy to see the silver braid that trimmed his and Tarleton’s uniforms to denote them as Officers.
http://home.golden.net/~marg/bansite/friends/gh_beach.html5. To me, this one is the most telling. The American rifleman ONLY saw THREE British Soldiers on horseback standing still and not moving, as Colonel Hanger states the rest of the British Troops were concealed in the woods 300 yards behind them. Though the American Rifleman probably assumed more British Troops were in the area, there were no other direct threats to the American Rifleman than those three British soldiers. That made shooting at them as “low stress” as one gets in a combat situation and helps the shooter deliver the best shot possible. More stress than shooting on a rifle range for practice to be sure, but no where near the stress of trying to shoot when facing opposing light infantry, cavalry and artillery.
OK, what was the result of the American Rifleman’s shot when EVERTHING was as perfect as possible for such a cool and calculated shot in war time?
A. The American Rifleman MISSED either Officer he was aiming at!!!!
B. The American Rifleman even MISSED the horse/s the Officers were mounted on!!!!!
C. The fact the “Bugle Horn Man’s” horse was broadside to the American Rifleman (behind the two Officers) and considering where the horse was hit, demonstrates the American Rifleman not only misjudged windage, but also misjudged elevation as well.
Now I realize this assessment can be seen as brutally factual. I spent many years building and repairing very accurate rifles for both NM shooters and Snipers and was often in their company. I’m judging this as a Sniper would judge the shot. HOWEVER, even though the American Rifleman MISSED, he still made quite a shot! Had the British Officers NOT moved after the shot and still were mounted on horseback and standing still, the American Rifleman may and even probably would have hit at least one of the horses under one of the British Officers on a second shot. Still, that does not change the fact the American Rifleman MISSED his target when he had the most perfect conditions one could expect in war time.
So what have we learned from these two accounts?
1. The BEST or most Expert American Riflemen could reliably hit at man’s head at 200 yards. Not ALL American Riflemen, mind you, only the BEST of them. Further, Major Hanger never witnessed such expert shooting and was going off what others told him. However, due to Major Hanger’s background, I am pretty certain we can take this as fact for the BEST or most expert American Riflemen.
2. I have no doubt Major Hanger BELIEVED that if such an expert rifleman took perfect aim at him at 300 yards (and though he didn’t say it, I’m sure he meant standing still) and wind conditions were almost ideal, the American Rifleman would hit him at that distance. Belief and reality are often not the same thing, though. Hmmmm…..OK, IF that was true in reality, then that begs the question how did he and Banastre Tarleton SURVIVE the war and returned home to England?
Bannastre Tarleton, especially, was probably THE most hated British Officer of the Revolution and one of the most recognized British Officers during the Revolution. LOADS of Americans wanted to see Banastre Tarleton DEAD during the war for the slaughter Tarleton committed against surrendering American Troops in 1780 at the “Waxhaws Massacre.” Tarleton was VERY active right up until his surrender after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. Yet, American Riflemen did not get him at Camden or Fishing Creek or Blackstock Hill or Cowpens or Guilford Court House or even when he was bottled up at Gloucester Point, across the York River from the British position at Yorktown. There is little doubt Tarleton was sitting still on his horse within 300 yards of American Riflemen during that period.
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/army/p/tarleton.htm3. Even under THE most ideal conditions in war time, an American Rifleman MISSED at 400 yards when he shot at Colonel Tarleton and Major Hanger. Sure, it was a close miss, but a miss nonetheless under IDEAL conditions. That means 400 yards was outside the effective range of the American Rifle and a hit at that distance would have been sheer chance or luck.
But, all in all, we still have to come back to the fact that American Riflemen were ORDERED not so shoot beyond 150 yards, because they generally missed too much beyond that range.
Gus
