by Gary Yee
To recapture Fort Duquesne, Britain dispatched General Edward Braddock along with two regiments: the 44th East Essex and 48th Northamptonshire. Totaling 1,440 officers and men, they were supported by Washington’s 450 colonials. Within a short march of Fort Duquesne, Braddock’s column collided with a force half their size composed of French marines, Canadians, and their Indian allies on the Monongahela River. Standing exposed in their linear formations, the British fired off volleys as the Canadians and Indians melted into the woods. Indian fighting tactics were adapted from communal hunts and this enabled them to coordinate their attacks even when multi-tribal groups fought alongside one another. Applied in warfare, they enjoyed a mobility unsurpassed by any European army. Using their field craft, they seemingly disappeared only to suddenly reappear elsewhere to pick off an opponent. After four hours of fighting and having seen many of their comrades and officers shot, panic spread among the ranks and men began to flee in terror. Those who stood their ground poured un-aimed volleys into their comrades or the air while the Indians hid behind bushes, trees, rocks or in depressions in the ground. The proud little army that had marched confidently into the wilderness suffered 46 percent casualties, with 456 killed and 421 wounded. Braddock was mortally wounded, remarking before dying, “We shall better know how to deal with them another time.”
Blame can neither be placed totally on the soldiers nor Braddock since no formal training of the period could prepare them for forest warfare. The lessons were not lost and the British army began adapting itself by raising light infantry and, from among the colonists, rangers who would scout and screen the army better. Men were taught to seek cover (“Tree all”) and to aim at marks. Before the war, linear formations ensured an officer of his command and control over his men and they were loath to depart from the practice. Adopting open formations was quite a novel concept. Finally a limited number of rifles were distributed.
Results were not immediate but during the landing to capture Louisbourg in 1758, the 78th Fraser Highlanders came under fire. Sergeant Thompson recalled the incident:
During the landing at Louisberg there was a rascal of a savage on top of a high rock that kept firing at the Boats as they came within his reach, and he kill’d volunteer Fraser of our Regiment who, in order to get his shilling instead of six pence a day, was acting, like myself as a sergeant, he was a very genteel young man and was to have commison’d the first vacancy. There sat next to Fraser in the boat, a silly fellow of a Highlander, but who was a good marksman for all that, and not withstanding that there was a positive order not to fire a shot during the landing, he couldn’t resist this temptation of having a slap at the Savage. So the silly fellow levels his fuzee at him and in spite of the unsteadiness of the boat, for it was blowing hard at the time, ’afaith he brought him tumbling down like a sack into the water as the matter so turned out, there was not a word said about it, but had it been otherwise he would have had his back scratch’d if not something worse.
Unlike the smoothbore barrel of a musket or today’s shotguns, rifles have spiral grooves cut along the length of the barrel. Firing an undersized ball, muskets were quick loading and a musket-armed infantryman could get anywhere from three to five shots off a minute. Rifles, to be accurate, took a tight-fitting ball or ball with patch that was laboriously rammed down the length of the barrel. This took anywhere from a minute to several minutes to load.
American long rifle. (West Point Collection)
After landing, 550 of the best marksmen were drawn from the available units and organized into a provisional light infantry battalion. As sharpshooters, they suppressed the defenders during the construction of the siege works. After the siege guns were mounted in the third parallel, Louisbourg surrendered.
Sergeant Thompson survived and became part of the garrison of Quebec after its capture by General James Wolfe. In the spring of 1760, when a French force arrived to retake it, the reduced British army marched out to meet it. They were defeated and began to retreat to the safety of Quebec’s walls. One French column threatened to cut off the retreat and Thompson recalls the shot that prevented it:
On the way I fell in with a Captain Moses Hazen, a Jew, who commanded a company of Rangers, and who was so badly wounded, that his servant who had to carry him away was obliged to rest him on the ground at every twenty or thirty yards, owing to the great pain he endured. This intrepid fellow observing that there was a solid column of the French coming on over the high ground and headed by an officer who was some distance in advance of the column, he ask’d his servant if his fuzee was still loaded (the Servant opens the pans, and finds that it was still prim’d). “Do you see,” says Captain Hazen, “that rascal there, waving his sword to encourage those fellows to come forward?” “yes,” says the Servant, “I do Sir.” “Then,” says the Captain again, “just place your back against mine for one moment, till I see if I can bring him down.” He accordingly stretch’d himself on the ground, and resting the muzzle of his fuzee on his toes he let drive at the French officer. I was standing close behind him, and I thought it perfect madness in his attempt. However, away went the charge after him, and ’afaith down he was flat in an instant! Both the Captain and myself were watching for some minutes under an idea that “altho” he had laid down, he might take it into his head to get up again, but no, the de’il a get up and did he get, it was the best shot I ever saw, and the moment he fell, the whole column he was leading on, turn’d about and decamp’d off, leaving him to follow as well as he might! I couldn’t help telling the Captain that he had made a capital shot, and I related to him the affair of the foolish fellow of our Grenadiers who shot the Savage at the landing at Louisberg, altho’ the distance was great and the rolling of the boat so much against his taking a steady aim. “Oh,” says Captain Hazen, “you know that a chance shot will kill the devil himself!”
Captain Hazen survived and rose to brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolution.
Elsewhere in Europe the German jägers distinguished themselves at Minden (1759). Hanoverian General von Freytag dispatched some jäger companies to the passes between Minden and Bückeburg to harass the French. There they killed many Frenchmen until a heavy rain put an end to the shooting. Lieutenant Colonel George Hangar tells of an incident along the road from Minden to Hesse Cassel, where the Hessian and Hanoverian jägers were deployed in a very thick wood:
The French were obligated to form one regiment, in their line, directly facing this wood, where the jägers were stationed. The jägers made such havoc amongst this French regiment, that the colours were at last forced to be held by serjeants, and even corporals. There were but very few of their officers who were not killed or wounded. The jägers were not above two hundred yards from them, and were flanked, both on their right and left, by strong battalions of the line. The French were at last compelled to bring up six pieces of cannon, loaded with grape, to clear the woods of jägers. I had a man in my company, in the Hessian jägers, in America, who was the son of a jäger, supposed to be one of the very best shots among those engaged at Minden. His comrades had such an opinion of his shooting, that six or seven men handed their rifles to him, as he stood behind a large tree, continually keeping them loaded for him to fire, so that he could fire several shots in one minute. When the cannon were brought up, his comrades desired him to come away; but he said he would stay, and have one shot more; a grape-shot struck him, and killed him. The French were so incensed that day against the jägers, that a few of them which they took, wounded, in the retreat, for the German forces were beaten, they buried up to their chins in the ground, and left them to die.
While the rifle was slowly gaining acceptance as a specialized weapon to be used by light troops, the war’s conclusion did not see its universal adoption. The British Army returned its rifles to storage at the war’s conclusion and for the most part, forgot the lessons learned.
The American Revolution
To recoup the expenses incurred during the Seven Ye
ars’ War, Parliament imposed taxes on its American colonies. Parliament reasoned that since the war had been fought on their behalf, they should share in the expense. This did not sit well with the colonists whose protestations were made on paper and later by acts of violence. In response, a large British force was landed in Boston where it was felt that the mere presence of the British Army would quiet things. However, when a British column was dispatched to seize powder and cannons stored in Concord in 1775, fighting erupted between the American militia and the British regulars and blood was spilled on both sides. The Americans swarmed the British column, attacking their flanks and the rearguard. Among the militia was one hunter:
Through their whole retreat the British had noticed one man in particular, whom they learned especially to dread. He was an old, gray-haired hunter, named Wyman of Woburn, and he rode a fine white horse. He struck the trail as they left Concord, and would ride up within gunshot, then turning the horse throw himself off, aim his long gun resting on the saddle, and that aim was death. They would say, “Look out, there is the man on the white horse.” He followed them the whole distance, and James Russell … saw him gallop across the brook and up a hill, pursued by a party of the flank guard who kept the plains midway between Charlestown and Main street. He turned, aimed and the boy saw one of the British fall. He rode on, and soon the same gun was heard again, this time also with deadly effect.
The British reached the safety of Boston but not without first suffering 73 killed, 26 missing, and 174 wounded. The Americans suffered 49 killed, five missing and 41 wounded. Making no attempt to capture Boston by coup de main, the Americans began entrenching around it.
One of the first acts of Congress was to raise the 1st Pennsylvania from among the riflemen of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. These men were excellent marksmen and one company, Captain Doudle’s, marched from Getty’s Tavern (Gettysburg) to Boston in 25 days. As with other frontiersmen, they were unsuited for gentle company. One jäger captain recorded:
As for the mountaineer, or the wild Scotch-Irish, this is a species of poor folk gathered from all nations of the world. They dwell in miserable log cabins, in the mountains three or four hundred miles from the seacoast, and live from the chase. Since these people usually maintain relations from the Indians, who are their neighbors, they take pains to assume a wild appearance, which results naturally from their rough manner of living. They are good and dangerous shooters, but a spirited bayonet charge gets them easily on their feet. They choose their own leaders and pay no attention to discipline. He who falls into their hands as prisoners seldom keeps anything more than what nature gave him at birth.
Lieutenant Colonel George Hanger offered an even less flattering opinion:
This distinguished race of men are more savage than the Indians, and possess every one of their vices, but not one of their virtues. I have known one of these fellows travel two hundred miles through the woods, never keeping any road or path, guided by the sun by day, and the stars by night, to kill a particular person belonging to the opposite party: he would shoot him before his own door, and ride away to boast of what he had done on his return. I speak only of the back-woodsmen, not of the inhabitants in general of South Carolina; for in all America, there are not better educated or better bred men than the planters. Indeed, Charlestown is celebrated for the splendour, luxury, and education of its inhabitants: I speak only of that heathen race known by the name of Crackers.
German illustration of an American rifleman (left) and Pennsylvania line (right), 1784.
Impressed by their marksmanship, Continental Army Surgeon James Thacher wrote “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 quick advance, fired their balls into objects 7 inches diameter, at the distance of 250 yards.” Portrait painter turned militia lieutenant Charles Wilson Peale noted in his diary, “One of [their] Captains who went to Relieve g[u]ard was shot at by three of our Riffle men at 250 yards distance & tumbled from his Horse, this is a practice which General Worshington now discoutenences.”
Hanger’s observation proved correct and the frontiersmen’s insolence reached a peak when a rifle platoon marched on the guardhouse to free a comrade imprisoned there. Washington responded by ordering 500 men out with loaded guns and bayonets to secure the guardhouse. They were reinforced by another two regiments. Outnumbered and outgunned, the riflemen were disarmed, court martialed and fined. Despite this, when their term of enlistment neared expiration, Washington thought them “a useful corps” and asked Congress to find some means to induce them to extend their enlistment. When this failed, Washington turned to Daniel Morgan to raise a new rifle regiment drawn from existing regiments.
To counter the American riflemen, the British called upon their German allies to provide jägers. As woodsmen became accustomed to the rifle, great hope was placed on them. The British also called upon their loyalist allies, the Tories, to bring their rifles. Not well known is the fact the British distributed 1,000 pattern 1776 rifles among the different regiments. Perhaps the most innovative measure was by Major Patrick Ferguson, who designed a breechloading rifle based on the Chaumette rifle. Ferguson refined Chaumette’s design by introducing a slight taper to the rotating breechplug that included cutouts for the fouling to collect into. Both innovations were supposed to handle the fouling that could jam an action. Ferguson demonstrated the effectiveness of his rifle before King George III by firing six shots in one minute and in so doing, missing his mark only once. With the king’s approval, he had 100 of his rifles made and was permitted to draw men from various regiments to form his ad hoc rifle unit. Ferguson also arrived with green cloth from which his men’s uniforms could be made.
Eventually the British abandoned Boston and on July 2, 1776, they landed 3,000 men on Staten Island in New York. They were reinforced on August 1 by a further 21,000, which included the Hessians and the jägers. On August 22, the British landed on Long Island. American Colonel Edward Hand’s small rifle battalion (300) decided not to contest the larger British landing force but harassed the left flank as it moved inland. This precipitated the inevitable clash between themselves and the jägers, who earned the colonial rifleman’s respect: “The idea which we were at first conceived of the Hessian riflemen was truly ridiculous, but the sad experiences convinces our people that they are an Enemy not to be despised.” The jägers moved from tree to tree and fired from cover. One Hessian officer noted:
Patrick Ferguson. Image courtesy of Kings Mountain National Military Park.
The rebels have some very good marksmen, but some of them have wretched guns, and most of them shoot crooked. But they are clever at hunters’ wiles. They climb trees, they crawl forward on their bellies for one hundred and fifty paces, shoot, and go as quickly back again. They make themselves shelters of bough, etc. But today they are much put out by our own green-coats, for we don’t let our fellows fire unless they can get good aim at a man, so that they dare not undertake anything more against us.
Four days later, on August 26, William Howe launched his assault on Long Island. To pin the Americans, the Hessians and Highlanders maintained their post while Howe slipped around the Americans’ left flank. Howe’s attack routed the Americans and the Hessians caught many Americans at close quarters. One Hessian wrote: “The greater part of the riflemen were pierced with the bayonet to the trees. These dreadful people ought rather to be pitied than feared; they always require an quarter of an hour’s time to load a rifle, and in the meantime they feel the effects of our balls and bayonets.”
Howe did not follow up to capture the American Army on Long Island and the pause allowed the Americans to escape across the Hudson and regroup on Manhattan. On September 13, Howe landed on Manhattan and captured Harlem Heights. To flank the Americans’ position, Howe landed 4,000 men at Throg’s Neck (Frog’s Neck). Throg’s Neck was not the ideal landing spot as there were only two usable paths from it to the
mainland. American Colonel Edward Hand was posted at Throg’s Neck with a mere 30 riflemen. Hand’s men had earlier pulled up the planks on the bridge and fortified themselves on the opposite bank. The jägers and riflemen soon engaged in a lively exchange and Hand was reinforced with fresh units. Twenty-year-old Thomas Sullivan was there with the 49th Herefordshire and witnessed the fight between the riflemen and the jägers:
Like the Chaumette design that preceded it, Ferguson’s rifle had a screw breech plug that was attached to the trigger guard. Ferguson’s innovation included tapering the breech plug that reached the top of the barrel and introducing cleanout grooves cut into the threaded portion of the breech plug to collect the fouling and making the design less susceptible to jamming. To load the Ferguson, the user rotated the trigger guard 270°. This lowered the breech plug and exposed the barrel for loading. The ball was dropped into breech plug hole and was followed with powder. By rotating the trigger guard again, the breech plug rotated up, sealing the breach and pushing up any excess powder that was pushed (by hand) into the pan to prime it. Quicker loading than any contemporary rifle, the Ferguson was capable of taking a bayonet.
There were drawbacks and the Ferguson cost £4 as opposed to £2 for the Brown Bess. Another was the inherent weakness of the stock. Because a lot of wood was removed to accommodate the breech plug and the barrel extension for it, the stock was inherently weak and the two surviving examples in America both have cracks around the lock. The final issue with the Ferguson was its inadequate sealing of the breech and each discharge would be followed by gases escaping up from the breech plug. Producing the Ferguson needed industrial-age machinery in an era dominated by hand manufacturing. Gas sealing would not be solved until 1848 with the American Sharps breechloading rifle and later on, the metallic cartridge.