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Times That Try Men’s Souls
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The American plan was to stop the British along a line of hills south
and east of Brooklyn Heights. But the Continentals had left a pass
through the Heights of Guan undefended. Loyalists informed the Brit-
ish of this fact.
Ten thousand redcoats marched through the Jamaica Pass, east of
WEAPONS AND TACTICS
All the firearms used in the Revolutionary War fired a single shot and
were loaded from the muzzle (the front end of the barrel). Rifles were quite
accurate. A skilled rifleman could reliably hit a man at a distance of 200
yards. But rifles could take a minute or more to reload. That’s why most
infantrymen were equipped with muskets. A well-trained soldier could fire
a musket three or four times in a minute.
The effective range of a musket was about 100 yards. But consistently
hitting a
specific
target beyond about 75 yards was nearly impossible. For
that reason, lines of closely grouped soldiers fired together. This concen-
trated fire, called a volley, was bound to hit some enemy soldiers. A few
volleys, fired while advancing,
might break up the enemy’s line
enough to overwhelm it with a
bayonet charge.
The bayonet was a blade of
about 18 inches in length, which
could be fitted into a metal sleeve
on top of a musket barrel. Early in
the war, many American soldiers
didn’t have bayonets. That put
them at a distinct disadvantage.
Artillery was used on the battle-
field in several ways. For example,
iron cannonballs ranging from 3 to
12 pounds could be fired up to 800
yards into the ranks of approach-
ing soldiers. A cannonball would kill or mangle anyone in its path. At a
couple hundred yards or less, grapeshot could be used to devastating effect.
Grapeshot was a packet of small iron balls that dispersed when fired.
During the 18th century, the limited range
and accuracy of muskets required armies
to stand together and fire volleys at enemy
forces.
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