I watched a Discovery show last night in which one character called a Schofield a "Showfield." I'd thought it was pronounced, "Sko-field."

They had a bunch of errors in the program, and this may be one of them. I think I heard the guy say that Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers wore Schofields to the gunfight at the OK Corral. I'm pretty sure that's wrong, although Wyatt may have owned a S&W American .44

In German it would be "show", American was always "sko".
You say potato and I say potato.

But what did Maj. Schofield say? Does anyone today really KNOW how he pronounced his name?

Scho as in School. I've never known of serious collector to pronounce it as Showfield, but there may be some that do. Schofield Barracks in Hawaii (who was, I think, named after the revolver Schofield's brother, General Schofield), has always been pronounced as Sko-field

I saw that program as well and that was the first time Ive ever heard it pronounced "show-field". Every documentary I have seen has pronounced it "sko-field".

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Cliff

Thanks, guys. I'm going to keep saying "Skofield" unless I find a really authentic reason not to.

I knew about Schofield barracks in Hawaii, too.

I really wonder why these "gun experts" on Discovery TV fare so poorly in such programs. They didn't even mention Maj. Ferguson's breechloading flintlock rifles on the King's Mountain battle segment. And I think they showed a silhouette of a Brown Bess for the PA longrifles in the Alamo segment. Ironcally, I've read that the Mexicans there DID have Brown Bess muskets, obtained from British sources.

They also said that Mexican strength at the time the Alamo fell was about 1,500 troops. I've always understood that it was over 5,000.

There were 100 Texans and 1500 Mexicans at the final seige of the Alamo.

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Cliff

I am a proud product of the Dallas Independent school district. In grade school in the 1960's I was taught that there were a hundred Texas volunteers at the Alamo slaughtered by 5000 crazy Mexicans. We had school plays every year depicting Colonel Travis drawing a line in the sand and then a group of soldiers carrying the wounded Davy Crockett across the line in his bed. All of which is likely hogwash........

Today the Alamo history officially sets the numbers at "about 200" Texans versus 1500 Mexicans.

Click here:
The Alamo

I know many Schofield's. From all over the country.

Everyone pronounces it Skofield.

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

Now.....scho us your Schofields.

I went to the same school system, which was then more respectable and less "PC". I have always been taught that the Texans numbered 189, and that Mexican forces may have reached 5,000.

A friend of mine, a retired college dean who gives lectures on Jim Bowie and the Alamo, agrees with those figures. I believe that they also concur with Lon Tinkle's famous account, "13 Days to Glory." I have the book, but haven't read it in years.

The Discovery program claimed just 1500 Mexicans attacked the Alamo, but suffered 600 csualties, I think all dead. That would be close to a 50% casualty rate, and highly unlikely.