Revolutionary War Tactics

[gizamo]

Hugh,

Old thread...but a good one....

Been busy buying out a collection of primary documents, from here in Maine. 1700's probate records, etc.. in there is one of the rarest accounts of Lovell's War. Sixty copies extant, all in major collections.

So, still focused on the 4th Indian War...

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Only time I encountered Maggie's Drawers was at a rifle range in Germany. In BCT we learned to shoot and zero our M-14s on the 1000 inch range, then fired at the pop ups.
I agree in today's army-since the 1960s in fact-marksmanship is denigrated. The M-16 is our version of the Soviet PPSh M1-1941 and PPS M-1943-pray and spray.

 

[Cyrano]

It's been a while, but we zeroed the M 16 at 25 yds. The trajectory was flat enough that we didn't need any sight adjustment out to 300 yds, and as you know, in several wars the times anyone engaged a target at greater than 300 yds was effectively nil.

 

[CelticSire]

The M-16 is our version of the Soviet PPSh M1-1941 and PPS M-1943-pray and spray.

Mind telling me how you "spray and pray" with a weapon that is limited to 3 round bursts? I keep hearing how much marksmanship has declined in today's military - it is simply not true. The shooters of today are trained the same way they have always been trained, and that is with emphasis on making each shot count. There is no "spray and pray" course of fire with the M-16 or it's M-4 counterpart. You get 40 rounds for 40 targets. There is no "next magazine". Maybe you should actually visit a range instead of recycling urban myths. My soldiers today are just as good, if not better, at engaging the enemy as they were in the 1960s.

 

[REM 3200]

My soldiers today are just as good, if not better, at engaging the enemy as they were in the 1960s.

They are probably better today than we were. Optic sights VS iron sights... today's optics are hard to beat.

 

[semperfi71]

"Maggie Drawers: I wonder how many besides you and I know what that means?"

Recognized it right off, just took me a while to get to the end of the thread.

I first heard that term in the summer of 1971 while learning the M14 in the USMC.

 

[Maggie Drawers]

Semperfi71,
I've been using it for years on various forums. Sometimes in our club matches I've used it, too. I'm astounded at how many don't know/never heard of it. Some give me a VERY funny look!
Seem that history, like fame, is fleeting.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The three round burst feature was adopted because in Vietnam-and other conflicts-it was found troops issued selective fire weapons kept them set on full auto as a matter of course. Plus the close ranges, heavy foliage and jungle cover, and frequent night actions in Vietnam made aimed fire rather ineffective. And there is a difference between what recruits in Basic do under the stern and watchful eye of their DI as opposed to a combat situation where the action comes fast and furious-and unexpected
and everyone is hollering and cussing, the officers are trying to determine where the threat is coming from, the NCOs are trying to get their men off the ground to return fire, etc.

 

[sw44spl]

get the norfork drill book it is what they trained to before the rev war and the militia used it during the war.

 

[Maggie Drawers]

get the norfork drill book it is what they trained to before the rev war and the militia used it during the war.

I agree! The old drill books of the F&I War and Rev War are really something. Those guys didn't do much shooting. It was moving masses of men - the "level" rather than "aim". Send enough lead toward the enemy and you gotta hit something. It's good reading.

 

[jlrhiner]

Gadzooks!!! Did you see the old guy shooting the Ferguson? 7 shots in 1 minute. That could have been bad.

 

[jlrhiner]

"Maggie Drawers: I wonder how many besides you and I know what that means?"

I would think almost everyone who shot at those exclusive rifle ranges would know.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The 1992 movie of "Last of the Mohicans" shows the British using the Norfolk Drill. Baron von Steuben's drill formed the troops into two ranks.
That allowed them to form a longer battle line and overlap the enemy's flanks.
Von Steuben not only got the Main Army properly drilled, but he also made the drill uniform. Before then the Continental Army used at least 3 different drill manuals, plus a lot of homegrown "tactics". That often led to confusion in combat.
In 1997 I did the Battle of Monouth Reenactment as an infantryman. After 12 shots-blanks-my Charleville became to hot to handle.