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P R E S E N T S
M I L I T A R YT A C T I C S O F
T H E 1 7 0 0 S
The techniques and technologies that helped fight
the Revolutionary War
Justin Johnson
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American Military History Podcast Presents : Military Tactics of the 1700s
Copyright © 2015 by Justin Johnson
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be
used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case
of brief quotations em- bodied in critical articles or reviews.
For information contact :
Justin Johnson
http://www.americanmilitaryhistorypodcast.com
Book and Cover design by Justin Johnson
First Edition: October 2015
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I . W H A T H A S B E E N
“I have not yet begun to fight.”
-John Paul Jones
FOR CENTURIES LEADING UP TO THE 1700s, battles had been
won on horseback or with hand to hand combat. However, with the advent
and improvement of gunpowder and gunpowder based weaponry, it was
clear that the 1700s marked the beginning of the Age of the Rifle.
Armies themselves began to change as well. England was one of the
first governments to create a standing professional army with strong
organizational structure. This was a strong departure from current
standards of the time, which revolved around recruiting armies from the
population or hiring out mercenaries. When England created it’s New
Model Army, local militias did in fact represent the bulk of the fighting
forces in England, and throughout Europe. It’s also something that we see
in the American colonies, during the first part of the Revolutionary War,
prior to the forming of the Continental Army.
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I I . F I R E A R M S
“We must all hang together, or assuredly we will hang seperatley”
-Benjamin Franklin
The New Model Army brought into play the flintlock-actuated
musket guns for infantry soldiers. And while these soldiers also still
sometimes carried a sword (for extreme close range combat) it was their
rifle that changed the course of warfare and saw the end to the horse
mounted knight, as musket balls could easily pierce the strongest personal
armor of the time.
Prior to the implementation of the flintlock rifle, the matchlock rifle
had originally introduced the concept of a mechanism or “lock” to aid in
the firing of a hand-held firearm. Before the development of this
mechanism, a lit match had to be lowered by hand into the weapon’s flash
plan to ignite the gunpowder primer. The matchlock made the weapon
easier to fire, and more stable (as they soldier was now able to use both
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hands to hold the weapon). The weapon itself began to make it’s
appearance in Europe in the mid-15th century but was mostly obsolete by
the early 1700s, giving way to the more efficient and powerful flintlock
rifle.
The term flintlock is applied to any firearm that is based upon the
flintlock mechanism. Commonly referred to as a just a “flintlock”, the
mechanism holds a piece of flint which is held in place between a set of a
jaws at the end of a short hammer. The hammer is pulled into the cocked
position prior to firing, upon trigger pull, the spring-loaded hammer moves
forward causing the flint to strike a piece of steel called the “frizzen”. The
movement of the flint and hammer causes the frizzen to slightly slide back,
revealing a pan which contains gunpowder. As the flint strikes the frizzen
it creates a spark which falls into the pan and ignites the powder. While the
matchlock rifles of the past had keep a match constantly lit, which
provided problems in moist conditions and it also increased troop visibility
to the enemy during night marches or maneuvers. The flintlock eliminated
most of these problems, but it was not without it’s own flaws.
One problem was the lack of a proper safety mechanism. To ready the
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rifle, the hammer was moved to a half-cocked position, the pan was
primed and a percussion cap was inserted, to fully fire, the hammer was
moved to a fully cocked position and the trigger would be squeezed.
However, in many instances the hammer would snap itself out of the half-
cocked position causing it fire. This was a such a common problem it’s
where we get the phrase “going off half-cocked”. The rifle also emitted a
huge shower of sparks when fired which not only gave away location but
ran the risk of igniting the powder of the man reloading beside you,
leading to the practice of firing in volleys to stagger the shooting &
reloading.
Despite it’s shortcomings the flintlock rifle was a revolutionary
weapon, staying in service for military and civilian use for some 100 years.
In, addition the weapon positions and drill commands that were originally
devised to standardize carrying, loading and firing a flintlock weapon
remain the standard for drill and display today.
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In terms of the Revolutionary War, the most common flintlock rifle
was the Brown Bess muzzle-loading smoothbore musket. It was a British
weapon but it was used heavily by both British troops and American
colonists alike. The musket fired a single shot .75 caliber ball or a cluster
style shot which fired multiple projectiles giving the weapon a shotgun
like effect. The barrel, lockwork, and sling-swivels were typically made of
iron while other pieces such as the butt plate, trigger guard, and ramrod
pipe were found in both iron and brass. It weighed around 10 pounds and
could be fitted with a 17 inch triangular cross-section bayonet. The rifle
did not have sights, but it could be aimed by using the bayonet lug as crude
sight.
Like most muskets, the accuracy of the Brown Bess was fair, with the
effective range being quote as 175 yards, but most formations and
strategies called for the weapon to be fired en masse at 50 yards to inflict
the greatest damage upon the enemy.
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I I I . T H E S O L D I E R
“The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone;
it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”-Patrick Henry
A rifle wasn’t the only thing a Revolutionary War soldier carried:
pistols, sabers, and halberds were also known to be carried. Officers
carried smallswords, Dragoons were officially issued a saber and a pistol.
For standard infantry, pistols were rare.
The soldiers in the Revolutionary War that fought for America were
either Continental Army Soldiers (after its formation) or Militiaman
A continental army soldier, on his right side carried a leather or tin
cartridge box that held twenty to thirty rounds of ammunition, a musket
tool, and a supply of flints. On his left side he carried his bayonet in a
leather scabbard attached to a linen or leather shoulder strap. Each soldier
also carried a haversack, usually made of linen, to carry his food rations
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and eating utensils, which typically included a fork or spoon, a knife a
plate and a cup. He also had a canteen made of wood, tin or even in some
cases glass to carry water. His knapsack held extra clothing and other
personal items such as a shaving kit, a tinderbox with flint and steel for
starting a fire, candle holders, a comb and a small mirror. Soliders also
learned to carry a fishhook and twine so that they could catch fresh fish
when near a lake or river.
After the formation of the Continental Army, the militiamen were the
secondary fighting force in the Americas but were often called upon to
assist the army in military campaigns. While the equipment that the militia
soldier carried looked different from that of the Continental soldier they
usually performed the same or similar function. A militia rifleman carried
his firearm, knife, tomahawk (or a light ax), water canteen, powderhorn for
his black powder, and a hunting pouch that held other shooting supplies.
Battles fought with black-powder weapons would produce enough
smoke that would make it very difficult to see more than few yards on the
battlefield. Clouds of smoke would make it harder to distinguish between
friendly and enemy forces. Because the smoke produced was white, bright
colors were typically chosen for uniforms. The British for the most part
wore red and scarlet uniforms; the French wore uniforms of white, but
with bright blue accents, and the Americans wore dark blues and browns.Congress did not adopt an “official” uniform until 1779, but soldiers did
tend to have clothing similar to others in the company or regiment. Many
volunteer companies entered the war in uniforms purchased by themselves
or their commanders.
A soldier’s uniform consisted of:
• a hat, usually turned up on one or three sides
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• linen or cotton shirt
• wool coat
• a waistcoat or vest
• a pair of trousers or breeches that were gathered just below the
knee or overalls
• stockings
• leather shoes
Camp life for the soldier's provided minimum equipment. Officers
were provided tents made of canvas or heavy cotton, usually about 10 feet
across by 14 feet deep by 8 feet high. If supplies were available infantry
were given tents, which were roughly 6.5 feet square and 5 feet high. Not
only was it smaller than an officer’s tent, but it was expected to provide
shelter for 5 men. In lieu of a tent, an infantryman would use his blanket to protect him from the elements. While marching soldiers would eat biscuits
or hard bread and ears of corn. Sometimes there was cornmeal and dried
beef. Baggage wagons would lead the march and carry the provisions and
rations of troops. The wagons were in front, so that the soldiers would be
forced to pass by them when the army stopped the march for the day. As
they passed by they would pick up their rations and start setting up camp
and cooking.
Cooking became essential in camp because food was issued in raw
form. A set of cooking utensils was usually issued to every six or eight
men. This included a kettle, cooking forks and spoons, and often a water
bucket. Soldiers usually provided their own forks, spoons, and knives to
eat with. They also needed a plate, usually made of wood or pewter, and a
drinking cup.
In 1777 it was ordered that each soldier would receive one pound of
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flour or bread, one and one-half pound of beef or pork, and one quart of
beer per day. Each week he would receive five pints of peas, one pint of
meal, and six ounces of butter. Vinegar was issued on occasion and rum
was issued to those men working around the camp and on guard duty. It
was recommended that the men should always boil or roast their
provisions.
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I I I . F O R M A T I O N S
“Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they
mean to have a war, let it begin here..”-John Parker
Camp life was one thing, but the battlefield was another. It’s a
common “myth” or more correctly a “misunderstanding” that the
American army beat the British by employing guerilla tactics to fight
against the British who just came at them in nice straight organized lines.
This is just not historically accurate.
Did the American Army use guerilla tactics? No. We do have
evidence that proves that colonial militia employed these tactics on several
occasions but in most battles, both sides used the classic linear tactics. It
was how armies of the time foght and Washington wanted to be
recognized as a legitimate commander of a respectable military, so he
employed the tactics and techniques that were common in the world at that
time.
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When soldiers were trained in the American Army, they were trained
using the British manual of arms, but it is interesting to note that while
conventional tactics were the focus, there were some units like those in
Williamsburg, Virginia who would march one day a week to places like
Queen’s Creek in order to practice wood tactics or Indian tactics.
So what exactly were the tactics of the time? They are commonly
referred to as linear tactics and it’s something we’ve all seen before in
movies or on television. Lines of soldiers facing off against each other
while volleying fire back and forth.
The line formation was the standard tactical formation of the time, it
was a continuted derivation of the phalanx formation or shield wall
formation from ancient times. An infantry battalion would form “in line”
by placing troops in several ranks (or rows) (with 3 ranks being the most
common), each rank was roughly half a metre apart and each shoulder was
roughly arms length apart. The army had to be well drilled in this
formation and constantly watched over by officers and noncommissioned
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officers to ensure that the line was solid and that proper order and
discipline was maintained. The officers and non-coms typically arranged at
the rear of the line, behind their respective units. The line formation was
considered a stationary formation. Troops could advance short distances,
but movement was slow and typically always resulted in a broken line, an
uneven line, or an unwanted salient in the line.
Troops travelled in a traditional column formation, which is a
formation of soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the
file is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation. The
formation allowed the troops to move quickly, charge effectively, and
form a square formation quickly (which we’ll talk about momentarily) but
it would not present a large number of firing muskets towards an enemy
target.
The line formation was slow for moving, but it was also very
susceptible to cavalry charges. An effective cavalry charge against a unit
in line formation would completely break down the units cohesion and
quite possible even lead to the unit being completely wiped out. Not to
mention the morale and psychological impact to other nearby line units. To
combat this, a line formation would transition into a square formation.
The square formation or “hollow square formation” was units
arranged as a square or sometimes rectangle with each side composed of
two or more ranks of soldiers armed with their muskets and bayonets
affixed. Typically a battalion (approx 500 to 1,000 men) was the smallest
force to form a square. The units colors and commander were positioned in
the center, along with reserve forces to help patch holes in the square.
Once formed in a square the infantry would volley fire at approaching
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cavalry, either by file or by rank. If possible they would hold fire until
roughly 30 metres from the square. The resulting casualties would
eventually form piles of dead and wounded horses as well as their riders
which would help to obstruct further attacks. The weakest point of the
square formation was it’s corners. An effective cavalry charge, while
costly to the cavalry unit, could break the formation. Calvary would also
use feint charges and false attacks to make the units waste their shots, and
then fully charge while they were busy reloading. The best way, however,
to break a square formation was with artillery. 500 to 1,000 men grouped
closely together would be easy targets for artillery. The cohesion of the
square would break under sustained fire.
Another formation was the skirmish formation. In this formation, unit
cohesion is much looser and the troops are much more spread out.
Typically behind cover or a structure like a fence or ridgeline or even trees
and rocks. It may be the skirmish formation that is often confused with
“guerilla tactics”, especially since American militiamen were known to use
tactics taught to them by the Native American tribes (ie: how to effective
fight from cover). While the skirmish formation promotes firing from a
covered position it doesn’t enforce the “hit and fade” tactics that are so
common with guerilla attacks. In a guerilla attack, an offensive force
would appear and harass the enemy, either defeating him, or fading back
into cover to retreat or converge from another angle. A skirmish formationwas more dug in. Holding a fairly stable position, that would remain there
until ordered otherwise. The skirmish formation was the least susceptible
to massive losses under artillery fire because the men were so spread out.
However, they were extremely vulnerable to cavalry charges as they did
not present a united line or front of fire like the line or square formations.
Calvary were also privy to their own tactics and techniques. Given
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that they were large targets for artillery and their smooth bore weapons had
a close range (in fact, most dragoon or cavalry soldiers fought more with a
sword than with their firearm) they were ill-suited for holding terrain. The
primary role of calvary elements was to disrupt enemy lines, to rout units,
the split forces, and to charge and destroy artillery positions. They were
major offensive force that would do great damage to enemy forces if they
were left unchecked.
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A B O U T T H E A U T H O R
Justin Johnson is a native of North Carolina where he lives with his
(smokin’ hot) wife and 3 children. During the day he works for a Fortune 50
Retailer located in North Carolina. On his off hours outside of spending time with
his family, he finds the time to produce and publish the American Military History
Podcast.
Justin chose Military History as his content niche, for a few reasons:
1. He’s always regretted not joining the military himself
2. There’s a story to be told. From the men and women who put their lives
on hold and on the line to protect the freedoms of our nation
www.americanmilitaryhistorypodcast.com