A firepower Friday thread. 18th century buckshot: who used it? TL;DR-first reaction may be to associate this type of round with the American army, but most European militaries of the time used it, and the Russians stood out as the other military who employed it as standard. 1/17
I'll start by thanking Prof. Dr Hab. Grzegorz Podruczny for his advice with source material. His archeological work at Kunersdorf is one of the great scholarly projects in my field, and he was kind to show an annoying American PhD candidate around his site in 2018 and 2019. 2/17
Buckshot consists of smaller projectiles, which spread out after leaving the barrel of the weapon. it was utilized by American, Austrian, British, French and Russian regular troops as well. By firing more projectiles at the target, troops generated a larger wall of lead. 3/17
Most troops discussed in this post were not firing only buckshot, but rather both buckshot and musket ball ammunition. In English, this is called "buck and ball", (sometimes, "buck 'n' ball") ammunition.[1] This consisted of a regular ball with 2-3 buckshot attached. 4/17
This would provide the best of both worlds: the larger ball could be effective at long ranges, while at 100 yards or less, the buckshot would begin to wound and mangle enemy soldiers. In the French and Indian War British officers said that their enemies used this ammunition. 5/17
A British officer recalled, "The enemy never fire a single ball, for they always load with six or seven smaller ones (which are called buck-shot) besides their usual musket-ball." The same officer referred to being under buckshot fire as, "a dreadful shower." 6/17
By 1760, both the British and their provincial allies had followed suit. John Knox reported that New England provincials, "advanced, very spiritedly, to the enemy, who were endeavoring to steal upon them; gave them a regular discharge of a brace of balls, besides buckshot." 7/17
In his 2008 book, Kiril Tatarnikov shows the Russian military issued buckshot cartridges to soldiers as standard relatively early. In 1715, Russian troops were issued 50 cartridges total, 30 with ball ammunition, and 20 with buckshot ammunition. 8/17
The Russian army of the Seven Years' War used buckshot to terrible effect. Indeed, the use of buckshot may help explain the incredible high casualties at battles like Zorndorf. A Prussian recalled the battle of Zorndorf: 9/17
"On our side, therefore, there were...a great number of wounded. However, most of the wounded were able to convalesce with their regiments...every Russian infantryman loads a musket ball and...pack of buckshot. There are between 7-9 of these in a linen packet[.] 10/17
As a result of this, the Russians load quite slowly, as a Jäger loads his rifle. In the time it takes the Russians to load their weapons, the Prussians have fired three times. We have found signs of this buckshot in many of the wounded, because they bled...almost to death." 11/17
It is interesting that the Prussian soldier compares the additional time loading this ammunition to that of a Jägers' rifled weapon. After the Seven Years' War, Russian army would continue to use buckshot ammunition until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. 12/17
This ammunition was used by militiamen in the American War of Independence. When not using rifled weapons, militia troops increased their firepower through buck and ball ammunition. Both Continental and militia troops used buck and ball ammunition at the Battle of Camden. 13/17
George Washington was a proponent of buck and ball ammunition. On October 6th, 1777, Washington's general orders mandated, "Buckshot are to be put into all the cartridges that shall hereafter be made."[11] This decision came directly after the Battle of Germantown. 14/17
American sources report suffering buckshot wounds when engaged with British regulars, particularly in the Southern Campaign of 1781. At the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, it is possible that the Brigade of Guards and the 33rd Regiment were using this type of ammunition. 15/17
Rather than being a distinct practice unique to American backwoodsmen, many armies used this ammunition. The Continental army and the Russians stood out in employing it as their standard load. 16/17
For footnotes and more (the Austrians used it too, for example) check out the piece here: kabinettskriege.blogspot.com/2018/05/milita… 17/17
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