Thread by @KKriegeBlog

A firepower Friday thread. One of the most persistent and inaccurate views of this period is that infantry firefights occurred at extremely close range: 50 yards or less. TL;DR, firefights often occurred at longer range, between 100-300 yards. Please, tell your friends. 1/25

The public (and even historians) often imagine battle looked like reenactments. In these reenactments, troops often open fire at a very short range, at say 50 or 25 yards. For those unused to picturing ranges, imagine one half or one-quarter of an American football field. 2/25

Troops in the eighteenth-century occasionally fired at such close range (such as the Swedish Karoliner of the Great Northern War, or the British in some circumstances) but MUCH more frequently, fire-fights developed at longer range. Imagine 2 football fields between troops. 3/25

In the eighteenth-century, the term "musket-shot" usually referred to a distance of around 300 yards. Commanders, concerned about the accuracy of their musketry, often performed tests in peacetime to discover an optimal range. 4/25

During the era, such tests were conducted at between 500 yards and 80 yards, 200 yards and 100 yards, and further estimations of 250 yards and 80 yards and 200 yards and 80 yards. Leaving aside this theoretical point, let us turn to what the soldiers of the era say. 5/25

In the first category, there are skirmishes and premature fires by inexperienced troops. These preliminary skirmishes often occurred at 300 yards, or even a greater distance. As a result, they were not very deadly. 6/25

In 1759 and 1760, French troops and their native allies opened fire on the British at a range of 300 yards, which seemed quite normal to the participants. During a skirmish on Staten Island in June of 1777, preliminary skirmishing began at about 300 yards. 7/25

At the Battle of Mollwitz in 1741, the Prussian infantry, inexperienced in real combat, opened fire at the considerable range of 600-800 yards. In Europe during large-scale and determined combat, battlelines could draw much closer. 8/25

A good "average" range for combat during the Seven Years' War appears to be between 200 yards and 100 yards. At the Battle of Leuthen in 1757, Ernst von Barsewisch recalled, "As soon as we had cleared the forest, we approached the enemy's second line of battle at a... 9/25

...distance of 200 paces [150 yards], which was preparing to march against us. Now... our officers ordered, "Fire! Fire!" Later in the war, Barsewisch recalled being fired on by Croats at a similar distance. The lines at Prague in 1757 were around 150 yards apart. 10/25

At Hochkirch in 1758, Johann von Archenholz recalled that the Austrians opened fire at, "a few hundred paces." During a skirmish near Prenzlow in October of 1760, hostile forces approached to within 200 paces [150 yards] of one another. 11/25

At the Battle of Vellinghausen in 1761, official reports indicate that battle lines were 150 paces [100 yards] apart, and indicate that this was uncomfortably close. When the battle lines closed to 80 yards at the Battle of Minden, the contest was no longer in doubt. 12/25

In North America, infantry firefights followed a similar mold. At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the French opened fire a very regular European distance, 130 yards. In 1759, Francis Downman noted that the enemy kept, "always 200 yards in our front." 13/25

During the American War of Independence, this pattern continued. During the flank attack at the Battle of Brandywine, both the British and Americans gave fire at 150 yards, and then the British immediately charged at the run with their bayonets. 14/25

The French attack on St. Lucia in December of 1778 was conducted, "at a distance not less than 280 yards." At the Battle of Camden, John Robert Shaw describes an infantry firefight at 100 yards. At Guilford Courthouse the American line opened fire at 140 yards. 15/25

Troops were often ordered to hold their fire until very close to the enemy line, but appear to have found it difficult to follow this directive. At the Battle of Germantown in 1777, Joseph Plumb Martin describes this in his humorous way: 16/25

"We saw a body of the enemy drawn up behind a rail fence on our right; we immediately formed in line and advanced upon them. Our orders were not to fire till we could see the buttons upon their clothes... 17/25

...but they were so coy that they would not give us an opportunity to be so curious, for they hid their clothes in fire and smoke before we had either time or leisure to examine their buttons." 18/25

When troops did approach (or fire) at ranges closer than 100 yards, it was often because a bayonet attack was underway. The Swedish Army in the Great Northern War, and the British Army in the American War of Independence, both made quick moving assaults as standard. 19/25

Nicholas Creswell describes this type of attack on Staten Island in 1777: "When [the two sides] were about 100 yards from each other, both parties fired, but I did not see any fall. They still advanced to the distance of 40 yards or less and fired again... 20/25

...I then saw a great number fall on both sides. Our people rushed upon them with their Bayonets and the others took to their heels." If troops moved into 50 yards or closer, it was not to have a firefight, but bc one or other intended to make an attack with bayonets. 21/25

Some British commanders may have preferred try and close the distance before firing. Prescriptive sources: drill manuals, books offering advice to officers, etc, often instructed soldiers to reserve their fire until at thirty or fifty yards of the enemy. 22/25

Often, the commanders judged their tactics on a case-by-case basis. At the Prussian 1785 Review, British General Cornwallis criticized Prussians for advancing too close to their mock enemies before opening fire. 23/25

While a good idea in theory, advancing into such close range under a heavy fire proved difficult to do. Notably, the British seem to have achieved this at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, but examples of this kind are rare. 24/25

On average, troops seem to have fired at ranges of 100 yards or longer. The myth of robotic soldiers marching into close range and slugging it out with the enemy at 50 yards for an extended period of time is not tenable.
Footnotes= kabinettskriege.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-cl… 25/25