Since we mentioned Rambo, how about his bow?The actual Rambo knives were made by Jimmy Lile. This one is $2250!
Since we mentioned Rambo, how about his bow?The actual Rambo knives were made by Jimmy Lile. This one is $2250!
The Alamo was a 13 day siege. The final battle did take place at night. At 10pm Santa Anna had his artillery cease fire, as he suspected, the people in side the Alamo would be exhausted and fall a sleep. It worked, and the sentries outside were killed in their sleep. Unfortunately for the attacking troops, their bugler sounded the charge and others yelled "¡Viva Santa Anna!" alerting the defenders. The muskets of the regulars were easy to reload, it was the Kentucky and Pennsylvania rifles that were hard to reload because of fouling, and darkness. Custer's men were armed with single shot Springfield 45-70 carbines. Unfortunately, the cartridges were made of copper and did not shrink back down after the barrels became excessively hot. There have been a lot of broken knife tips. and the end of the case, found over the years, from the poor trooper trying desperately to extract the fired cartage rendering their guns useless. The Indians were fairly well armed, with Henry's, Winchester's and Spencer repeating rifles. Ironically, at Gettysburg, Custer's men were armed with Spencer repeating rifles, and in the early days of the 7th, they had them to. Don't want the men to waist ammunition on silly things like survival, just wouldn't be proper! The other big irony was, on so called last stand hill, a lot of the men were killed by arrows. Apparently the Indians, who were no fools, just hid in the greasy grass and lobed volleys of arrows up and then down onto the troopers.There was mention of the movie,"Davy Crockett",
( I collected the gum-cards)
Recently saw the film "Alamo" starring Billy Bob.
This portrayal has the siege taking place very early when it
was dark.
Others films have the battle taking place during daylight.
I believe the guns used were of the black powder flint-lock type.
There's reference that the men at the Alamo had several by their
side. Loading took time. So it makes sense.
The attacking soldiers probably were carrying a musket.
After firing their weapon... how were they able to reload in the
dark while running to attack?
I also saw several documentaries regarding "Custer's Last Stand".
There is mention of Henry rifles used by the indians.
Not sure what weapons the 7th used.
It was pointed out that this was another reason for the results
of the outcome. Although most blame Custer for making the
wrong decisions.
It was also pointed out that the location known as "Custer's Last Stand"
was not the final scene of the battle as shown in movies.
Why is it, every time I post, all the nice paragraphs I so labored over, disappear, and my reply turns into one long rant?
The Alamo was a 13 day siege. The final battle did take place at night. At 10pm Santa Anna had his artillery cease fire, as he suspected, the people in side the Alamo would be exhausted and fall a sleep. It worked, and the sentries outside were killed in their sleep. Unfortunately for the attacking troops, their bugler sounded the charge and others yelled "¡Viva Santa Anna!" alerting the defenders. The muskets of the regulars were easy to reload, it was the Kentucky and Pennsylvania rifles that were hard to reload because of fouling, and darkness. Custer's men were armed with single shot Springfield 45-70 carbines. Unfortunately, the cartridges were made of copper and did not shrink back down after the barrels became excessively hot. There have been a lot of broken knife tips. and the end of the case, found over the years, from the poor trooper trying desperately to extract the fired cartage rendering their guns useless. The Indians were fairly well armed, with Henry's, Winchester's and Spencer repeating rifles. Ironically, at Gettysburg, Custer's men were armed with Spencer repeating rifles, and in the early days of the 7th, they had them to. Don't want the men to waist ammunition on silly things like survival, just wouldn't be proper! The other big irony was, on so called last stand hill, a lot of the men were killed by arrows. Apparently the Indians, who were no fools, just hid in the greasy grass and lobed volleys of arrows up and then down onto the troopers.
The Alamo was a 13 day siege. The final battle did take place at night. At 10pm Santa Anna had his artillery cease fire, as he suspected, the people in side the Alamo would be exhausted and fall a sleep. It worked, and the sentries outside were killed in their sleep. Unfortunately for the attacking troops, their bugler sounded the charge and others yelled "¡Viva Santa Anna!" alerting the defenders. The muskets of the regulars were easy to reload, it was the Kentucky and Pennsylvania rifles that were hard to reload because of fouling, and darkness. Custer's men were armed with single shot Springfield 45-70 carbines. Unfortunately, the cartridges were made of copper and did not shrink back down after the barrels became excessively hot. There have been a lot of broken knife tips. and the end of the case, found over the years, from the poor trooper trying desperately to extract the fired cartage rendering their guns useless. The Indians were fairly well armed, with Henry's, Winchester's and Spencer repeating rifles. Ironically, at Gettysburg, Custer's men were armed with Spencer repeating rifles, and in the early days of the 7th, they had them to. Don't want the men to waist ammunition on silly things like survival, just wouldn't be proper! The other big irony was, on so called last stand hill, a lot of the men were killed by arrows. Apparently the Indians, who were no fools, just hid in the greasy grass and lobed volleys of arrows up and then down onto the troopers.
Washington had a standard order for the riflemen.....fire, fall back, reload, and advance. He knew the value of the long range precision that P/K had as well as the drawbacks. A side note, Col Ferguson, the British commander that was killed on Kings Mountain had developed a breach loading rifle called the Ferguson Rifle. At the time of his death he was trying to convince the British Army to adopt it.The Kentucky rifle and the Pennsylvania rifle are synonymous. Also George Washington preferred the smooth bore musket over the Pennsylvania / Kentucky rifle, as you correctly pointed out due to the inability of the P/K rifle to reload in a timely manner. Usually 4 rounds for the smooth bore to 2 rounds for the P/K.
Too bad by the Civil War, they hadn't figured it out that rifling in a barrel and increased ease of loading leads to more accuracy and therefore killing power. So when you're standing 50 yards apart or less, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you need to change tactics. But of course the military can be a little slow changing their notions on modern warfare as pertaining to the battle field.2jakes asked: "Why or what was the purpose of standing up in straight line formation in battle?"
The reason infantry stayed in close formation was at least twofold. First, it allowed for the maximum amount of firepower to be concentrated. Muzzle loading muskets had maybe a 100 yard range in which a trained soldier could hope to hit a target. Therefore the more guns you can bring to bear, the greater the effect will be. Also, it makes volley fire easier to control. (Firing in volley has a greater effect than firing piecemeal). An example of this from the movie Barry Lyndon.
Secondly, in close formation you had some protection from cavalry. Because of the short range and a rate of fire of 2-3 shots a minute of smooth bore muskets, cavalry could close with infantry before much damage was done to them by infantry fire. In formation with bayonets fixed, infantry had some hope of not being overrun. This was best done in squares. As shown in the movie Waterloo.
Washington had a standard order for the riflemen.....fire, fall back, reload, and advance. He knew the value of the long range precision that P/K had as well as the drawbacks. A side note, Col Ferguson, the British commander that was killed on Kings Mountain had developed a breach loading rifle called the Ferguson Rifle. At the time of his death he was trying to convince the British Army to adopt it.
The reason infantry stayed in close formation was at least twofold. First, it allowed for the maximum amount of firepower to be concentrated. Muzzle loading muskets had maybe a 100 yard range in which a trained soldier could hope to hit a target. Therefore the more guns you can bring to bear, the greater the effect will be. Also, it makes volley fire easier to control. (Firing in volley has a greater effect than firing piecemeal). An example of this from the movie Barry Lyndon.
Secondly, in close formation you had some protection from cavalry. Because of the short range and a rate of fire of 2-3 shots a minute of smooth bore muskets, cavalry could close with infantry before much damage was done to them by infantry fire. In formation with bayonets fixed, infantry had some hope of not being overrun. This was best done in squares. As shown in the movie Waterloo.
Too bad by the Civil War, they hadn't figured it out that rifling in a barrel and increased ease of loading leads to more accuracy and therefore killing power. So when you're standing 50 yards apart or less, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you need to change tactics. But of course the military can be a little slow changing their notions on modern warfare as pertaining to the battle field.
I agree with you. It's interesting that in Captain America Civil War, Ant Man takes out Iron Man in such a way as you describeForget go-kart sized tanks. Future battle robots will be cockroach-sized or smaller. Why send in one big robot when a million tiny ones will be unstoppable? 3-D printing will make it possible. My sci-fi background makes me a pessimist.
The only weapons that bother me in films are when Nazi machine guns are obviously modified or un-modified Thompsons. Of course all the real ones were being used at the time.
Worf
Forget go-kart sized tanks. Future battle robots will be cockroach-sized or smaller. Why send in one big robot when a million tiny ones will be unstoppable? 3-D printing will make it possible. My sci-fi background makes me a pessimist.
Plus, the Pennsylvania rifles were not fitted for bayonets, a tool the British and Hessians used greatly to their advantage, especially in damp weather.The Kentucky rifle and the Pennsylvania rifle are synonymous. Also George Washington preferred the smooth bore musket over the Pennsylvania / Kentucky rifle, as you correctly pointed out due to the inability of the P/K rifle to reload in a timely manner. Usually 4 rounds for the smooth bore to 2 rounds for the P/K.
Of course, the bayonet charge was Bloody Tarleton's undoing at the battle of Cowpens!Plus, the Pennsylvania rifles were not fitted for bayonets, a tool the British and Hessians used greatly to their advantage, especially in damp weather.
Plus, the Pennsylvania rifles were not fitted for bayonets, a tool the British and Hessians used greatly to their advantage, especially in damp weather.