tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post4280641600386397584..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: “With two balls each time, and with well directed aim”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-36328386741509695372011-04-24T14:15:13.672-05:002011-04-24T14:15:13.672-05:00The recoil alone from firing two musket balls on t...The recoil alone from firing two musket balls on top of a military charge in a Long Land Pattern Musket will be punishing enough. The accuracy suffers, too. I don't recommend trying this at home. Ask me how I know!RFullernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-39884401646401419012011-04-24T11:31:04.772-05:002011-04-24T11:31:04.772-05:00Just remember to use smaller balls, not the size t...Just remember to use smaller balls, not the size that needs to be rammed down, they should just drop in. Two tight balls rammed home might not kill you, but I suspect it would be pretty unpleasant.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17187063712915310505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-19706651944138715312011-04-22T14:52:10.263-05:002011-04-22T14:52:10.263-05:00Now I want to fire a brace of balls next time I ta...Now I want to fire a brace of balls next time I take the Bess to the range.<br /><br />If I do, I'll let you know if I die from it.Robert S. Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06208771657848284055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-51660498000320313372011-04-21T22:38:49.135-05:002011-04-21T22:38:49.135-05:00I think we should give credit for being “lost” whe...I think we should give credit for being “lost” where it’s due, to Cleaves’s horse.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-5375486138652061552011-04-21T18:01:33.156-05:002011-04-21T18:01:33.156-05:00I guess that Nathaniel Cleaves is a lost rider of ...I guess that Nathaniel Cleaves is a lost rider of April 19, just not a legendary one.Charles Bahnenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-84777842735343895512011-04-21T12:45:10.298-05:002011-04-21T12:45:10.298-05:00You would certainly still aim, but all you are doi...You would certainly still aim, but all you are doing is trying to get it into the area. With a single ball on the first shot from either my Brown Bess or my Charleville I can can hit a plate sized target at seventy yards or so with some consistency. With a smaller ball or a couple of balls I can likely hit a man sized target, but it is luck where it will hit. The balls could go high or low. <br /><br />When we shot competitively with muskets we set up a line of man sized targets and fired as a line. We counted any hit on the targets as a score and as a line we could get a good number of hits, but after the first few shots the balls start to go all over. By the time we have fired eleven shots we are hitting the targets on either side of where we are aiming and the hits can be all over.<br /><br />Now we were firing at boards that were not firing back at us and are sportsmen, not real soldiers so take all that with a grain of salt but the physical elements of what is going on are the same. More balls at close range will likely run up casualties, but I think the effectiveness in real battles would drop off when volleying at range as the balls scatter more.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17187063712915310505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-29683033151258925422011-04-21T10:26:38.092-05:002011-04-21T10:26:38.092-05:00Several years ago one of the basic cable televisio...Several years ago one of the basic cable television channels was producing a program on the Boston Massacre, and the issue of firing two balls from one gun came up. The program’s firearms expert apparently pooh-poohed the idea. Meanwhile, I was sending primary sources from March 1770 showing British regulars loaded that very night with “a brace of balls.” Since then my ears prick up whenever I see more evidence from the eighteenth century of the practice.<br /><br />In the Massacre, accepting that most of the soldiers had two balls in their guns helps to explain the number of casualties, and the firing pattern of the balls that killed Crispus Attucks and wounded Edward Payne.<br /><br />It’s notable that in his speech Foster emphasized <i>both</i> firing two balls and taking aim, even though a brace of balls isn’t as accurate as one.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-19129319622703032002011-04-21T08:57:09.887-05:002011-04-21T08:57:09.887-05:00You can shoot two balls easily from a musket, they...You can shoot two balls easily from a musket, they were almost all smoothbores, shotguns by today's standards and were often loaded with shot when hunting. The musket balls used were frequently loose fitting to make loading faster and easier. <br /><br />When loaded like this you can't easily carry the musket around while loaded unless you use wadding on top to hold the balls in place, but when you are just loading and firing you can skip the wadding, drop the balls down, tamp it with the ram rod to make sure they went all the way down and then fire.<br /><br />Loading two balls is much less accurate than loading one tighter ball, again like a shotgun the smaller balls spread out unpredictably, but when firing in a line of men a mass of inaccurate balls going at the enemy is still bound to hit some of them. The drill of the period was focused on the speed and volume of fire rather than the accuracy.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17187063712915310505noreply@blogger.com