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American riflemen, armed with their own long barrelled hunting rifles, were one of the most famous troop types of the American War of Independence, often portrayed as a war winning weapon, picking off British officers at long distances and dominating any battle in rough ground or forests. On the British side the light infantry is far less famous (although its later Napoleonic version is rather more well known), and was a fairly effective counter to the riflemen.
We start with a useful examination of the two types of units, looking at their weapons, training, strengths and weaknesses. Here we find several of the myths of the war challenged, with American officers asking for muskets to replace their rifles, and British troops trained in marksmanship.
The first two battles examined involved British regulars and the riflemen of the Continental Army. Harlem Heights was a minor battle in the New York theatre which raised American morale but had little direct important. In contrast Freeman’s Farm was one of the key battles of the Saratoga campaign and helped bring the British advance to a halt, leading soon afterwards to the British surrender at Saratoga.
The third battle, Hanging Rock, takes us away from the battles between American and British regulars and into the world of the Loyalist militias and American Loyalists. This sort of battle probably saw the riflemen at their most effective in the later years of the war, often able to take advantage of their advantage in numbers to threaten British positions, especially across the southern States.
One interesting note is that Washington generally came to prefer the British model of musket and bayonet armed light infantry to the rifleman, at least with the main Continental Army. The lack of a bayonet meant that the riflemen weren’t able to defend themselves at close quarters, while the rifles themselves were generally harder to maintain in the field. The best riflemen had a clear advantage over the British light infantry, but that wasn’t automatically the case for lesser units.
On the British side the light infantry was never present in large enough numbers. That fits with the general history of British light infantry – appreciated in wartime, somewhat ignored in peacetime. Even its successes in North America weren’t enough to win it a major place in the post-war army, and the British had to largely rebuild their light infantry once again during the French Revolutionary Wars.
Overall this is a useful comparison of two troop types that were often used to perform similar roles.
Chapters
1 – The Opposing Sides
2 – Harlem Heights September 16, 1776
3 – Freeman’s Farm, September 19, 1777
4 – Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780
5 – Analysis
6 - Aftermath
Author: Robbie MacNiven
Edition: Paperback
Pages:
Publisher: Osprey
Year: