Enfield1
40 Cal.
I was back at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield on Columbus Day weekend. I always stop by the book store to see if there is anything new. I found a book called "The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat, Reality and Myth" by Earl J. Hess. Have any of y'all seen or read this? The conclusions drawn in the book support the idea that the Minie Ball didn't play as big a roll in the war as has been suggested by other historians. He makes what I think is a pretty good case. The minie ball made a huge difference with regards to skirmishing and "sniping", but not much of a difference in engagements between maneuver units. He lists many battles and has researched actual distances that were between opposing units. The average range of 68 yards and even closer in forested engagements gives a lot of credence to the idea that the old smoothbores were just as good. He also mentioned that if proper training had been given to soldiers in how to use the minie ammunition and its high trajectory flight, things may have been different. Anyway, I am a "firearms nerd" and I enjoyed it. :hatsoff: