Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: adrian@siesoft.co.uk (Adrian Hussey) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Battle effectiveness of 18th c. smoothbore weapons Message-ID: <11862@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 1 Dec 89 04:20:19 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 84 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Adrian Hussey I am writing a set of wargame rules for the mid-18th century, and I'm trying to assess the battlefield effectiveness of smoothbore muskets and artillery. Does anybody in the group have any interest in or opinions on this subject? The sort of questions I'm looking for 'answers' to are: * what sort of hit rate would these weapons expect to achieve. (Hughes in "Firepower" has a lot of interesting evidence and theories about this, and estimates that about 2% of musket balls fired would actually cause a hit.) * what rate of fire would be PRACTICAL with these weapons, given the amount of smoke they generate. I would particularly like to hear the opinions of anyone who has actually fired such a weapon - any reenactors out there who can shed some light on this? Given a 2% hit rate - which sound pitifully low - and a ROF of 2 rounds a minute (theoretically reasonable?) an infantry battalion of 600 men would be able to cause, on average, 120 casualties in 5 minutes! (10 volleys at 12 hits each). But the impression I have is that infantry firefights lasted much longer than this - 20 minutes? an hour? - and the final casualty rates, whilst still unpleasant, don't match these rates. Therefore, other factors must be at work - I suspect the amount of smoke reducing the effective ROF appreciably, fatigue, fear etc. Hence my interest in your, possibly more knowledgeable, opinions. Please post or email me as you think fit. ANY responses would be greatfully received. Indeed, if there is anybody out there who's interested in discussing ANY aspects of mid-18th century warfare, please email me. Thanks for your time. Adrian Hussey adrian@siesoft.co.uk [mod.note: In _Napoleon's Military Machine_ (1988) (ISBN 0-87052-549-2), Philip J Haythornthwaite gives the following for Napoleonic muskets: Effectiveness of musketry results of tests under ideal conditions Mueller (Elements of the Science of War) Percentage of hits on a target representing a line of cavalry Range By well-trained men By ordinary soldiers 100 yds 53% 40% 200 yds 30% 18% 300 yds 23% 15% Picard (La Campagne de 1800 Allemagne) Target 1.75m x 3m 75m 60% hits 150m 40% 225m 25% 300m 20% The author states that rate of fire was theoretically 4 rpm, but would drop to about 2 during battle, as the bore became fouled and panic took effect. He gives a misfire rate of 1 in 6.5 rounds under test conditions. Casualties were sometimes very high; at Austerlitz, the 36th Grenadier regiment lost 220 men out of 230. Many volleys were at 50 yds or less. The French casualties at Vittoria, he states, suggest one hit per 459 shots, which does not account for the 6800 artillery rounds fired. He cites Roquerol, in _L'Artillerie au debut des guerres de la revolution_ as stating only .2 to .5% of bullets were "effective", and mentioned a contemporary theory that it took seven times a man's weight in shot to kill him. Bill ] Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com