One Man Won the Revolution???

[Jack the Ripper]

We are always hearing about the importance and skill of sharpshooters on the modern battleground; although most Americans dont know the story of the single sniper that possibly won the Revolutionary war over 200 years ago.

This is the most detailed i can get about it: A sharpshooter bearing a Pennsylvania longrifle shot an English general at 300 yards in a large battle during the american revolution. Because of the british tactics at the time, when the general died the confused british troops were routed and the Americans won the battle. Observing overseas, the french noted how well and easily the americans won the battle (probably not knowing of the whole dead-genral factor), and provided support for the americans which most historians say were essential to the outcome of the war.

If anyone out there knows the more specific form of the story (such as the snipers name, the general's name,the name of the battle, etc) please feel free to tell your version.

It is important to note that making a 300 yard shot, even by today's standards, is highly difficult. It is made even more difficult with the wind factor, the fact that he was (allegedly) standing, the type of ammo used (probibly just a musketball), the fact he was using only open sights, and obsticles between him and the target.

Would america have still won the war without this lone sniper? It can be scary to think about. With that i would like to thank all of the US snipers, past and present, for their remarkable service in war and crime prevention.

 

[bigmeat]

ya, we are forever in his debt

 

[Reno]

Would america have still won the war without this lone sniper?

Simply put yes since Spain and France suported the Americans and the British where tied up fighting the French in europe.

 

[Provolution]

Lee Harvey Oswald? Crime Prevention?

 

[Jawz II]

yeah or that black washington sniper guy

 

[SeleucusNicator]

I believe there was also an instance where a British sniper had George Washington in his sights, but did not pull the trigger, because he believed it ungentlemanly to do so.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

Anyway, it is pretty much accepeted that the Battle of Saratoga was the event that convinced the French to support the American Revolution. This occured in New York, whereas your incident occured in Penn. So I do not believe it was the deciding factor if you got the story right.

 

[Jack the Ripper]

I said he used a pennsylvania long rifle, not that the battle occured in PA

 

[Nobody]

iv heard about someone who had hitler in this sights during ww1, but didnt shoot.

 

[Jack the Ripper]

yeah, hitler won the iron cross for taking 15(?) british troops prisoner by himself during ww1. He was also shot once and was nearly killed in a gas attack that left him blind for weeks

 

[samildanach]

This is the most detailed i can get about it: A sharpshooter bearing a Pennsylvania longrifle shot an English general at 300 yards in a large battle during the american revolution.

I know the Pennsylania long rifle is called a rifle but was it actually a rifle? What I mean by that is does it have a rifled barrel? I've just looked up images of PLRs and they appear to have octagonal flared barrels.
It doesn't look like the PLRs barrel would confer any spin to the musket ball which you would need to be accurate at that sort of range.

 

[alex994]

We are always hearing about the importance and skill of sharpshooters on the modern battleground; although most Americans dont know the story of the single sniper that possibly won the Revolutionary war over 200 years ago.

This is the most detailed i can get about it: A sharpshooter bearing a Pennsylvania longrifle shot an English general at 300 yards in a large battle during the american revolution. Because of the british tactics at the time, when the general died the confused british troops were routed and the Americans won the battle. Observing overseas, the french noted how well and easily the americans won the battle (probably not knowing of the whole dead-genral factor), and provided support for the americans which most historians say were essential to the outcome of the war.

If anyone out there knows the more specific form of the story (such as the snipers name, the general's name,the name of the battle, etc) please feel free to tell your version.

It is important to note that making a 300 yard shot, even by today's standards, is highly difficult. It is made even more difficult with the wind factor, the fact that he was (allegedly) standing, the type of ammo used (probibly just a musketball), the fact he was using only open sights, and obsticles between him and the target.

Would america have still won the war without this lone sniper? It can be scary to think about. With that i would like to thank all of the US snipers, past and present, for their remarkable service in war and crime prevention.

Or are u talking about a battle in the War of 1812 that prevented the British Troops from going overland and taking Baltimore due to a guy who's name is unknown shot the commanding colonel? Thus saving Baltimore from falling...

 

[Intendant]

I believe there was also an instance where a British sniper had George Washington in his sights, but did not pull the trigger, because he believed it ungentlemanly to do so.

That would be Major Patrick Ferguson, at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. He was later killed at the battle of King's Mountain, South Carolina. By all accounts a very brave and effective officer. He also invented a breech loading rifle that could be fired much quicker and more accurately than the standard British infantry weapon of the time. The "Brown Bess" musket. The only Patriot victories that I can think of where a British general was even present were Saratoga and Yorktown. Both Burgoyne and Cornwallis survived the war. In fact, I can't think of any battle where the British commander was killed in a patriot victory, except King's Mountain. Ferguson was only a major and he was the only British Regular on the field. That battle was fought exclusively between patriot and loyalist millita, not uncommon in South Carolina.

 

[Terje]

I believe there was also an instance where a British sniper had George Washington in his sights, but did not pull the trigger, because he believed it ungentlemanly to do so.

I read in a book about freemasons that all the British officers were freemasons (except maybe one or two) and so were all of Washington's top brass (except one here).

As an effect of this, when the British captured one of these freemasons, he was released (I'll see if I can find the book again, and post any names that may have been mentioned), with honors.

The author also claimed that the US is really a masonic project, and that all the aforementioned officers just played along to make it seem as if they were fighting each others (I wonder if the soldiers would have felt good about knowing this...).

I haven't seen any references to this any other places, though, so it's probably not true...

 

[Dreadnought]

I think that you are refering to tghe War of 1812, where a sniper (we dont know his name) killed the commander and the second in charge was incapable, so the attack on Baltimore by land failed.

PS: I HAVE ROME:TOTAL WAR, bigmeat!

 

[alex994]

I think that you are refering to tghe War of 1812, where a sniper (we dont know his name) killed the commander and the second in charge was incapable, so the attack on Baltimore by land failed.

PS: I HAVE ROME:TOTAL WAR, bigmeat!

hey, that's wat i said!