How did American forces reload in battle?

[Majorsideburns]

I was wondering about this the other day. For irregular forces like the militia who used their own rifles and were not issued paper cartridges, how did they measure powder for reloads in the heat of battle? Did they really take the time to put powder from the flask into a charge measure before dumping that down their muzzle while taking incoming fire? Or did they just go by "feel" from the powder horn straight to the rifle or musket? To me it seems like fiddling with a charge measure would be a cumbersome fine motor skill that would be very difficult to perform under stress and movement of battle. Was paper common enough that even farmers and common folk carried their own home made cartridges with pre-measured charge and ball?

 

[Magungo1066]

I would think that it often turned into "eyeballing it" if you were in the heat of the fighting. If you weren't directly in the hot stuff, say 300-400 yards away, you would have enough time to measure a charge and ram it home unless it was calvary bearing down on you. This is assuming you don't mess up or delay. An average, reasonably in shape male can cover 300-400 yards in about 80-120 seconds. Add quite a bit of additional time considering their crappy shoes and the encumbrance from gear/gun. If you had a smoothbore, militia rules often stated that you had to use a gun around "standard" musket size. This is so you could use pre loaded paper cartridges that were provided by the government of that colony, and takes away the need to consider measuring your charge out. I am no expert but I hope this helps!

 

[TDM]

We, myself included, are all too caught up in “it has to be done this way”, we have the luxury of time and nobody is shooting at us. In the heat of battle, I doubt many worried about whether they loaded 60 or 90 grains of powder. Survival instinct takes over.

 

[kyron4]

Tip horn in muzzle, 1 Mississippi , 2 Mississippi, ............

 

[tenngun]

I bet a healthy chunk loaded in hand. If you cup your hand and pour a charge you can get within fifteen to twenty grains each time.
Rifleman rarely faced a battle line at the time
Usually they fought from the edge of woods, or used ground cover, mostly deployed beyond musket shot, or on flanks
They may not have been as pressed for time as a lineman
I’ve noticed none of my horns pour smooth. Beside the explosive chance one may not get a charge to load quick just trying to dump down the bore.

 

[Tumbledown]

I would think that it often turned into "eyeballing it" if you were in the heat of the fighting. If you weren't directly in the hot stuff, say 300-400 yards away, you would have enough time to measure a charge and ram it home unless it was calvary bearing down on you. This is assuming you don't mess up or delay. An average, reasonably in shape male can cover 300-400 yards in about 80-120 seconds. Add quite a bit of additional time considering their crappy shoes and the encumbrance from gear/gun. If you had a smoothbore, militia rules often stated that you had to use a gun around "standard" musket size. This is so you could use pre loaded paper cartridges that were provided by the government of that colony, and takes away the need to consider measuring your charge out. I am no expert but I hope this helps!

"Standard" musket size had less to do with the convenience of preloaded cartridges and was more the effectiveness of bullet size. Hunting calibers were underpowered for warfare.

 

[pacanis]

My guess is a timed measure. Something that could have been already been determined hunting or defending their homestead.

 

[Magungo1066]

"Standard" musket size had less to do with the convenience of preloaded cartridges and was more the effectiveness of bullet size. Hunting calibers were underpowered for warfare.

I am sorry but I dont see how this is remotely true. A .58 or .62 caliber ball are well below “musket size” and either can kill a bull moose or bison with ease. A guy on our forum got a pass through on a bull bison with a .62. How is this underpowered for humans? Your insides would be jelly if you took a ball like that through the abdomen.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Most organized and well led militia loaded their smoothbored guns from prepared cartridges. Those that did not were at a great disadvantage and likely before they were in the "heat" of close combat, they ran away. Riflemen took more time, always, because their one advantage, accuracy at distance, depended on it. It was that time needed to load that made them so vulnerable to attack by fast moving light infantry and jaegers. It was why they eventually were grouped with and supported by American infantry and light infantry. Rifle companies generally tried to keep their distance from the enemy and when they did not, as at Freeman's Farm, they got in trouble. I think a lot of folks think of Kings Mountain as the typical fight involving riflemen. It was an exception. The more typical deployments were Harlem Heights, Fort Washington, Freeman's Farm, Bemis Heights, Brandywine, Monmouth, Cowpens, etc. where they operated along with infantry.

dave

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was wondering about this the other day. For irregular forces like the militia who used their own rifles and were not issued paper cartridges, how did they measure powder for reloads in the heat of battle? Did they really take the time to put powder from the flask into a charge measure before dumping that down their muzzle while taking incoming fire? Or did they just go by "feel" from the powder horn straight to the rifle or musket? To me it seems like fiddling with a charge measure would be a cumbersome fine motor skill that would be very difficult to perform under stress and movement of battle. Was paper common enough that even farmers and common folk carried their own home made cartridges with pre-measured charge and ball?

So even militia were normally armed with a cartridge box of some sort. "Independent fire at will" was more of a rifleman thing back then and the riflemen had the time. The men with muskets would fire at a rate that we would think was "slow", and move to load upon command, so even those with horn and ball had time:

Archive of Maryland 1775-1776
And therefore it is recommended to such of the said in-
habitants of this province as are from sixteen to fifty years of age,
to form themselves into companies of sixty-eight men; ...,
and use their utmost endeavors to make themselves masters of
the military exercise: That each man be provided with a good
firelock and bayonet fixed thereon, half a pound of powder, two
pounds of lead, and a cartouch-box, or powder-horn, and a bag
for ball, and be in readiness to act on any emergency.

That every non-commissioned officer and private of the minute
men and militia appear at the time and place appointed for their re-
spective appearance, for mustering, with his firelock and other ac-
coutrements in good order, and there orderly, diligently, and obe-
diently attend to instruction, and perform his exercise in arms, ac-
cording to the commands and orders of his officers, and if any min-
ute or militia man shall not appear at the time and place of muster
with his firelock and other accoutrements in good order, ...,
he shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five shillings common
money for every such neglect or misbehaviour,

Emergency loading of a musket when one does not have a cartridge is done as was mentioned. Cup the ball in the palm of the left hand and pour powder over it to just cover it. Use the left thumb to hold the ball in place, and pour the powder from the hand into the barrel. Then release the ball and let it drop into the barrel. Ram it home. Then prime the musket pan. So that's a form of "eyeballing it" but not direct from horn to muzzle.

When you don't have enough time to do a proper measure of the powder that is also the WORST time to be trying to pour from the horn directly into the musket, for that is when you are most likely to have fired several previous shots, and to have an ember within that will blow you up when it cooks off what comes down the barrel.

Further, IF you're providing your own powder, you do not want to dump it willy nilly... it costs money, and some method of regulating it means you have live ammo as long as you have ball. Pour too much and you're out too soon, and then you're down to a bayonet vs. professional bayonet fighters aka Redcoats.

LD

 

[TFoley]

I'm always reminded, when discussing reloading on the move, of the scene in TLOTM where Mr Lewis is reloading his long rifle whilst running up a mountainside....it's worth another look, IMO.

 

[Daveboone]

Aint nothin new under the sun. I have no doubt (no, cant prove) that in an organized unit, it wouldnt take long for a soljer to rummage up a cartridge box and make up some preloads. No doubt, if shooting from a distance, individual rounds were measured out and loaded. But wouldnt you want a ready supply if things were getting a mite hot and close?

 

[tenngun]

"Standard" musket size had less to do with the convenience of preloaded cartridges and was more the effectiveness of bullet size. Hunting calibers were underpowered for warfare.

I wonder if some of ‘musket size’ was just the large ammo was easier to handle in battle. Almost all civilians guns were smaller

 

[andy52]

I can only say how I do it when confronted with a timed event and it's not inconceivable they could have done the same.
I make up paper charges with power only and keep them in a small belt bag.
Then make up a pre-patched ball board. It goes pretty fast this way. Grab a pre-measured paper charge, tear it with your teeth dump it down the bore, place the ball board on the muzzle ram the ball home, and prime. The whole process takes about 20 seconds.

 

[TNTraveler]

I am sorry but I dont see how this is remotely true. A .58 or .62 caliber ball are well below “musket size” and either can kill a bull moose or bison with ease. A guy on our forum got a pass through on a bull bison with a .62. How is this underpowered for humans? Your insides would be jelly if you took a ball like that through the abdomen.

If you reread the comment, I Think he is saying that hunting calibers, not musket calibers where to small, average hunting rifle would have been around 40 cal or smaller

 

[Magungo1066]

If you reread the comment, I Think he is saying that hunting calibers, not musket calibers where to small, average hunting rifle would have been around 40 cal or

Plenty of rifles were 50-58 caliber leading up to the Revolution. I would shoot a nice sized black bear with any of those calibers and feel very secure. For the guns that were smaller than this his argument makes sense, but many were not that small at that time.

 

[dave_person]

I wonder if some of ‘musket size’ was just the large ammo was easier to handle in battle. Almost all civilians guns were smaller

Hi Tenngun,
I think muskets were of such large bore because it was a carry over from when their main purpose was to kill armored cavalry. There is so much gas escape when loading loose ball that the large powder charge and large ball were needed for penetration and effective range. In the 16th century, a smaller military gun was developed called the caliver. Caliver was a derivation of "caliber" and they were called that because they were the first group of firearms for which bore diameter was standardized. They were about 20 gauge. They were not popular with military leaders because they lacked firepower to accomplish the main tactical objective of muskets, killing armored cavalry. They disappeared during the early 17th century and were replaced by larger bored muskets. By the 19th century, improved powder and eventually rifled muskets made large bores obsolete but the tradition hung on right up through our Civil War. Also, during the 18th century, the musket with bayonet replaced pikemen. A larger, big bored barrel was likely a sturdier base for the bayonet.

dave

 

[Campbell]

I can only say how I do it when confronted with a timed event and it's not inconceivable they could have done the same.
I make up paper charges with power only and keep them in a small belt bag.
Then make up a pre-patched ball board. It goes pretty fast this way. Grab a pre-measured paper charge, tear it with your teeth dump it down the bore, place the ball board on the muzzle ram the ball home, and prime. The whole process takes about 20 seconds.

I’m convinced that any rifle shooter would prep separate powder charges if he knew the fighting would be heavy.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

So even militia were normally armed with a cartridge box of some sort. "Independent fire at will" was more of a rifleman thing back then and the riflemen had the time. The men with muskets would fire at a rate that we would think was "slow", and move to load upon command, so even those with horn and ball had time:

Archive of Maryland 1775-1776
And therefore it is recommended to such of the said in-
habitants of this province as are from sixteen to fifty years of age,
to form themselves into companies of sixty-eight men; ...,
and use their utmost endeavors to make themselves masters of
the military exercise: That each man be provided with a good
firelock and bayonet fixed thereon, half a pound of powder, two
pounds of lead, and a cartouch-box, or powder-horn, and a bag
for ball, and be in readiness to act on any emergency.

That every non-commissioned officer and private of the minute
men and militia appear at the time and place appointed for their re-
spective appearance, for mustering, with his firelock and other ac-
coutrements in good order, and there orderly, diligently, and obe-
diently attend to instruction, and perform his exercise in arms, ac-
cording to the commands and orders of his officers, and if any min-
ute or militia man shall not appear at the time and place of muster
with his firelock and other accoutrements in good order, ...,
he shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five shillings common
money for every such neglect or misbehaviour,

Emergency loading of a musket when one does not have a cartridge is done as was mentioned. Cup the ball in the palm of the left hand and pour powder over it to just cover it. Use the left thumb to hold the ball in place, and pour the powder from the hand into the barrel. Then release the ball and let it drop into the barrel. Ram it home. Then prime the musket pan. So that's a form of "eyeballing it" but not direct from horn to muzzle.

When you don't have enough time to do a proper measure of the powder that is also the WORST time to be trying to pour from the horn directly into the musket, for that is when you are most likely to have fired several previous shots, and to have an ember within that will blow you up when it cooks off what comes down the barrel.

Further, IF you're providing your own powder, you do not want to dump it willy nilly... it costs money, and some method of regulating it means you have live ammo as long as you have ball. Pour too much and you're out too soon, and then you're down to a bayonet vs. professional bayonet fighters aka Redcoats.

LD

You don't have time to use a powder measure but you are going to put a ball in the palm of your hand and then cover it with powder then hold the ball and dump the powder in the barrel. First problem I see is how are you going to hold the musket? How much powder is actually going to make it into the barrel?

 

[Gus Alexander]

I was wondering about this the other day. For irregular forces like the militia who used their own rifles and were not issued paper cartridges, how did they measure powder for reloads in the heat of battle? Did they really take the time to put powder from the flask into a charge measure before dumping that down their muzzle while taking incoming fire? Or did they just go by "feel" from the powder horn straight to the rifle or musket? To me it seems like fiddling with a charge measure would be a cumbersome fine motor skill that would be very difficult to perform under stress and movement of battle. Was paper common enough that even farmers and common folk carried their own home made cartridges with pre-measured charge and ball?

"Black powder maniac" had

I was wondering about this the other day. For irregular forces like the militia who used their own rifles and were not issued paper cartridges, how did they measure powder for reloads in the heat of battle? Did they really take the time to put powder from the flask into a charge measure before dumping that down their muzzle while taking incoming fire? Or did they just go by "feel" from the powder horn straight to the rifle or musket? To me it seems like fiddling with a charge measure would be a cumbersome fine motor skill that would be very difficult to perform under stress and movement of battle. Was paper common enough that even farmers and common folk carried their own home made cartridges with pre-measured charge and ball?

Black Powder Maniac has pretty good video where he measures "ball in hand" powder measuring for quicker reloads. He also did one using powder & just a ball.. ball block with patch would help too. As for accuracy, if I can lay my gun across a log & shoot a squirrel @75yds, a humanoid target would also be in a lethal range, even if it's .32cal. & if it meant submission or defiance, remember the story of the Shepard who killed a giant with a stone...