MARKSMANSHIP HISTORY: THE ROYAL GREENJACKETS

[Cav1]

The British Army learned some valuable lessons from the Revolutionary War. Major Ferguson, felled at the Battle of King's Hill, had developed an ingenious breech-loading rifle utilizing a trigger guard that was used to unscrew threads that revealed the breech, but the invention died with him. They tried to hire German Jaeger (hunter) mercenaries armed with European rifles, but these were ponderous, ungainly weapons far from the American Pennsylvania rifles, and the troops less than enthusiastic.

Eventually, inventor Ezekiel Baker came up with a new weapon for British riflemen. It was a "small" .62-caliber flintlock that still resembled more closely the German Jaeger rifle than the long, lean small-bore Pennsylvania rifle. Some say the weapon was accurate only to 200 yards, pushing it to 300 if there was no wind. Others claimed the British riflemen could shoot a playing card at 150 yards...while another rifleman was holding it! The Baker tried to combine the best of both worlds. When the bullet was patched, it was accurate, but slow to load. When not patched, it loaded faster but was reduced to the poor accuracy level of the Brown Bess. It also had a sword bayonet.

The men themselves were usually hand-picked. They had excellent esprit de corps, and were usually the most educated and literate of the British soldiers. As with most elite outfits, the barriers between officers and men were broken down somewhat, the officers actually dining with the men, something utterly unheard of at the time. The men were meticulously trained in their special skills of marksmanship and skirmishing, rather than just flogged for minor infractions like the common British infantryman. They wore a very early and basic form of camouflage, green jackets with black facings, instead of the scarlet red with white strap uniform that made line infantry such splendid targets for the Americans. This was the 95th Rifle Brigade, known as the Royal Greenjackets.

They first proved their worth during the Peninsula Campaigns against Napoleon's forces in Spain and Portugal. "Skirmishers" acted more like modern infantry, using cover and concealment and the range of their rifles to stay alive while inflicting losses upon the enemy. Artillery crews were a favorite target, the relatively crude muzzle-loading cannon of the day hardly having more range than the rifle. Like Morgan's Sharpshooters, they "aimed for the epaulets", taking out the French officers at every opportunity. French Field Marshall Nicholas Soult wrote to Paris sounding the alarm that he had only 2-3 officers left per battalion!

Only one British enlisted man (other ranks) was mentioned in the official histories of the Peninsula Campaign, an extraordinary thing at the time. That man was a rifleman, Thomas Plunkett, an Irishman known for his off-duty drinking as well as his expert on-duty marksmanship.

On January 3, 1809, a battalion of the Fighting 95th was part of a rearguard action as the French forces advanced and harried the retreating British under the able leadership of the dashing French General August-Marie Colbert. Capturing a vital bridge intact, Colbert saw a chance to punch through the thin British lines, encircle them, and decimate the entire column by leading a sweeping cavalry charge.

Into the breech stepped Rifleman Thomas Plunkett. Running a reported one hundred yards forward of the 95th's positions, out into the open, to narrow the range, Plunkett dropped down onto his back in the heavy, wet snow. Using the "lying prone", his Baker rifle laid over the boots of his crossed feet and the butt beneath his armpit to provide more elevation, he took "The Shot".

With his ornate uniform and fine horse, leading the charge, General Colbert was easy to identify. Plunkett's first shot knocked him out of the saddle, dead. Plunkett hurried back towards friendly lines, reloading as he went, then stopped, turned, and killed a French Trumpet-Major who had gone to the aid of his fallen general, showing that the first shot had been a matter of skill rather than luck. Leaderless, the French cavalry charge petered out in the face of scattered British fire, and withdrew.

Debate rages to this day about how long "The Shot" actually was.  Legend has inflated the range to as much as 800 yards as time passed, but most accounts agree on a range of between 200 and 400 yards, still an impressive figure given the rifle technology of the British Baker. Regardless the range, the incident showed that a single rifleman, with skill in marksmanship, can turn the entire tide of a battle, just as Timothy Murphy did at the Battle of Saratoga.

There is an absolutely terrific book out that tells the tale of a British rifleman separated from his unit who conducts guerilla warfare with local Portuguese civilians against the French supply trains. It was written by C.S. Forrestor. Entitled Rifleman Dodd in American printings, and the much more amusing Death to the French in English editions, this book was reprinted and made mandatory reading for U.S. Marine Corps officers by tough, no-nonsense former Commandant Victor "Brute" Krulak. If you can find a copy, it is worth every penny.

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[socalserf]

DUDE, You can write!

Rifleman Dodd/Death to the French is enjoyable reading.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rifleman+dodd&x=14&y=24

Also recommended is Cronwell's Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series series are about the Green Jackets and really good reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Sharpes-Rifles-Richard-Adventure/dp/0140294295/ref=pd_sim_b_img_5

[voortrekker]

Cav1,

Thanks for the historical summaries.

I love history.

My occupation doesn't allow me with much time for reading.

Your posts leave with me a reminder of history that I need to read up on.

Thank you for your posts.

You are indeed a good writer, blessed and maybe earned too, right? 

BTW, I just received today, "The Winter War" and "Fire and Ice"  DVD's.

The company from which I ordered, warshows.com, made delivery in two days from New Jersey to TX.

With my DVD's was also shipped a catalog.

Thumbing through it, good stuff!