Great generals are scarce; there are few Morgans. General Nathanael Greene Bar-room brawler, drinker, gambler, and womanizer; six feet tall and built like a brick yard with arms like tree trunks, Daniel Morgan (1736 – July 6, 1802) was an imposing figure in any time period. Yet beneath this rough frontage, was an honest and passionate …
Kentucky Long Rifle was the weapon of choice for wilderness hunters and during the American Revolutionary War forming rifle corps and ranger outfits. In 18th century warfare, there were two types of weapons carried into battle: the smooth-bore musket and the grove-bore rifle. Both had their strengths and weaknesses. The smooth bore musket could be …
Major Benjamin Whitcomb and Ranger leader in the American Revolution (b. July 2, 1737) was an incredible backwoods warrior who matched his abilities in frontier scouting and fighting with the best of them. He honed his skills at an early age, seventeen, fighting in the French & Indian War, campaigning throughout the northern reaches of …
“Glass.” The tall Virginian stood on an outcrop of rock appropriately named Point of Rock. He trained his eyes on the spectacle unfolding below. The four-draw mahogany spyglass with brass scope and brass cap was laid neatly in his open palm. The name “Shuttleworth of London,” indicating its fine workmanship, was engraved on the bottom …
Cover Artwork by leading American Revolutionary War artist Don Troiani. In war and conflict, Europeans had used battle axes and hand held throwing axes for over a thousand years by the time the Americas were colonized [see Tomahawks & Hatches parts 1 & 2 of this series for more detail of this history]. The original …
Europeans and Asians had discovered metals approximately 12,000 years ago and progressed from the Stone Age and into the Bronze and then Iron age. But not so for the Native Americans who were still using stone tools and weapons when the first Europeans arrived. But why, when John Smith landed at Jamestown in 1607 and …
Axes were among the earliest tools of man found in the Ice and Stone Age. A lump of flint was hacked into chips to make a hatchet the size of a man’s hand. These early impliments were used for chopping, cutting, scraping, and sawing (some had jagged edges) and were found throughout England, Europe, Asia, …
For over a century, prior to and years after the American Revolutionary War, the Kentucky rifle was the premier weapon of the world. It’s grove-bore accuracy and effective distance literally far outshot smooth-bore muskets. It proved the perfect weapon of the huntsmen who could kill game at up to three hundred yards; incredible when compared …
Generations of Americans have recalled with pride these words that were supposedly spoken during the American Revolution. They conger stouthearted citizen soldiers standing firm before the power of oppression. Farmers and merchants answering the call to arms and grabbing their family muskets to defy what they believed to be an authoritarian government in a David …
General George Washington had arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 3, 1775 to take command of the Continental Army. He had his work cut out for him for he faced a force of unruly and undisciplined amateurs in its infancy. Up against the British army, the finest military machine of its time, this mob of …