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American marksmanship was not just a matter of skill and pride. Shot and powder were scarce. I remember reading about one settler that reused a rifle ball forty some times before loosing it to a miss. I would hate to have been on his bad side!

I think he alluded to what you are saying in this line: "under penalty in case the number of squirrels did not tally with the number of bullets he expended."

Either way, this is about as unbiased an account of the revolution as I have ever read. I bought it at a used books sale at a library. If you can find a copy somewhere, it's well worth the read. I would not trust a modern condensed reprint. The libs may have convieniently edited out the good stuff. I would look for an original volume from 1903 which is what I have. It cost me $5 I think.

I remember reading about one settler that reused a rifle ball forty some times before loosing it to a miss.

Son, I do believe some country feller has succeeded in retailing you a tall tale! Can you imagine how flat that bullet would be, after only 20 hits? Never mind 40.

Here's someone else who you wouldn't have wanted to be ticked off at you:

A description of the attack on the British Troops returning from Concord Mass. to Boston on April 19, 1776.

"It was also in Menotony that the Briitish met their most formidable individual opponent, the aged Sam Whittemore. An old soldier who was out to stop the British even if he had to do it all by himself. Whittemore,who in his younger days had commanded a troop of dragoons for the Crown, was a tough customer, and always had been. The Middlesex Court Records for January 1741 show that he was hauled into court for expressing publicly his opinion that one Colonel Vassal was no more fit for selectman than his horse was; whereupon Colonel Vassal had him clapped in jail and sued him for defamation of character, claiming damages of L10,000. The court ruled that the words were not actionable, and when Whittemore heard the verdict he commenced action against the colonel for "false and malicious imprisonment" and recovered L1,200 damages.

Now eighty years old, Whittemore was not the kind of man to be cowed by a mere 1,500 redcoats. Having heard that the British had marched through town, he spent the day preparing his own private arsenal, which included a brace of pistols, a saber, and a musket. Then he loaded himself with his gear and told his wife he was going up town to meet the regulars.

He joined the men going into position near Cooper’s Tavern, where the road to Medford branches off to the north, and stationed himself 150 yards off the road, behind a stone wall that offered him a good view of the route to Boston. This location put him directly in the path of the flanking companies of Colonel Nesbitt’s 47th Regiment, as well as in the way of the main body.

When the heavy firing began, Whittemore waited until the flankers were almost upon him, then fired his musket and dropped a regular in his tracks. He jumped up and fired off both pistols, killing at least one and possibly two more redcoats before a round hit him in the face and knocked him down. The men around him were driven back and the regulars, who lost several men getting across the Medford Road, leaped over the wall as Whittemore fell and bayonetted him again and again. Then they moved on, satisfied that they had killed at least one of their elusive tormentors. But with his face half shot away and thirteen bayonet wounds in him, Sam Whittemore survived and lived to be almost a hundred years old, always insisting that if he had to live that day over he would do the same thing again. "

From The Minute Men by John R. Galvin, Brassey’s 1989 p.220-221.
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Geez, 80 years old and he not only grabs a bunch of weapons and walks who knows how far with them to fight, but he waits until his attackers are almost upon him! What a tough old bird - thanks to him and many of similar mind, we are free.

Now, folks, in light of this inspiring story, how many of you will be meekly handing over your firearms to the BATF#$%ers when guns are banned during the Kerry administration?