American Rifle - Alexander Rose [23]
On a broader level, while Congress had authorized ten companies, fully twelve were raised—eight from rifle-mad Pennsylvania alone, a couple of them composed of German speakers (the rest being Scots-Irish).12 The celerity of their arrival in Massachusetts was in itself extraordinary, especially considering the glacierlike slowness of eighteenth-century logistics. The first company appeared on July 25 (just five weeks after Congress’s order), and eight others arrived by August 14. All had undertaken journeys of between 400 and 700 miles by foot.13
Symbolized by the shooting competitions, a major distinction between riflemen and musketmen was already emerging: entry into the army was virtually guaranteed for any comer, especially since Washington was crying out for soldiers, but joining a rifle company depended strictly on one’s proficiency with a weapon. The job, of course, came with perks.
One was that Washington relieved them of the fatigue duties imposed on regular Continental soldiers. Another was that riflemen were expected to “skulk” in the Indian manner as part of their responsibilities; yet Washington ordered that if any other kind of soldier “shall attempt to skulk, hide himself or retreat from the enemy without orders of his commanding officer, he will instantly be shot down as an example of cowardice.”14 Skulking clearly had two meanings, depending upon what kind of gun you were carrying. Such mollycoddling of riflemen would soon begin to rankle regular troops and their officers.
Officers, in particular, were alarmed that the riflemen’s absence of hierarchy and the complete lack of concern for precedence might have adverse effects on their own units. Morgan once saw soldiers struggling to move a large rock blocking a road. An ensign was nearby, looking on haughtily. “Why don’t you lay hold and help these men?” asked Morgan, only to be told, “Sir, I am an officer!” “I beg your pardon,” Morgan replied sarcastically, “I did not think of that!” before lending a hand himself.15 The ensign’s reply may have offended any rifleman’s latitudinarian social views, but he was only following a tradition upheld by Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Frederick the Great.
Frontiersmen were less concerned than regulars with bureaucratic nitpicking, discipline, and precedence. In the army, much valuable time and effort (to their minds) were wasted debating precisely the difference between a lieutenant colonel and lieutenant colonel commandant.16 Manuals were devoted to teaching minute details of drill, the proper ways to polish buttons and place epaulettes, and the intricacies of saluting superiors; there was a fascination, too, with how hair was to be worn—“plaited and powdered or tied”—and how many times a week men were to shave (thrice).17 Punishment was harsh. For small infractions, the men were subjected to “the wooden horse,” “the Whirligig,” “the picket,” “the ganteloupe,” whippings with the switch or cat-o’-nine tails, hanging, shootings by firing squad, or being drummed from camp.18
Among the riflemen, corporal punishment was administered but occasionally and often never. Morgan banned flogging on the grounds that it was degrading.19 Nor did the riflemen have an official uniform—another source of resentment (and admiration, as well, at their exotic look) among the regulars, who were forced into rough woolen coats and blister-popping shoes. Instead, the riflemen dressed as they did at home: like Indians, with a few concessions to European sensibilities. Moccasins, leggins, furred