Quote Originally Posted by Sheogorath View Post
I've also heard that the shot::hit ratio at Borodino was something like 800::1.
I dont doubt that a trained man with a musket could make a shot, with a bit of luck, at 250 meters. But that would require a veteran soldier, with some skill, who would probably be in a light/jaeger unit, not the line.
Hell, the Russians didnt even bother putting sights on most of their muskets. Although that was mostly because they figured muskets were for wusses and REAL men used bayonets.
Actually that 800:1 claim is for the battle of Vitoria which is IIRC based on a flawed assumption that the Allied army fired all its ammo as well as the spare ammo.

There were numerous opinions about how many shots it took to produce a casualty, some more outrageous than others. But having units blaze away as fast as they could without even using ramrods surely had a detrimental effect on accuracy.

Yes some armies loved the bayonet more than other armies. Nonetheless even the Russians found a use for skirmishers in their regular battalions.


CBR