Quote Originally Posted by damage_13
the English War Bow was so successfull in its rate of fire:range ratio that Wellesly and even an American General (in the war of Independance and later.. the Civil War) considered training a battalion of bowmen.

Consider this... a well trained British Infantryman (nobody else used live ammo for training in both musketry and ship based cannon... hence .. everyone else was crap) could fire his muskett 5 times a min ... 3 for a rifle... yet over the same range (and with increased accuracy depending on the skill of the archer) an archer could release a shaft once every 4-6 seconds... or in other words... by the time the first wave of arrows hit their targets (at long range) there would be two more volleys in flight with the next being notched in.

unfortunately for the British, Colonial British and North generals... the time it would've taken to resurrect and train the skill and men was too long for their needs (and the maintanence of said units)

The English were also very good a musketry battles, because they had a solid wall of lead going towards the enemy with her volley. It was a great wave effect when they fired, right down the line one at a time. I forget what this is called but they speak of it alot in the Bernard Cornwell Sharpe's Series.