And Then There Were Thirteen with Dr. Henry Lumpkin was an instructional series debuted by SCETV in the mid-1970s. The 20-episode series featured lectures by Dr. Henry Lumpkin of the University of South Carolina Department of History filmed on actual battle sites and campaign areas of the American Revolution in South Carolina.
Revolutionary War re-enactment groups, alert! You won't want to miss this ETV Classic! Professor Lumpkin gives a glimpse into the uniforms, weapons and equipment used during the period of 1775 through 1782.
According to the professor, the infantry soldier in the late eighteenth century, whether British, French, German, or American was issued a long barreled, forty to forty-six inch, large caliber - sixty-five to eighty, heavy – eight to twelve pound, flint-lock musket. The professor demonstrated a French Charleville weapon of the sort supplied to the Americans after the French started supplying arms to them. It was equipped with a socket for a locking ring bayonet, with a fourteen-inch triangular blade and discusses the caliber and sizes of the balls of lead used with black powder by the British and French. If a short-range charge were needed, several buckshot could be added to the solid bar. A wound from the triangular blade was almost always fatal.
We learn how the gun was loaded with powder and shot, and Professor Lumpkin noted that the gun, thus presented, was accurate from eighty to ninety yards and that it wasn't effective against mass troop formations of fifty yards. He goes further into the physics of the weaponry, and the likely damage that it would inflict on a combatant. The Charleville musket carried by many patriots was accurate up to 200 yards. The American military was liable to use a mishmash of gear. Some muskets were seized in raids of British supply wagons or appropriated on the battlefield. Others were issued, some purchased from the French, others were brought in by the partisans.
One rifle not commonly seen on the battlefield was Patrick Ferguson's invention of the breech loading rifle. Dr. Lumpkin relayed that had this gun been in the hands of the British, the outcomes on the battlefield might have fallen in their favor due to the rapid loading features of this weapon.
We learn about the use of artillery and the standard European set battle model and sequential actions. It wasn't until 1777 that the continental army acquired the training required to participate successfully in set battles. To learn more about Baron de Steuben and how he and his team transformed the continental army, see Side Notes.
While the professor discusses the uniforms of the soldiers, an honor guard from Fort Jackson appears on stage wearing the uniforms of the Second South Carolina Regiment. We view uniforms of the earlier Continental Army as well as art work showing the uniforms and head gear of uniforms used by the French, British, Scottish, and American militias. No matter the uniform, modifications were the rule of the day due to the heat of the South as well as insect activity and other concerns, sending all combatants to the linen or duck overalls to help make it through war time in an uncomfortable environment. Woolen overalls were used in the winter, but even then, discomfort prevailed.
Side Notes
- South Carolina in the Revolutionary War: Re-enactments. Discover South Carolina. View a listing list of Revolutionary War re-enactments held annually across the state, from the Upstate to the coast.
- Charleville musket. In 1717, a flintlock musket for the French infantry was standardized. This became the first standard flintlock musket to be issued to all French troops. While it is more correctly called a French infantry musket or a French pattern musket, these muskets later became known as "Charleville muskets", after the armory in Charleville-Mézières, Ardennes, France. The standard French infantry-long gun was also produced at Tulle, Saint-Étienne, Maubeuge Arsenal, and other sites. While technically not the correct name for these muskets, the use of the name Charleville dates back to the U.S. Revolutionary War when Americans tended to refer to all of the musket models as Charlevilles.
- Francis Marion - The men ragged, and without support or any kind of logistical backing, kept the war going in the South, striking savagely out of thicket and forest and swamp. Professor Lumpkin noted that Francis Marion was one of the greatest of these partisan leaders. Francis Marion - And Then There Were Thirteen series.
- Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Baron de Steuben - His first step was to write the drills for the army. At this time, each state used different drills and maneuvers, patterned upon various European methods. Inspector General Steuben's task was to create one standard method, thus coordinating the entire Continental Army. As he could not speak or write English, Steuben originally wrote the drills in French, the military language of Europe at the time. The drills were then translated into English by his secretary, Duponceau, with help from John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton, two of Washington's aides-de-camp. They were then given to the brigade inspectors, who made copies of the next lesson in the orderly book for each respective brigade and regiment. Copies were taken from the orderly book to each company and then to each officer.
- Ferguson Rifle - Unique to firearms history, this flint-lock Patrick Ferguson breech loading rifle is one of only 100 martial Ferguson's rifles made and dates to 1776-1778. Prior to breech loading weaponry, muzzle-loading firearms were used. The breech loading rifle revolutionized firearm warfare with a design that enabled faster reloading during battle. Breech loading rifles had been used for more than 200 years prior to Patrick Ferguson's design, but Ferguson's version of this breech loading flintlock weapon, made possible by improvements in more precise engineering, was a more successful weapon. The Ferguson rifle provided for faster reloading time and a lesser threat of exposure to enemy fire. Had the British adopted this technology during the Revolutionary War, the consequences for the Americans could have been devastating.
