Lonesome, if the argument hasn't driven you off, you could do a lot worse than to read Major-General B. P. Hughes book "Firepower -weapons effectiveness on the battlefield, 1630-1850". It'll give you an overview of why the Army took certain weapons into the battlefield during a war, and what they expected to get back. Its very well illustrated.

The recommendation of the last pages of the Dixie Gunworks Catalog is an excellant way to get an easily available view of firearms history in that period. While the rest of the catalog has pictures and dimensions of common and rare equipement of the time, and will make you realize how complex firearms were to maintain when put in the hands of farmboy recruits.



Jeff Smith, sometimes NRA firearms safety instructor, longtime history nut and flintlock shooter.