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Home , Long rifle, Rifleman, Sharpshooter, Timothy Murphy (sniper)

HISTORYHISTORY — STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM The American in the Revolutionary War

American frontiersmen were practically raised from birth The buckskin-clad American riflemen of Morgan’s Corps rush into position to with rifle in hand, and their marksmanship prowess thwart the British advance at the Second Battle of Saratoga. Timothy Murphy is de picted repeatedly interfered with British and Indian threats. gesturing toward British Brig. Gen. Simon Fraser in the distance. by Roger D. McGrath an armed citizenry was essential to the preservation of freedom. Once disarmed, crack shots, whom the family depended “When the resolution of enslaving Amer- a people either submit meekly to tyrants upon to hunt game for food and to beat ica was formed in Great Britain, the Brit- or fight in vain. The back Indian attacks. ish Parliament was advised by an artful strongly reinforced the historical perspec- The rifle was a finely crafted man, who was governor of , tive of the Founding Fathers: The armed tool that no family on the frontier was to disarm the people; that it was the best American colonists defeated the mighty without. The rifle was not made in Ken- and most effectual way to enslave them; British Empire. tucky, as its name would suggest, but in but that they should not do it openly, but While the British had to quickly train Pennsylvania. The towns of Lancaster and weaken them, and let them sink gradually.” their troops in the use of , the Reading were particularly important cen- — George Mason of , 1788 American rebels could rely on men who ters of production. The was first had grown up using firearms as part and called the long rifle, because of its long ur Founding Fathers were abso- parcel of their daily life. This was espe- barrel, but later became known as the Ken- lutely adamant about the right of cially true on the frontier, where young tucky because of the many famous fron- O the people to keep and bear arms. boys were taught the use of the finest tiersmen, including Daniel Boone, who They were students of history and under- weapon of the era, the Kentucky rifle. By used it on their many extended hunting stood that from classical antiquity forward the time they were teenagers, they were trips into Kentucky.

34 THE NEW AMERICAN • SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 A Familiar Sight The craftsmen who manufactured it were the Pennsylvania Dutch, who are not Dutch but German. Dutch comes from Deutsch, meaning German. His- The firearm was first called the long rifle, torically in America, whenever anyone referred to the Dutchman down the because of its long barrel, but later became road or the Dutch farmer across the creek, he meant German. The Germans made the finest in Europe, and the German immigrants to America, known as the Kentucky because of the comprising about one-third of the population of Pennsylvania, made the many famous frontiersmen, including finest rifles in the colonies. Daniel Boone, who used it on their many The Kentucky was a , muzzle-loader, with a rifled barrel that ran to three or even four feet in length. The long barrel gave black powder extended hunting trips into Kentucky. more time to burn, increasing , and allowed for finer sight- ing. This resulted in much greater accuracy at much greater distances. Most of came in .40 or .45 caliber, which meant the bullet was heavy enough to smack a target with a wallop but not too heavy to carry long distances. In the hands of an accomplished , the Kentucky could bring down a man or a deer at 100 or more yards and knock a squirrel out of a tree at 200 or more. Shooting contests were regularly staged all along the colonial frontier — from New England to Georgia. At 70 paces marksmen would “snuff the candle” or “drive the nail.” In snuffing the candle, the lead ball from the rifle would have to pass through the flame of a burning candle, blowing out the flame but striking neither the wick nor the candle. In driving the nail, the lead ball would have to strike the head of a nail and drive it further into a post. There was a problem with the Kentucky, though. The had not yet been invented and the powder charge of the Kentucky was ignited through the . This involved several steps, each with great potential for problems. When a rifleman squeezed the , the hammer (or cock) holding a piece of flint fell, striking steel on a small pan of powder outside the breech of the rifle and causing sparks to ignite the powder. The powder then burned through a keyhole, igniting the main powder charge. If everything went right, the expanding gases created by the burning powder propelled the bullet out the barrel. Dampness and fouling of the powder charge in the pan, however, and hangfire and misfire, were constant problems. As a consequence, the Kentucky fired only about three-quarters or four-fifths of the time. For a flintlock to “flash in the pan” without firing was so common that the expression became an American colloquialism. Reloading took up to a minute, although the very best riflemen could accomplish the task in 30 seconds. Nonetheless, 30 seconds was a lifetime — and could mean the end of a rifleman’s life with Indian warriors or British troops or a bear coming at him.

Widow Makers Most American frontiersmen became deadeyes and could accomplish shooting feats such as snuffing-the-candle or driving-the-nail as a matter of course. The British learned this during the Revolutionary War. Again and again the British marveled at the marksmanship of American riflemen, calling them “widow makers.” Captain Henry Beaufoy, a British veteran of several wars, remarked,

The Americans, during their war with this country, were in the habit of forming themselves into small bands of ten or twelve, who, accus- tomed to shooting in hunting parties, went out in a sort of predatory warfare, each carrying his ammunition and provisions and returning Timothy Murphy’s headstone in Middleburgh, New York: The when they were exhausted. From the incessant attacks of these bodies, inscription says, in part, “whose bravery repelled the attack of their opponents could never be prepared; as the first knowledge of a the British and their Indian allies upon Middle Fort October 17, patrol in the neighbourhood was generally given by a volley of well- 1780 and saved the colonists of Schoharie Valley.” www.TheNewAmerican.com 35 HISTORYHISTORY — STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM

of shooting would immedi- a punishment that might have killed an or- Morgan called for Sergeant Timothy ately get a marksman into a dinary man. His back would be scarred school in the Army or for life. He later served in the war as a Murphy, his finest , and said, Marines. Dressed in fringed ranger in Virginia’s colonial , fight- “That gallant is General Fraser. buckskin and carrying knives ing Shawnee in the Valley. When the and tomahawks as well as Revolution erupted, Morgan joined a rifle I admire him, but it is necessary that he rifles, Lowdon’s Company company and was immediately elected should die. Do your duty.” of crack riflemen was soon captain. He served in ’s ordered to Boston. The men expedition to Canada and fought heroical- made the more than 600-mile ly, although eventually captured and im- directed fire, that perhaps killed or march in a little more than a month. They prisoned by the British for eight months. wounded the greater part. could not only shoot but route step. Upon his return to the American side in a prisoner exchange, he was promoted to Beaufoy later said, “It has been readily A Rifleman’s Effect colonel and given command of a special confessed … by old , that when Murphy fought in the , corps of frontier riflemen. they understood they were opposed by then in the battles of Long Island and Colonel Morgan and his corps were riflemen, they felt a degree of terror never Westchester. By 1776, he was a sergeant ordered north to join the American forc- inspired by general , from the idea in the 12th of the Pennsylvania es opposing General John “Gentleman that a rifleman always singled out an in- Line and fought at Trenton, Princeton, and Johnny” Burgoyne and his force of nearly dividual, who was almost certain of being New Brunswick. During July 1777, he was 10,000 British soldiers that had invaded killed or wounded.” transferred to Morgan’s Rifle Corps, led upstate New York from Canada. It was Of all the American riflemen who by the legendary . A giant Burgoyne’s intention to separate New fought in the Revolutionary War, the most of a man with “thick, broad shoulders and York and the rest of the American colo- celebrated was Timothy Murphy. It could arms like tree trunks,” Morgan was born nies from New England. be said that he was the man who won the to Welsh immigrant parents in New Jer- The American and British armies first war. He was born near Delaware Water sey (or Pennsylvania). He left home in his clashed on 19 September near Saratoga in Gap in Pennsylvania in 1751. His parents, mid-teens and finished his growing up on the First Battle of Saratoga, or the Battle of Thomas and Mary, had only recently ar- the frontier. He served in the French and Freeman’s Farm. American riflemen, in- rived in Pennsylvania from County Done- Indian War as a teamster, hauling supplies cluding Timothy Murphy, wreaked havoc, gal, Ireland. Within a few years, the fam- for the . For punching a British especially on British artillery, picking off ily moved to the very cutting edge of the officer, Morgan suffered a hundred lashes, artillery officers and gunners by the twos frontier, where land was cheap but so too was life. Indian raids were frequent and could bring death or worse, capture and horrific tortures. Women and girls were not spared. Capture meant gang rape and then mutilation and death, or enslave- ment. An Irish family such as the Mur- phys had to adapt quickly or be annihi- lated. Such was the environment in which Timothy Murphy grew to manhood. By the time he was in his mid-teens, he already had a widespread reputation, among both the whites and the Indians, for extraordinary marksmanship and fierceness in battle. In June 1775, Murphy, and his brother John, enlisted in Captain John Lowdon’s Company of Northumberland County Ri- flemen, a component of what was called the Pennsylvania Line. To qualify for service with the company, a rifleman had to fire at and repeatedly hit a seven-inch target at 250 yards, far more than that re- quired for basic marksmanship qualifica- Without men who had been reared using rifles, the British relied on volley fire and tion — using modern high-tech rifles — in . American forces had the advantage of the accurate fire of riflemen, and their famous any branch of the service today. That kind Kentucky rifles, who could regularly hit targets at more than 200 yards.

36 THE NEW AMERICAN • SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 and threes and putting most of the batteries out of the battle. Nonetheless, with volleys of musket fire and charges, the British eventually drove the Americans from the field of battle, although British losses were twice those suffered by the Americans. It was something of a Pyrrhic victory for the British. The battle could be called a draw. The forces met again on 7 October in the Second Battle of Saratoga, or the Battle of Bemis Heights. The battle began about two in the afternoon when the British opened fire and attempted to ad- vance on the Americans. Accurate rifle fire by the Americans, however, cut down the British by the dozens. Suddenly, though, a British column, led by Brigadier General Simon Fraser, seemed ready to flank the Americans. Major General Benedict Ar- nold galloped up to Colonel Morgan and said that it was up to his corps of riflemen to thwart the British advance. Arnold then pointed to Fraser in the distance and said that the British general was worth an en- tire regiment. Most Indians, thinking the British Empire invincible, sided with the redcoats during the Morgan called for Sergeant Timothy Revolutionary War. American frontiersmen, though vastly outnumbered, put up surprisingly stout Murphy, his finest sharpshooter, and resistance against such tribes as the Iroquois, depicted here in upstate New York. said, “That gallant officer is General Fra- ser. I admire him, but it is necessary that retreating, fought for a time, then broke More of Murphy’s Exploits he should die. Do your duty.” Murphy and ran. Burgoyne himself almost fell. Murphy would continue fighting until the climbed a tree that afforded him a good American put a bullet into very end of the war. He spent the winter view of Fraser, mounted on a horse at a his horse, another one through his coat, of 1777-78 with the at distance that was stated, depending on and a third through his hat. The battle be- Valley Forge and was one of those who the source, to be either 300 or 500 yards. came a rout. Nearly 500 British soldiers survived the arctic temperatures and near- Even if the shorter distance is correct, it were killed and 700 wounded. Gentleman starvation of that winter camp. During the was still a distance that put Fraser, or so Johnny and six thousand others later sur- spring, he led small parties of riflemen in he thought, well beyond the range of even rendered. Only 90 Americans were killed harassing attacks on British troops with- the greatly feared American riflemen. and 240 wounded. drawing from Philadelphia. Again his While Fraser rallied his troops, Murphy The great American victory at the crack shots dropped British soldiers from rested his rifle in a notch on a branch, Second Battle of Saratoga convinced the great distances and spread panic through reckoned the wind direction and velocity, French that the American colonists could the ranks. In July, General Washington or- the distance, and the number of feet his defeat the British and win independence — dered Murphy and three companies of ri- bullet would drop. Adjusting his aim ac- if aided by France. This was the moment flemen to the Mohawk Valley of New York cordingly, he fired. Fraser dropped to the that many in France had been waiting for, to repel Indian attacks on frontier settle- ground. Mortally wounded, he would die a chance to revenge the loss of their New ments. The attacks, aided and supported the next day. World empire to Britain in the French and by the British, were particularly bloody, Francis Clerke, Burgoyne’s aide-de- Indian War. If France had lost her vast ter- sparing neither women nor children. Mur- camp, galloped onto the field to take ritory in North America, she would now phy was one of those who tracked down command. Murphy fired again and Clerke see to it, by aiding the American rebels, and killed Christopher Service, a notori- fell from his saddle, dead. Panic began that Britain lost hers. Without the aid of ous Tory and British agent who helped to spread through the British ranks. Two France, it is highly unlikely that we could arm and supply the Indians. Murphy also commanding officers had been killed have won our independence. And without participated in the Sullivan Expedition in from an impossible distance. The Brit- the marksmanship of American rifleman 1779, a response to the Cherry Valley and ish line began moving backwards, and Timothy Murphy at the Second Battle Wyoming Valley massacres, which in- men began to break ranks. Seizing the of Saratoga, it is highly unlikely that we cluded torture, rape, scalping, beheading, advantage, the Americans attacked. The would have stopped the British flanking and dismemberment of American men, British troops, already demoralized and movement and won the battle. women, and children. The massacres were

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possible. It will be essential not been killed, but their once-powerful to ruin their crops now in confederacy had been shredded and they During the night, while the Indians slept, the ground and prevent their could never again mount anything but raids the two bound Americans freed each other planting more.... But you of limited scope and duration. will not by any means lis- During October, Sullivan began march- and then killed all their captors but one, ten to any overture of peace ing his troops south to winter quarters in allowing the sole warrior to live so he before the total ruinment of New Jersey. Timothy Murphy was not their settlements is effected. among them. He remained behind to lead could describe to other Indians the might Our future security will be in riflemen in the 15th Regiment of the Alba- of the American warriors. their inability to injure us and ny County Militia. His aggressive patrol- in the terror with which the ling earned him a reputation as “the terror severity of the chastisement of the Tories and Indians.” perpetrated by four of the six tribes of the they receive will inspire them.” In 1780, during a reconnaissance with Iroquois, who had sided with the British, Just getting his force of some 3,000 sol- a Captain Harper along the upper reaches thinking that Great Britain couldn’t pos- diers and 250 pack-horse teamsters to the of the Delaware River, Murphy and Harper sibly lose a war with the colonists and that Iroquois country was a logistical challenge were ambushed and taken captive by Indi- they — the Iroquois — could raid Ameri- for Sullivan, and it wasn’t until August that ans. Knowing they had captured great war- can frontier settlements with impunity. For he really began the systematic destruction riors, the Indians kept them alive, intend- a time the Iroquois were right and delight- of the Indian villages and fields after build- ing to hand them over to the British for a ed in their savage attacks. ing Fort Sullivan. The expedition fought reward. During the night, while the Indi- Led by Major General John Sullivan, several skirmishes but only one major en- ans slept, the two bound Americans freed the son of Irish immigrants, a lawyer, a gagement, the Battle of Newtown. The In- each other and then killed all their captors delegate to the Continental Congress, dians, accustomed to numerical superiority, but one, allowing the sole warrior to live and the veteran of several Revolution- were awed by the size of Sullivan’s force so he could describe to other Indians the ary battles, the expedition sallied forth and fled whenever they had advance warn- might of the American warriors. in June with explicit orders from General ing. Riflemen figured prominently in every Only weeks later, Murphy and some Washington to completely eliminate the contact with the enemy, shooting them at 200 militiamen were surrounded in Mid- Iroquois menace forevermore. “The im- distances that the Iroquois thought magi- dle Fort in the Schoharie Valley of New mediate objects are the total destruction cal. By the middle of September, Sullivan York. Laying siege were more than 2,000 and devastation of their settlements,” read had reduced 40 Iroquois villages to ashes Indians and British, led by Colonel John Washington’s order, “and the capture of and laid waste to their crops. Washington Johnson. The situation seemed hopeless as many prisoners of every age and sex was disappointed that more Iroquois had for the Americans and the fort’s com-

Timothy Murphy fought in the Battle of Yorktown and was there to see the surrender of the British commander, Gen. Charles Cornwallis, and his 8,000-man army, while a military band played “The World Turned Upside Down.”

38 THE NEW AMERICAN • SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 manding officer, Major Woolsey, reluc- spear should the ammunition run out. honor. For some reason nothing more was tantly decided to surrender to Johnson. Johnson poured fire into the fort but done at the time. In 1929, the state cor- The British commander sent an emis- the return fire from Murphy and the other rected the oversight and finally erected sary, carrying a white flag, to the fort to American riflemen was so accurate that the monument. There to speak at the dedi- accept the surrender. But when the em- Johnson dared not attack. He eventually cation was New York Governor Franklin issary approached the fort, Murphy, act- withdrew and marched north to Niagara, Roosevelt. He said: ing without authorization, sent a bullet leaving burned farms and slaughtered whizzing just over the head of the British families in his wake. This country has been made by Timo- representative, who beat a hasty retreat. By 1781, Murphy was back with a com- thy Murphys, the men in the ranks. Johnson sent the emissary out a second pany of the Pennsylvania Line, now 13 Conditions here called for the quali- time — and Murphy again fired. Again strong and under the command ties of the heart and head that Tim the emissary ran for cover. After the sce- of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne. Mur- Murphy had in abundance. Our his- nario was repeated a third time, Major phy fought in the Battle of Yorktown and tories should tell us more of the men Woolsey ordered Murphy arrested. Not was there to witness the British surrender. in the ranks, for it was to them, more one of Woolsey’s officers or men would Following the war, Murphy lived on his than to the generals, that we were in- obey the order. Few would have attempt- farm in the Schoharie Valley with Peggy. debted for our military victories. ed to arrest Murphy in any circumstances, They eventually had nine children. Several and in this case most sided with Murphy, years after Peggy died in 1807, Murphy Governor Roosevelt was right, of course. understanding that surrendering would married again, this time to Mary Robert- Murphy was emblematic of the common probably mean an Indian slaughter of all son. They would have four children. Mur- man of the American colonies who out- those in the fort, including women and phy was widely known for his exploits in fought trained British troops. But Mur- children who had come in from outly- the Revolutionary War and a popular fig- phy represented more than that. He was ing farms seeking protection. One of the ure in the valley. By the time he died in the quintessential American rifleman. He women was Murphy’s wife, Peggy, who 1818, he owned several farms and a grist was reared believing that liberty and inde- aided the men by molding bullets and mill. pendence were his birthright and that his loading rifles. She vowed that she would In 1819, the state legislature of New firearm was the instrument that guaranteed never surrender and would fashion a York voted to erect a monument in his those God-given freedoms. n

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