The style of the period was for the men to move together like a chorus line. This kept the men from interfering with each other’s movements, and was the safest way to handle black powder. One of the fundamental differences Von Steuben introduced into the drill was for the American Officers to give the commands directly to the men. In the past, they had followed the British, where the British officers directed their Sergeants to command men. Better results were obtained after using Von Steuben’s method. Von Steuben’s manual consisted of various sections including uniforms and equipment, organization of the army, training and drills, field maneuvers, march of an army, camp regulations, inspections, and …show more content…
Throughout the war smoothbore muskets were the armament of the troops of the line. The rifle and the musket were quite different. At 100 yards the best musketeers could hit a man only about four shots out of every ten. In contrast, expert riflemen, could kill a man every shot at 100 yards, and do good execution at twice that range. The chief limitations on the use of riflemen were the scarcity of expert shots and the fact that the rifle was not made to carry a bayonet. Even with their knives and tomahawks, riflemen were vulnerable to a determined bayonet assault. Accordingly, riflemen were not useful in the line, but both sides made extensive use of them as sharpshooters ahead of and around the main fighting force. The difficulties of finding trained riflemen and the dangers involved in serving with such a unit had quite an effect on