rifles
Oh no.
this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2025
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Context, for non-Americans?
During the American Revolutionary War, some of the battles that happened involved large numbers of troops but comparatively low casualties on both sides. This is in part due to the fact that both sides, but especially the American revolutionaries, relied heavily on militia, who were generally unwilling to die for the cause or remain under withering fire for an extended period of time.
I think artillery is what really caused the insane fatality rates of more recent battles, not so much more accurate small arms fire.
Artillery kills, true, but also, the American Revolutionary War was not quite a normal beast. You see much lower casualty percentages than in, say, the Napoleonic Wars shortly thereafter.
Many of the American troops were militia who were not keen on hanging around and getting killed, which meant that battles often ended before significant casualties were taken by either side. In only a few battles, like Long Island, Camden, and Cowpens, was there a real slug-out between Continental Regulars and Redcoats, and those incidents had much higher casualties.