« Canada | Main | Soldier of Fortune's endorsements for the NRA Board »
"A War Without Rifles"
Finally had time to finish James Gibson's recent book, "A War Without Rifles: the 1792 Militia Act and the War of 1812." I greatly enjoyed the book and the research. The "without rifles" part reflects that military and militia planning in the early 19th century leaned strongly toward muskets rather than rifles, which posed problems in the War of 1812 (the British had adapted to the Napoleonic Wars with tactics that involved swarms of skirmishers moving up to harass opposing troops, and by issuing the Baker rifle to some skirmishing units). Plenty of other research here, including the fact that Secretary of War James Monroe proposed the first American military draft (the male population 18-45 to divided into units of 100 men, each required to furnish four recruits, the other 96 to pay their bounties).
2 Comments | Leave a comment
Does it have a section describing how Washington DC was burned because of Washington DC gun control laws prevented the militia from being armed and ready?
It seems to be a nice book..