Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-05-07

under the suspicious eyes of the Yankees who re-
gard these restless, unruy backwoodsmen as only
a little more civilized than the savages with whom
they so often fought They are dressed in flannel
shirts, cloth or buckskin breeches, buckskin leg
gings and moccasns. Over these they wear
fringed hunting shirts, made for the most part OF
brown linen, some of buckskin and few OF llnsey
woosey, held in at the waist with belt In which
are carried the tomahaWk and the long knife
There, too, hang the powder horn scraped until
it is almost transparent glass, and the bull
let pouch containing the small lead balls, 40 to 60
to the pound. On their heads rest small round
hats or coonskin caps On these or spread across
the breasts Of their hunting shirts, appears the
legend which Patrick Henry's stirring speech has
given them-"I4iberty or Death!"
Across their arms thrown with careless ease
the weapon which gives them their name, the long
rifles which soon made them the marvel of the
Continental army and the terror of the British
Despite all the bosh that has been written about
the deadly aim Of these od-tme sharpshooters-
such as hitting the head of nail at 100 yards,
shooting out squirrels eye placing one bullet
on top of another in target at the same distance
1t is true that the accuracy of these old flint
lock rifles in the hands of such Tim Murphy
and his kind was marvellous Many British sol
der learned to his that it was not safe to
show his head within 200 yards of these id
widow and orphan Makers" they called the
rifemen, and the statement of contemporary his
torian that "whie advancing at a quickstep the
riaemen could hit a mark seven inches In diam
eter at distance of 250 yards does not seem
impossible of belief. At any rate, such wonder
full stories of their feats carried across the
Atlantic that one rifeman, who was taken prisoner
during the siege Of Boston, was carried to Eng
land and exhibited there as a great curiosity.
Unruly and undiscipined as the rif1emen were,
nevertheless they gave good account OF them
selves in innumerabe ways during the siege of
Boston until the British evacuated that city in
In fnoY nfiroa fhrnp iQQ
--Morgan's Virgnians and Smiths and Hendricks
Pennsyyanians-acc Arnold and Mont
gomery on their ilfated expedition TO quebec.
Hendricks was killed in the assault and Morgan
and nearly all Of the rifemen were captured On
january 1, 1776, the new army organization began
and the battalion of Pennsylvania rifemen became
the first regiment of the Continental army. Under
the command of Colonel Hand this regiment dis
tirguished itself particularly in the Battle OF Long
Island and during the subsequent fighting IN New
Jersey until "a Hand Rifeman" became almost
title of distinction did "a Morgan Ri1eman later.
In June 1777 Washington convinced by MS ex-
periences both in the French and Indian war ana
in the recent campaign that corps Of sharpshoot-
ers composed of frOntiersmen trained IN woods
fighting might easily be the deciding Iaclor III the
war decided to organize such corps Inc ma
terial was at han& in the rifle companies winch
had Joined him at Cambridge and which were now
narts of various regiments in the Contlnental Inc.
Rv this time Daniel Morgan, through an exchange
of prisoners, had returned to the army ana ne was
nIaced in command of the new 'Corps OF hangers
with Richard Butler of the Ninth pennsylvania as
lieutenant colonel and Capt Joseph motifs OF New
Jersey as major The captains of the companies
wara Samuel J. Cabel Gabriel Long, James Parr,
Hawkins Boone Ca relative of Daniel Boone), Mat
thew Henderson, Van Swearingen, Captain hnox
and Thomas Posey who later distinguished MN
self as brigadier general under Wayne IN the IN
dian war of 1893.
of cI1oL
Washington's opinion of the value Oh sucn
corns was soon justified in the way in which they
barassed the British army under General Howe as
he retreated toward New York, and the r1emen
behaved so CALAMITY as to win special mentlon
from his exceency in letter to congress in which
he spoke of 'their conduct and bravery where they