Doesn't this send a thrill up your spine and make you want to rush to the wargames table? Riflemen fired at will when they were ready then twisted onto their backs, biting away the end paper of a fresh cartridge, emptying its powder into the rifle and hammering the butt between the feet, reversing the rifle to ram home the ball and finally twisting back onto the elbows with one hand and groping in a pocket for a copper percussion cap. They rarely wasted a shot, never snatched a trigger, picked their target and aimed low for his guts. AND Riflemen fired at will until their ears rang, they tore their cartridge with the teeth, the black powder stinging on the tongue, rammed it tightly home then the ball rammed again and fumble with sore fingers in the cap pocket, thumbed the cap home ready to fire again. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 167 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com