Typical firing distance

James B White

Captain
Honored Fallen Comrade
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Dec 4, 2011
I've been looking at some reenactor photos, and my sense of proportion is just totally shot (hah! No pun intended). But I'm looking for a sense of how far and, more importantly, how accurately a bullet could travel. What was a realistic firing distance for small companies or squads? Everybody just seems way too close.

I'm trying to decide, if you're out on a patrol alone with a reenactor-size group of a squad or a small company (not General So-and-So's division facing another division with a quarter-mile front), when did people decide it was time to fire or maneuver or run?

I hate to post reenactor photos because it might be construed as making fun of them, which is not my intention, but it's hard to tell what 50 yards or 200 yards is, and it also depends on cover and such. Would it be wrong to post reenactor photos and ask--is this too close? Should they have run by now? Do they have a chance of holding them off?
 
I've been looking at some reenactor photos, and my sense of proportion is just totally shot (hah! No pun intended). But I'm looking for a sense of how far and, more importantly, how accurately a bullet could travel. What was a realistic firing distance for small companies or squads? Everybody just seems way too close.

I'm trying to decide, if you're out on a patrol alone with a reenactor-size group of a squad or a small company (not General So-and-So's division facing another division with a quarter-mile front), when did people decide it was time to fire or maneuver or run?

I hate to post reenactor photos because it might be construed as making fun of them, which is not my intention, but it's hard to tell what 50 yards or 200 yards is, and it also depends on cover and such. Would it be wrong to post reenactor photos and ask--is this too close? Should they have run by now? Do they have a chance of holding them off?
Many guerrillas used revolvers which meant that they were firing at well under 7 yards. Hitting a target from a horse is pretty tough even at clise range. Even modern police officers with better weapons and training miss approximately eighty percent of the tive at under 5 yards. I can post the link if you want.
Most shooting as you know was done with long heavy single shot muskets. True they can be accurate at several hundred yards. On the other hand under the stress of combat their effective range could be well under 100 yards.
Leftyhunter
 
There was this thread not long ago: http://civilwartalk.com/threads/distance-between-battle-lines.129414/

But the scenario you're asking about sounds like a typical infantry skirmish line engaging another skirmish line, or running into or driving off a picket line. That sort of intermediate skirmishing took place all the time, especially in the 1864-65 campaigns. As to the range at which both sides opened fire, well that could depend on a lot of variables such as the terrain or how far apart the opposing lines are to begin with. In the Atlanta and Overland Campaign fighting between the skirmish lines or picket lines often took place well within 200 yards, especially when earthworks and rifle pits are involved.

A squad-sized force would not usually be fighting alone in a closed-order line of battle formation like you might see in reenactments. Though a single company could be deployed as skirmishers, broken down into four-man squads, every man five paces apart and fighting from cover.
 
There was this thread not long ago: http://civilwartalk.com/threads/distance-between-battle-lines.129414/

But the scenario you're asking about sounds like a typical infantry skirmish line engaging another skirmish line, or running into or driving off a picket line. That sort of intermediate skirmishing took place all the time, especially in the 1864-65 campaigns. As to the range at which both sides opened fire, well that could depend on a lot of variables such as the terrain or how far apart the opposing lines are to begin with. In the Atlanta and Overland Campaign fighting between the skirmish lines or picket lines often took place well within 200 yards, especially when earthworks and rifle pits are involved.

A squad-sized force would not usually be fighting alone in a closed-order line of battle formation like you might see in reenactments. Though a single company could be deployed as skirmishers, broken down into four-man squads, every man five paces apart and fighting from cover.
Alan Polk, I will definitely watch that video when I have time. Thank you!

I searched and couldn't find a thread like that. Thanks! Leftyhunter and AUG351, I was thinking more about muskets, not on horseback, so it would be the longer distances you mentioned. So we're talking 100-200 yards or less? I'll just post a link to the picture that got me thinking about this. You can barely see the Yankees in the distance there. How far would that be in yards? I'm trying to figure out if it's time to think "we can hold them," or "Oh, no, they surprised us, run!" or "they'll be here soon enough but we're safe for now." What would be going through a soldier's mind, at that distance with those weapons?
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/looking-for-best-of-the-best-reenactor-photos.121469/#post-1460958
 
As is also mentioned in the video linked to.
The typical combat range was near 100 yards. well within the effective range of smoothbore muskets.

A number of different historians have studied the question.
Paddy Griffith: 133 examples - average 127 yards
Mark Grimsley: 89 examples - average 116 yards
Brent Nosworthy: "critical moments of engagements" 80-120 yards
Earl Hess: 39 examples - average 94 yards (he didn't want to repeat their work so got fewer examples)
 
I searched and couldn't find a thread like that. Thanks! Leftyhunter and AUG351, I was thinking more about muskets, not on horseback, so it would be the longer distances you mentioned. So we're talking 100-200 yards or less? I'll just post a link to the picture that got me thinking about this. You can barely see the Yankees in the distance there. How far would that be in yards? I'm trying to figure out if it's time to think "we can hold them," or "Oh, no, they surprised us, run!" or "they'll be here soon enough but we're safe for now." What would be going through a soldier's mind, at that distance with those weapons?
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/looking-for-best-of-the-best-reenactor-photos.121469/#post-1460958
I would say that's about 50-100 yards in that photo which, as mentioned above, would be around the typical firing distance - for a line of battle, that is. The black powder smoke covering the field and, as often was the case, fighting over thickly wooded terrain really reduced the average combat range down to within 100 yards.

Skirmishing and sharpshooting could take place at greater ranges, though that could vary depending on a lot of things.

Lee's Sharpshooters by Major W. S. Dunlop, commanding the sharpshooter battalion in McGowan's Brigade from 1864-65, gets into some of the details of skirmishing: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924026471460#page/n3/mode/2up

I'm trying to figure out if it's time to think "we can hold them," or "Oh, no, they surprised us, run!" or "they'll be here soon enough but we're safe for now." What would be going through a soldier's mind, at that distance with those weapons?
If a skirmish line was attacked in force then it might fire off a few rounds before breaking to the rear, fighting while retreating. A battle line, on the other hand, would be able to stand its ground. The opening volley might be at 100-200 yards, but as the advancing line closes in then the fighting gets closer until both sides are some 50 yards apart.
 
Alan Polk, I will definitely watch that video when I have time. Thank you!

I searched and couldn't find a thread like that. Thanks! Leftyhunter and AUG351, I was thinking more about muskets, not on horseback, so it would be the longer distances you mentioned. So we're talking 100-200 yards or less? I'll just post a link to the picture that got me thinking about this. You can barely see the Yankees in the distance there. How far would that be in yards? I'm trying to figure out if it's time to think "we can hold them," or "Oh, no, they surprised us, run!" or "they'll be here soon enough but we're safe for now." What would be going through a soldier's mind, at that distance with those weapons?
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/looking-for-best-of-the-best-reenactor-photos.121469/#post-1460958
Part of the determinant of what was going through the soldier's mind was the quality of his unit leadership. A good leader would quickly assess the situation and start giving orders and instructions. Good soldiers (not raw ones or militia) would start responding to the orders -- thinking time would be at a premium after the first few seconds, until the situation became clear. Soldiers were drilled to death so that, among other things, they would do what they were told to do without thinking about it. Thinking starts when nothing is happening to keep the soldier busy.
 
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