Imagine a line of redcoated British soldiers marching across the battlefield at Camden. Just as the American army begins to break and run, a crack unit of 500 colonial soldiers armed with longbows dashes onto the field and rains down arrow barrage after arrow barrage on the British soldiers commanded by General Lord Charles Cornwallis.
Would this have made a difference? Given Horatio Gates' incompetence and/or cowardice (take your pick), perhaps not. But it sure would've made things interesting! And it probably would've disrupted the British advance enough to allow more Americans to escape the field.
No one can know for certain, but such "what if" scenarios are fun to contemplate. And, in this case, the scenario really isn't that far-fetched. The use of bows and arrows is something that Benjamin Franklin endorsed.
For more on this possibility, check out an article just published over at "The American Revolution & Founding Era" blog. You can click on the following link to check it out...
"Guns and Bows and Arrows"
