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The Americans did have heavy artillery established in earthworks (bulwarks) called “Line Jackson” after the Major-General of the Tennessee Militia. That 32-pound gun, along with one 18-pounder, three 12s, three 6s, and one 6-inch howitzer, had to have a telling effect. However, the Brits knocked out several of these. Detailed specifics of the battle remain obscured in time’s dark shadow, but General Pakenham’s death by a volley of grape shot had to affect troop morale.

Regardless, I submit that the arrival of Tennessee Sharpshooters from Kentucky bode strong in the rout. These lads carried rifles with iron sights. The original Brown Bess musket I once fired weighed 11 pounds and was pole vault long, with a lump of metal at the end of the barrel pretending to be a front sight with no true rear sight for alignment.

Smoothbores had their advantages: faster to load in the heat of battle and easier to clean than rifled long guns. And the 75-caliber round ball from the Brown Bess was vicious – when that big hunk of lead found the mark. But putting that spherical bullet exactly on target was more wishful thinking than reality. The 19th century American rifle, on the other hand, “barked” tree squirrels for supper and pricked the enemy “a way off yonder.” Rifling caused round bullets to spin on their axes, promoting equalization of discrepancies as well as stabilizing conical projectiles. But without good sights, the rifle would prove no more effective than smoothbore musket. Knowing this, early rifle makers developed a multitude of iron sight designs. W.W. Greener, in the 1910 Ninth Edition of his famous book, The Gun and its Development, illustrated several.