thank you, Cecil Adams

[winterbadger]

Gee, why *didn't the American rebels just use bows and arrows instead of guns?

A straight answer from Straight Dope.

Comments

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I've just finished reading 'Harlequin', Bernard Cornwell's novel of the Battle of Crecy.

Agreed, it was totally the training that was key. By the Napoleonic era, the custom/fashion of all young men leaning the longbow and being very competitive about it had passed. There was no pool of experienced archers for the army to draw on.

It took years to train a skilled archer and develop his arm muscles.