Frontier Partisans

The Adventurers, Rangers and Scouts Who Fought the Battles of Empire

Spontoon

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As my moccasins pound down the warpath in the Mohawk Valley c. 1775-1882, I continually cut sign of a medieval implement that remained an effective weapon through the era of the muzzleloading musket and rifle. Talking about the Spontoon. That’s a fancy term for a military spear. Officially, it’s a half-pike. The pike — a spear ranging anywhere … [Read more...] about Spontoon

The Iceman Cometh

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Perhaps the oldest Frontier Partisans tale of them all is unfolding on screen this month. An Alpine backpacker later named Ötzi was stalked and killed by an arrow in the Italian Alps more than 5,000 years ago. His assailant: unknown. Motive: undetermined (though intact kit tends to rule out robbery). Ötzi may have been the victim of a mountain … [Read more...] about The Iceman Cometh

Ballads Of The Frontier Partisans — There’s Whiskey In The Jar

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Me and my mates are rehearsing for a St. Paddy’s gig, so naturally we’re polishing up a set of Celtic-flavored songs. My own Shoot Straight You Bastards. Steve Earle’s Galway Girl. Charlie Robison’s John O’Reilly. Dropkick Murphys’ Rose Tattoo. Gaelic Storm’s magnificent privateer epic Lover’s Wreck. And Whiskey in the Jar. Popularized by The … [Read more...] about Ballads Of The Frontier Partisans — There’s Whiskey In The Jar

‘A Bit Of A Tit’

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“Well you are a bit of a tit, aren’t you?” — Col. Hiram Huncks to Balthasar de St. Michel * I am, betimes, a foolish fellow. When Christopher Buckley’s The Judge Hunter came out a few months ago, I grabbed it up off the new arrivals table at the bookstore, because I will always pick up a book with a tomahawk, a flintlock, and goose-quill … [Read more...] about ‘A Bit Of A Tit’

Roosevelt, Rondon, and Tarzan: The Brazilian Frontier

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By Captain Paul McNamee Frontier Partisans New England Ranging Company (Editor’s Note: Captain McNamee has a particular interest in the wilds of South America. His report on the Roosevelt-Rondon expedition has been recovered from a chest full of documents that was dredged from the River of Lost Souls after a dugout overturned during the … [Read more...] about Roosevelt, Rondon, and Tarzan: The Brazilian Frontier

Getting A Kick Out Of An 18th Century Rifle

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A few days back, John H. Bryan, Attorney at Law, posted on Facebook some wonderful pictures of a rare surviving mid-18th Century flintlock rifle of the Virginia school. Without getting too pedantic about it, Pennsylvania rifles tended to have a little more Germanic cast to them, while the Virginia rifles looked a little bit more like English … [Read more...] about Getting A Kick Out Of An 18th Century Rifle

Savage Civil War in New Jersey During the American Revolution

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By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command This is  Rick Schwertfeger’s seventh article on backcountry, irregular and militia partisans in the American Revolution. * As 5,000 British Redcoats marched down Schraalenburgh’s New Bridge Road on November 21, 1776, a day behind the retreating, disheveled American … [Read more...] about Savage Civil War in New Jersey During the American Revolution

The Wild Ones — Part III — The Apache Kid

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Of all the ghosts that haunt the Red Road, Has-kay-bay-nay-ntayl is perhaps the most tragic. Known to his contemporaries and to history as The Apache Kid, he looked fair to successfully negotiate the rocky and treacherous path between the culture of his birth and the dominant Anglo-American culture he ably served as a scout. But, as it did for too … [Read more...] about The Wild Ones — Part III — The Apache Kid