Timothy Murphy was a badass American soldier. That’s true whether he actually did the legendary deed for which he’s famous or not. Consider this: Murphy fought through the American Revolution from the commencement of armed hostilities in 1775 to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. He crossed the Delaware in December 1776 in … [Read more...]

Tim Murphy is a legend among riflemen — a Frontier Partisan sharpshooter who, deploying his long rifle on October 7, 1777, turned the tide of the American Revolution. According to folklore that has accreted over a couple of centuries, Murphy — under direct orders from Colonel Daniel Morgan — climbed a tree during a heavy firefight at Bemis … [Read more...]

There are so many stories of frontiersmen covering prodigious amounts of territory under extreme duress that it’s become a trope — the stuff of cinematic drama. Mountain Man Hugh Glass’s ordeal was the basis for the Oscar-winning The Revenant. John Colter’s run for life from the Blackfeet was transposed into an African setting for The Naked … [Read more...]

The scouts have been out and they’ve brought back valuable and actionable intel from the wild country. Deuce Richardson picked up the trail of G.W. Thomas by way of James Reasoner. Reasoner, a seasoned old scout if there ever was one, put Deuce on the trail: Author G.W. Thomas has started a new blog called NORTH-WEST ADVENTURES, all about … [Read more...]

The frontiers of New York saw some of the most savage and intense irregular warfare of the American Revolution. Though it runs counter to deep-seated American stereotypes, the British forces were the most effective irregular Frontier Partisan fighters on those blood-soaked borders. The Revolutionary War in Upstate and Western New York was, like … [Read more...]

By Rick Schwertfeger, Captain, Frontier Partisans Southern Command, Austin, Texas “To the rear of the Whitley’s bomb bay lay a large metal tube, packed full of weaponry: 2 Stens, 14 Lugers, 640 rounds of ammo and 20 commando fighting knives – arms for Operation Grouse. The prospect of combat didn’t discomfit Einar Skinnarland greatly. But right … [Read more...]

The NRA’s American Rifleman this month contains a wonderful piece on the gunsmithing operation at Colonial Williamsburg. You can read it online here. I think of the classic long rifle as the American Ulfbehrt — and hold the makers of such weapons in the same esteem the Norsemen held the swordsmiths of yore. Which is to say, I am convinced … [Read more...]