18th Century Land Warfare Overview

Study Notes

Low-to-mid-level officers led troops in long lines, advancing toward the enemy.
Battles involved massed musket volleys followed by bayonet charges.
Soldiers wore brightly colored uniforms to distinguish friend from foe on battlefields.
Uniform color was a symbol of national pride.
Cannons fired solid iron balls at long range, and then smaller balls ("canister") at closer range.

Essential resources for warfare included iron, wood, wool, linen, hemp, leather, food (including salt), horses, gunpowder, lead, brass, furs, and people.

Ships had 74 cannons (with varying caliber).
Crews ranged from 500 to 750 people.
Ships were approximately 170 feet long.
Building a ship required approximately 4,000 mature oak trees from a 100-acre forest.
Average lifespan of a ship was 12 to 20 years.
Ships had approximately 43 miles of rope, weighing roughly 78 tons (156,000 pounds).
The ships had 130,000 square feet of sails (about 3 acres).
Cannons were powerful enough to penetrate other ships and cause considerable damage.

Thomas Jefferson accused London merchants of manipulating tobacco prices to create unsustainable debt in farmers.
Merchants offered high prices and credit to farmers, luring them into debt.
Subsequently, they reduced the prices of tobacco, preventing farmers from repaying their debts.
This led to the adoption of cotton as a primary agricultural crop.

Staple foods included wheat (along with rye, barley, and oats), corn, pork, beef, and wild game.

Adults typically consumed 34 gallons of beer or cider, 5 gallons of distilled spirits (often rum), 1 gallon of wine, and switchel (water, vinegar, sometimes ginger).

Craft Revivalists included farmers seeking supplemental income during winter, housewives/mothers supplementing family income, and tradespeople crafting for their local community..
Their activities were primarily concentrated in Western North Carolina.

"Outsiders," (missionaries, teachers, social workers, wealthy individuals like Edith Vanderbilt), played a role in promoting the craft revival by assisting families with limited options
Established and supported craft schools (e.g., John C. Campbell, Penland, Crossnore).

Tobacco was the most prominent crop in North Carolina. The state had approximately 175,000 acres of tobacco plantations.
Sweet potatoes were another significant crop, with about 105,000 acres devoted to them.
North Carolina also had about 800,000,000 chickens/year, about 40,000 acres of Christmas trees, 4 million Christmas trees, and 10 million hogs annually, alongside approximately 4.5 million pounds of trout.