During our April meeting, Chapter President Ted Brode informed the membership about Benjamin Franklin’s ideas for the use of Long Bows as a weapon during the American Revolution. The last known record of the use of the longbow in action was as late as WWII, when Englishman “Mad” Jack Churchill was credited with a shot from his longbow that killed a German solider in France in 1940. There was serious consideration for using this weapon during the American Revolution and the idea was put forth by Benjamin Franklin.
Franklin believed he had found at least a partial solution to the problem for the lack of muskets for the military. He wrote to Lieutenant General Charles Lee in February 1776, “that pikes could be introduced, and I would add bows and arrows; these were good weapons not wisely laid aside.” In this remarkable letter Franklin listed the attributes of bows and arrows: "Because a Man may shoot as truly with a Bow as with a Common Musket.”
However, Franklin’s idea was not adopted due to the practicality and that it took years of practice for men to achieve readiness to be archers.
However, Franklin’s idea was not adopted due to the practicality and that it took years of practice for men to achieve readiness to be archers.