Walter Bright Wrote: > Don wrote: > > Curiously though, the Persian composite longbow was deadlier than the > > rifles used in the Napoleonic wars, so you really have to go up to WWI > > before you have a clearly superior technology in terms of raw power. The > > fundamental disadvantage being that it was so difficult to become a > > proficient longbowman, whereas you can train someone to be dangerous > > with a rifle in a few weeks. > > During the Civil War, Henry repeating rifles appeared. With breech > loading rounds and a high rate of fire, it would be hard to believe that > any longbow would be superior. > > Bullet wounds in the Civil War were also severe as they were high > impact. An arrow just penetrates, but a big slug is devastating.
The Civil War -- military technology was advanced enough to cause devastating wounds, and medical technology was just far enough along to keep you alive until you died of sepsis.
