User blog comment:El Alamein/French Revolutionary Militia vs. American Minutemen/@comment-5232784-20120822023439

The minutemen have the major advantage in the close range category: Bayonets and tomahawks will always outdo crude clubs and fisherman's hooks (in the Somali Pirates vs Medillin Cartel, the former's grapplehook, a giant four pointed fishhook, was outdone by the latter's Machete. Same thing here when compating Tomahawks vs Fishing hooks). The average sizes, type of metal used for both iriquois Knife and Dagger would be needed in order to make a proper judgment on which is a better weapon.

I thought the American Minutmen were armed with Rifled muskets, not Brown Bess muskets (as the British Redcoats were). Perhaps they were aremd with both, I need to do some research to make sure. A listing of both weapon's rpm, range, loading time, etc, would be needed to figure out which weapon is better.

The French have it made in having the heavier 8-lbs ball cannon. Nuff said here.

Back In college, when I was taking a Western Civ class, the French Revolution was brought up: I learned that the average French peasant, when their graves from that time where exhumed, i.e. their skeletal remains, they were about the same size and as robust as a modern American 13 year old girl! Says a lot for the value of nutrition while you are young, eh? I do not know the average size of an American male from the revolutionary era, so there is no size advantage factors I can give at this time.

And then we have to deal with the fact that women, as well as men, made up the French Revolutionaries, while men alone made up the Minutemen. Anybody wanna touch that one?

Another thing to consider is te ferocity of the French (they could be very, very brutal in the revolution, subsequent Reign of Terror. The American Revolution and post-revolution period did not have anywhere near the level or depth of atrocities that occured in the French Revolution and post-revolution period).

owever, the Americans would have been made up of people who lived in frontier wilderness, in a wild country that, unlike France, was not fully tamed, not anywhere close. Indians were fought, Bears were fought, and thus had generally more experience in conflict than the average French Peasant.

Im trying to be fair, not let petriotic semtiments get in the way of logical vote, but the experience and better organization of the Minutemen (French Rvolutionaries were often mass uncontrolled mobs) will win them the day. However, my vote is lacking in information on the flintocks used, other areas to be considered.