Yes, "Short Barrels" still exists, it's now on it's (hopefully) final hosting server and I'm starting work on it again. For a while there won't be much new material while I reacquaint myself with all the work I did many years ago, but I will be updating the programming of the site.
This page is dedicated to (though not entirely about) the 95th (Rifle) Regiment of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It started with a hobby dating back some 35+ years now. Who knows where it will end.
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien
The 95th were an elite regiment, a totally new concept for the era. The men were issued with accurate, but slow loading "Baker" rifles, rather than muskets, and trained as snipers, skirmishers and scouts. They were given a dark green uniform with black accoutrements (rather than red with white) to give them some camouflage and the regiment had no "colours" or standards in the field since it was intended to fight as small detached units rather than as a battalion.
The Rifles existed as the 95th (Rifle) Regiment for a little over 13 years from January 1803 (when the Rifle Corps was given a line number) to February 1816 (when it was removed from the line list, and honoured with the name "The Rifle Brigade") but in that time it created a legend.
"The first in the field and the last out of it: the bloody fighting ninety-fifth!"
Who am I? My name is Sue Law, I live in Sydney, Australia, and I'm now retired from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University. I am getting old and married with two wonderful daughters. I am a physicist by training, part engineer and part manager by career, a chronic bookworm and a dilettante historian when I feel like it. If you have any constructive criticisms, compliments or odd bits of information which I could include (with a source) please email me.
Update 10th March 2022: Due to various matters this site (and the email account) was neglected to the point where Yahoo shut the email account down (twice) and I lost some email records. I apologise to anyone to whom I didn't responded. If you are very gentle with me I will try and get the site going again. The email account should be operative again. Just remember I have to work through it all (especially the links) to make sure it all still works. Thanks to my marvellous family and my former colleagues for all their support over the years.
Last update 10/03/2022
These pages were originally written and maintained by Sue Law
Copyright © Susan H Law, 2022 and her licensors. All rights reserved.