There was something interesting

[dgibby]

3. Rifles in the Rev. War

No doubt your g+grandfather was a rifleman, a group of rugged individuals from the Alleghany/Allegheny Mountains of Va and Pa who had developed and used a rifle rather than a musket. They also practiced the art of shooting from protected positions rather than standing in ranks in an open field. Washington desperately wanted these men to join his ranks, and he credited them with turning the tide of the war!