The American rifle was not the significant weapon legend later made it out to be. Though accurate at great distances, it was slow to load and useless in open battle because it was not equipped with a bayonet. But in the hands of skirmishers the rifle could do great damage, as the British found out at Cowpens. [Illustration: French musket, calibre .69] [Illustration: British Brown Bess, calibre .75] [Illustration: British dragoon carbine] [Illustration: American rifle] Pistols _Cavalrymen and mounted officers nearly always carried a brace of pistols. Though wildly inaccurate, they were useful in emergencies when formal combat broke down and a foe was only a few feet away._ [Illustration: Officer’s Pistol] [Illustration: American dragoon pistol] [Illustration: Powder horns of the type used by rifle-carrying militia at Cowpens: each was usually made by the man who carried it.] Edged Weapons _came in many varieties. The most important for hand-to-hand fighting were bayonets and swords. For cavalrymen, the sword was more useful than firearms. It was “the most destructive and almost the only necessary weapon a Dragoon carries,” said William Washington. They used two types: the saber and the broadsword. Both are shown here._ _Officers, foot as well as mounted, carried swords, often for fighting, sometimes only for dress. The small-sword (shown at left below) was popular with Continental officers._ [Illustration: Officers’ swords] [Illustration: American dragoon sabre] [Illustration: British dragoon sabre, model 1768] Pole Arms _were in common use. Washington wanted his foot officers to direct their men and not be distracted by their own firearms. He therefore armed them with a spear-like weapon called a spontoon. It became a badge of rank as well as a weapon._ [Illustration: American officers’ spontoons] Morgan’s highest hopes had been focused on North Carolina, which had thus far been relatively untouched by the British. The commander of the militia in the back country was Brig. Gen. William Davidson, a former Continental officer whom Morgan had known at Valley Forge. An energetic, committed man, popular with the militia, Davidson had been expected to muster from 600 to 1,000 men. Instead, Morgan got a letter from him with the doleful report: “I have not ninety men.” An Indian incursion on the western frontier had drawn off many of the militia and inclined others to stay home to protect their families. On December 28, Davidson rode into Morgan’s camp with only 120 men. He said that he hoped to have another 500 mustered at Salisbury in the next week and rode off to find them, leaving Morgan muttering in dismay.