▁in ▁mind ▁that ▁this ▁is ▁the ▁result ▁of ▁shooting ▁by ▁ordinary ▁soldiers ▁who ▁had ▁a ▁very ▁low ▁training . ▁Sold iers ▁of ▁Light ▁inf antry ▁had ▁a ▁more ▁severe ▁training ▁and ▁were ▁taught ▁accurate ▁shooting , ▁even ▁in ▁single ▁target . ▁ ▁It ▁is ▁also ▁worth ▁considering ▁that ▁in ▁battle , ▁soldiers ▁suffered ▁fear , ▁fat igue ▁and ▁stress , ▁which ▁led ▁to ▁a ▁decrease ▁in ▁accuracy . ▁ ▁The ▁Brown ▁B ess ▁was ▁used ▁not ▁only ▁in ▁the ▁Line ▁inf antry , ▁but ▁also ▁Light ▁inf antry . ▁As ▁well ▁as ▁Rog ers ' ▁R angers , ▁hun ters , ▁Sk irm isher , ▁Indians ▁and ▁many ▁other ▁irregular ▁troops ▁who ▁used ▁non - standard ▁tact ics . ▁ ▁There ▁is ▁no ▁doubt ▁that ▁the ▁Brown ▁B ess ' s ▁bullet ▁was ▁le th al ▁at ▁its ▁full ▁range ▁of ▁effective ▁fire . ▁In ▁the ▁mid - 1 8 th ▁century , ▁Robert son ▁measured ▁the ▁speed ▁of ▁mus ket ▁bul lets ▁on ▁a ▁ball istic ▁p end ul um . ▁According ▁to ▁him , ▁the ▁speed ▁of ▁a ▁round ▁mus ket ▁bullet ▁sl ug ▁was ▁about ▁ 1 8 0 4 . 4 6 2 ▁feet ▁per ▁second ▁( 5 5 0   m / s ). ▁That ▁is , ▁the ▁m uzz le ▁energy ▁of ▁the ▁mus ket ▁was ▁about ▁ 3 , 5 0 0 ▁to ▁ 4 , 0 0 0 ▁jou les , ▁which ▁is ▁compar able ▁to ▁the ▁energy ▁of ▁modern ▁rif le ▁cart rid ges