According to this tale, Franklin advocated it's use due to higher rate of fire, better accuracy and the fact that The British had no body armour or shields that could've deflected the arrows. I'm wondering how true this is.
I think this story relies way too much on the often quoted superiority of the longbow over the flintlock musket, which is questionable at best. So i have some doubt that Franklin ever said this, but i could be wrong.
Thank you.
Indeed he did, although no one took it seriously. Benjamin Franklin was something of an armchair general, having previously been involved in the creation of a Pennsylvania militia during the French and Indian War. In 1775, he was president of the Pennsylvania defense committee and it was in this capacity that he wrote to General Charles Lee recommending the re-adoption of pikes and bows. I wrote another answer a while back about Franklin, the Duke of Wellington, and the overall phenomenon of "longbow revivalism," which you may be interested in.