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Firearms in America 1600 - 1899
Firearms in America 1600 - 1899
ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY
1980
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SMlAtiiO
Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/firearmsinamericOOsawyuoft
A Home
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FIREARM^ I
33
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AMERICAN HISTORY
1600 to 1800
,,,
BY
iG81A
A.
ONTARIO
C^pyhgkt^ 1910
Tkt
As
tion
to
the
Sawyer
a num-
was made
permission
collections.
D. Cook, Dr. J. ton, W. A. Lawrence, J. M. Scrafford, and Francis R. Bangs, grateful acknowledgment is
To Messers B. Thorn-
made
for
their
exceeding
kindness,
courtesy,
and
generosity.
"'\
The Influence
of Firearms
The Colonists in America were the greatest weaponusing people of that epoch in the world.
the
Everywhere
tool. It fur-
maintained
its
owner's claims to
the aboriginal
among
it
try's wars for possession of the country as a whole. These facts alone raise the interesting questions of what the Colonists used for weapons and where they Further, the ultimate outcome of all strife got them. between the Colonists and other people was victory While the Colonists may have for the Colonists.
been excellent
fighters,
war
is
composed
of
two
factors, only
themselves.
one of which is the combatants Every war and every battle is made of
two factors: the strength, experience, and skill of the combatants have much to do with the issue; also so do the weapons with which they destroy each other.
An
gles
America
yields
various
results.
Besides
lems
mechanisms for turnand unlocking, present to the inventor of to-day bases upon which to build again. Ornamentation by means of form, chiseling, en-
anything attempted
now
production of a
of
modem
The immensity
it
with
arms and human progress. The money value of so great an industry had a strong influence upon the economics of the times, and needs attention in regard to the present and the future. Debatable aspects
of history are clarified by the presentation of infor-
is
antique
new
nation,
and
human
progress.
It is
America was one vast wilderness, not affected any way by the few scattering settlements of white people from Europe who maintained a preof
in
carious existence in the midst of the native populaI^ater, when the villages became and the neighboring savages were greatly weakened in numbers and strength, England became ruler of the land. Then France, having possessions on the north and claiming the wilderness to the west, strove with England for what she possessed. In these French wars the Colonists became acquainted with each other, and of united sympathy and purpose. When England's rule was no longer acceptable they formed a league against her, and the struggle for freedom which began in 1775 terminated the Colonial period. The Colonial period, which was one of almost constant warfare yet also one of tremendous growth, divides into the period of skirmish and warfare with
tion of savages.
thriving towns
The
first settlers
in the
presumably such as had seen long service arms which may have been made in any part of Europe except Russia. During the next generation arms began to be made in America, by European immigrant armorers, after European models. Thereafter firearms were made in increasing numbers in the American Colonies, and imported also in quantities, particularly from England and the Netherlands. When the wars with France were in progress English and French soldiers brought to America the military arms of their nations, and their officers brought the high-grade arms of celebrated European armorers. Firearms of America and of Europe are
Beginning the period 1607 to 1689, the skirmishing between the earliest settlers and the Indians was
on a small
scale,
maintenance of individual
fireside,
rights.
each considerable
settle-
ment, as Jamestown, New Netherlands (New York and Albany), and Plymouth, possessed a stock of The early old arms held as common property.
settlers
with
lands,
power or wealth at Jamestown and in New Netherand Captain Miles Standish at Plymouth, who
superior
owned
weapons
or poor circumstances,
who used
arm
of the time,
then
made
were abundant.
They were
still
the princi-
is compound, match being an abbreviation of slow-match, which was a slender rope treated in various ways so as to burn slowly without flame but with a persistent live coal, and the word lock, which in firearm phrase means firing mechanism. A match-lock was a mechanism on
the side
was
and
moved
by the
on the
trigger,
and
trigger-spring
when
the pressure
serpentine
keep
it
free of ash.
tip
When
it
firing the
gun
soldiers
were instructed to
so
that
fired
only
at short range,
with sights.
Fowling-pieces and other guns not considered to
be
strictly military
hands and held with the butt against the thigh, waist, or shoulder, or gripped between the upper arm and
the body, but
full
muzzle by the forked tip of a long iron rod, the other and sharp end of which was thrust into the ground. Although the musket was so heavy that the rest was useful, it was not absolutely necessary; its use was due to its requirement by the manual of arms, and the manual of arms was a survival of the time when guns were without locks and both of a soldier's
the gun, match, pan,
arms
settled
With the advent of the thousand Puritans who and named Boston in 1630, and who formed a
all
arms then known (matchlock, wheellock, snaphance, and flintlock, named in the order of their invention), and as public property such as were then in common
military use
in
Europe.
As prelude
to
the
first
Indian war (the Pequot War, 1637) the Colonists were for the first time able to equip a company with
weapons superior
lowing
list,
The
fol-
shows some of the common property arms which were purchased in 1628 or 1629 in anticipation of
their migration to the
new
country.
rests.
These ninety snaphance arms are the first pubHc property ones in quantity of which Colonial record
has been found.
as the term
is
now
may have
been true
flintlock
flintlock,
the
is
doubtful
if
the
These Indians, an unusually fierce tribe, were attacked in their fort in 1637 by soldiers of the Massachusetts Bay Company, and about one half their whole tribe killed then and there. The success of the whites in that massacre was due to chance the fact that they
tion the trouble with the Pequots.
They
exits to the
stockade, cut
down the Indians who tried to pass, those who were driven from cover by the
its light.
There
still
remained
some hundreds of revengeful, desperate, and crafty warriors armed with bows, matchlock guns, and a
few snaphance
pistols.
To
exterminate or to drive
that required better
away
those enemies
was a task
in
many
respects inferior
bow;
its
and
and
with several
saries at once.
bullets,
could
bullet
9
it
it
let
was
less effective
than an
arrow.
bow
in
range or accuracy;
of fire; the
was
gun was heavy to carry and clumsy to use; the bow was light, easy to manage, and made no noise to betray its owner's location; the bow was
constantly ready for use except in a long rain, while
the slow-match required in the best of weather conit alight, and in dampness, and wind was worse than uncertain. The Hght from the slow-match also prevented ambush at night, and the smell prevented a surprise at any
rain,
when
While one
is
battle of
a war
may
be
won by
chance, a war
War.
As
weapon was
to
better than
is
true.
Its
him
of magic,
The
and the INIassachusetts records both state by 1628 the Indians were well supplied with firearms, including pistols and bullet molds. Of
Virginia
that
lo
immediate
War
there
was an
interval
up
community
of
They were
and stored town property arms against time of need. Records of 1647 show town property arms of three kinds, and other records give prices of both military and sporting arms in use before King Philip's War Quantities of arms came to America by (1676). purchase or as the property of refugees from troubles in England, which had helped to fight the battles between King Charles and Oliver Cromwell. In that long and bloody struggle every kind of firearm however old or new was pressed into service of either party wherever found, and America got the
overflow.
Name
Type
of
arm
Musket
Harquebuss
Carbine
.
4
.
feet
10
Matchlock
Wheellock
Flintlock
2i feet 2i feet
24
French
arquebuse
to a
was
and applied
match-
gun having a stock made to go and bring the breech to the The stock had a good deal of drop, and was eye. clumsy, with several curves on the upper side.
against the shoulder
modated 20
the
to 22
round
the
balls to the
pound.
of
At
time
the
Puritans
came
the
musket had a
simpler
straighter
outline,
stock
than
harquebus,
and the bore took 12 to 16 round balls to the pound. By 1640 the harquebus and the musket and
caliber.
was
unofficially called
"musketeer."
His firearm
The law
: ;
12
to his
wire,
lb.
worm,
scourer, bullet
ft.
mold,
bandolier,
bullets.
powder, 12
of slow-
match, and 20
wheel, and
The requirements
for match,
flint
similar.
Bay-
Ramrods were of wood. bandolier was a shoulder strap hung with many
boxes, usually cylindrical, each of which held
ball; they jangled
like
little
Beginning with
King
Philip's
War
sizes
The
all
com-
of
an
inch, to fire
a single
The
fell
in the
ally
mother country, and the Colonists occasionin with the procession. in the Colonies
ft.
By
act of
1645,
muskets made
not less than 3
in.,
in.,
The
nies
prices of firearms
and accessories
in the Colo-
between 1652 and 1680 are shown by the account book of John Pynchon, merchant, of Hadley, Mass.
6
d.
;
worm
30
s.
match
2 d.
s.
;
horn powder
flask 5
and up; fowling-piece 25 s. gunlocks 65. to 8 s. 4 d.\ flints 6 and 8 d. each; carbines 25 to 30 s. each; a pair of pistols and holsters 37 5. We can safely
13
was
at least equal to
King
1673,
Philip's
War
the old
September,
the
Massachusetts
England 500 new snaphance or firelock muskets." war began the general use of the
all
were ordered
to
have
pos-
November
vide 6
slight
it is
1675, every
to pro-
gun
flints to
each of
From
the
much
as a good matchlock
and
half as
much
less
abuse.
They were less common abroad, also, They were no novelty, howfiring
In the development of
mechanisms
Matchlocks were invented shortly after hand firearms came into use possibly at the city of Liege
as early as 1375.
Nuremberg about
151 5.
Snap-
14
now
called flint-
been invented in several places, independently, between 1580 and 1600. The ten-
may have
dency of information gained from recent research is to set the dates of snaphance and flintlock earlier
than those given by nineteenth-century investigators; the
many
reasons.
When
flint
in
America
was unable to resist the temptation of lavish offerings; to an Indian, refusal to trade meant merely that he must raise his bid when he had offered his all he left only to return with more; he offered a hundred times five hundred times as much as a white man would give he was determined to have a magic stick at any price; and in time he got it. But a gun in an Indian^s hands was a less formidable weapon than in a white man's, for the Indian's haphazard nature precluded good marksmanship; shiftlessness caused the gun to be speedily injured by neglect, and after that it was soon ruined by rough usage; when the gun was spoiled the bow was resumed, and, so armed, the
the cupidity of traders
;
15
match
man.
1607 to 1789, sums up thus: to 1630 were years of peace
The
period,
up
and poverty. Colonial soldiers wore body armor which was usually proof against arrows, and when attacked by small numbers of Indians could hold Colonial arms of offence were then so their own. inefficient that persistent and concerted Indian
aggression could have cleared the country of every
Colonist. When the Pequots in 1637 undertook formidable resistance the Indian's chance for success
had passed. The white soldier still wore body armor good against arrows; the white man's inefficient matchlock was in part replaced by the far better flint gun; the Indian had no armor to stop a bullet, and comparatively few serviceable firearms. When King PhiHp organized an Indian league against the whites the Indians were no better equipped
than before; the Colonists, however, had, with the advent of prosperity, provided an abundance of
warfare.
flint
The Indian
man
man won.
different
of the
French wars a
16
was now pitted against white French subject experience and ability or ignorance and inefficiency were not all on one side; the wars themselves were parts of wars abroad, and the firearms used in the Colonies
were, in the indecisive
first
more important
still
by France while the Colonists had forged to the front in firearm development and were makers and users of the most effective weapon for their kind of
fighting then in the world.
those of French,
manufacture, London
tion as the earliest
The
In the
all
arms were
1543 he induced the Flemings, Peter Bawd, and Van Collen, to settle in Lx)ndon as gun and
ordnance makers.
In Elizabeth's reign
(1558 to
1603) the business increased until there were 37 accredited gun makers in that part of London called
the Minories.
the
first
During Elizabeth's
last
years and
few of her successor James the First (1603 to 1625) trade dwindled until, in 1607, London had
17
Under
who was
gun makers became a chartered maintained that arms made in England, honestly made and proved, should have first choice when the government or EngHshmen needed to purchase; and to identify the arms made by The Company of Workmen Armorers of London they adopted as their proof mark the letter A (for Armorers) and a crown. This incorporation and the adoption of a proof mark was the beginning of the compulsory proof of firearms in England, and the beginning also of a firearms industry in London which increased to enormous economic importance in the late Colonial period, and culminated about the period 1785 to 1830 in the superlative fame of London made arms for beauty of design and perfection of quality and finish. But in 1637 London made arms w^ere
not considered the equals of the best foreign
ones, nor for
made
equip
this
many
English English
firearms
soldiery.
sufficient
quantity
to
The
principal
reason
for
Fire-
arms come under the head of Articles of Limited Sale when manufactured only for the general public.
ilMTAfWO
In London's early firearms industry English sovereigns were not in the habit of dictating to their
soldiery the specific variety of
gun or
pistol to use
it.
Captains of companies
were responsible to
size,
weapons of their men; the and cost of the immaterial, and weapons were they could purchase where they chose. Charles the First introduced some innovations. He had all the arms in his kingdom examined and repaired by seven gunsmiths whom he appointed, about 1640, to go about the country with their deputies and assistants to "survey, make, alter, mend, dress, repair, prove, and stamp if need be all guns fit for service." All
the serviceability of the
shape,
caliber,
nationality,
to be
and a crown
of
(the
seven
were
members
the
London
the
individual
who
Many
of these
arms
after-
game and
prices
for
redskins.
new
ones.
From
the
latter
these
are
taken
19
d.
New Musket, Mold, Worm, and Scourer New Musket Rest New Bandolier with 12 Chargers, Prymer, Pryming wire, Bullet bag, Strap 2"
15
o
10
Wide
3
New
Worm,
Flask,
and Cases
of Leather
o
o 6
o* o
o*
New New
2
Belt, Swivel,
Worm, and
Scourer
New Carbine,
etc.,
as aforesaid
In England the change in the firearms industry from a precarious one to a fixed one, and from a soldiery owning miscellaneous weapons to a soldiery equipped with government weapons, came with government patronage of the home industry, and
with the expiration of the Stuart line of sovereigns
and the advent of the German fine. When, in 1689, King William's War began, England was still using the matchlock musket in her armies. General Monk had, in 1660, armed his regiment with flintlocks, and in 1683 the guards were armed with flintlocks; but other regiments were using mixed arms having a fixed proportion of match and flint locks, probably half and half. The Grenadiers,
* Here firelock
present money:
is
to
$60 of
1 6 s.
hand grenades and matchlock muskets; minor companies had flint carbines and hammer-hatchets; twelve men in each troop of dragoons had halberds and pistols, the rest had flint muskets and cartridge boxes. King William, familiar with warfare on the continent against the progressive Louis XIV of France, and with
established in
the superiority
of
flint flint
to
earlier
arms,
in
caused
musket
1690 as the
such flint military weapons as England used, had with few exceptions been purchased abroad principally from Germany and that part of the Netherlands now called Belgium. King William favored the domestic manufacture of England's firearms, and in the first year of his reign (1689) let to the gun-makers of Birmingham their first government contract. Firearms had been manufactured in Birmingham for a quarter of a century before, and a quantity was made there in 1683, but this contract marks the real beginning of the great industry which made and makes Birmingham one of the great arms-making cities of the world. A part of King William's fourth contract with the Birmingham smiths, made in 1692, is still in existence, and is as follows: "William Bourne, Tho. Moore, John West, Rich'd Weston, & Jacob Austin
21
200 snaphance muskets per month for one March 26 1692; guns to be 3 ft. 10 in. from year long with walnut or ash stocks. One half shall have fiat locks engraved one half round locks all to have
; ;
brass pipes
and heel
to be
proved at Birm-
ingham according to the Tower proof; to be marked office marks price 1 7 shillings each in Birmingham, cartage to London extra." The lock plates were 7 J in. long. There was no bridle. These muskets were marked on the lock plate *'W R," for William Rex, and part of them bore also the name of The *' proof" mentioned meant that the maker. each gun was to be fired with a charge of powder
with the
;
and lead
charge.
safe.
first
From King
teenth century
of the ninerivals
Both furnished arms to the in the arms industry. Crown and the Colonies; but Birmingham, on
account of cheaper manufacturing
nished the more.
facihties,
fur-
arms of the one other, and neither was were as good as those of the superior in any way to the ordinary flint musket of other countries. These two cities produced the
military
The
22
major part of British flint military arms, but gun makers were scattered throughout England in the eighteenth century, were somewhat abundant in Ireland in and about Dublin, and in Scotland were locally celebrated in Doune, Perth, Stirling, Dundee, and Glasgow. Some of these gun makers engaged as sub-contractors to London and Birmingham holders
of government
contracts.
at
London and Birmingham with those produced by Arms the contractor, cannot now be recognized. made for the government in Ireland were proved
at the
government
office in
stamped.
Arms made
their lack of
them
at
used,
In the period 1689 to 1763 England produced, and exported to America an enormous number
of fowling-pieces
and shapes, and a large They were and pistols. almost entirely single-shot arms. These muskets, fowling-pieces, and pistols were to a considerable extent used by the Colonists in the French and
of muskets of various sizes
number
Indian
Wars,
and
later
were
turned
wholesale
23
man-
ufacturing city on a branch of the river Loire, 36 miles southv^est of Lyons. The manufacture in
quantities of
arms
for
war began
I,
during
the
reign of Francis
there
in
had been made before. The first armory estabHshed by the French government v^as at St. Etienne in 1669, and the armory there is now the principal
one in France.
far from the center was well established by 1646, and in 1690 a government armory was located there which is still operating. Maubeuge and Charleville were the two other prominent
At Tulle, not
armories.
flintlock for
arms for the French troops in America. In 1694 French muskets were commonly about 5 ft. long, with barrels about 3 ft. 8 in. long, and took 30 balls Until 1718 each captain was responto the pound. sible for the armament of his company, and, the weapons being serviceable, he was otherwise free to
choose or to allow his soldiers to choose without
regard
to
close
similarity of
size,
shape, weight,
caliber, etc.
peculiar to France
it
was common
to
to the civilized
world.
But France
in 171 7
began
make
in her armories
24
guns
ments and a system of manufacture. Thenceforth French government arms were made according to a
and rapidity of fire. These model 1 71 7 fusils were longer even than the English the idea being to be able to degun of the period liver simultaneous fire from three ranks, and, when using the bayonet, to have in the gun some of the
weight, handiness, range,
The model
about
5
171 7 musket
is
as follows: Length
ft. 2 J in.; bbl. about 46J in.; one breech flat on top muzzle-sight serves as bayonet stud bbl. fastened to stock by 4 pins (not screws, but pins), and a single band situated one third the distance from the muzzle to the touch-hole; cal. about .69, taking 18 round bullets to the pound.
situated
tip
of
swivels
are rings
back of the side plate. Lock plate iron pan with fence, exterior of flat, rear edge oval pan has 3 flat faces; the screw upon which the frizzen turns is not connected to an extension of
to the
wood
is
25
long
slot
on gun. No brass. Outline of under edge of grip and butt concave. Following this model came the mxodel 1728, in which pins to hold the barrel and forestock together were entirely omitted, and their place taken by three bands, the forward one being long, with two straps over the barrel, and serving also as a ramrod funnel.
therefore not rigid
With the exception of a few other sHght changes, the gun was otherwise similar to the preceding model. It was the first government-model arm of any country to make use of bands instead of pins, and, in comparison with the English mihtary arm, was an improvement in respect to strength when clubbed, and in speedy dismantling and assembling. Muskets of this kind were issued until 1746, when some changes were made with the idea of improving both the serviceability and the appearance. The length of the gun about 5 ft. 3 in., and of
the barrel about 47 in.
rear
portion
of
the
26
tight
muzzle band was was made entirely of iron instead of wood or wood tipped with iron as formerly. The change from wooden ramrod to iron ramrod was to keep pace with England, where newly made military guns had been equipped with iron ramrods since 1730. Otherwise the model was no great gun improvement over the 171 1746 model, and defects in the new gun soon showed
fastened;
the
themselves.
In 1754 a fourth model was issued. The sling rings (still circular) were now placed underneath
instead of on the
left
bands were
greatly
lb.
was
was
length 4J
ft.,
mounthis
Ameri-
No
763,
model belongs with the tale of the Revolution. All these early French muskets had gooseneck cocks,
as did the
Under
the com-
27
just
gooseneck cocks often broke at the slender place beneath the jaw, and put the gun out of service
during a battle.
the braced under as early
of cock with
as
1648,
shortly after.
Brown Bess
of precision,
opposite side
was a weapon
but of the two the French musket was more carefully made, the bullet fitted the bore a little closer, and it was a little more accurate in its shooting; it was not so much better, however, as to hold any great advantage. These French muskets shot 18 bullets to the pound; their caliber was therefore about sixty-nine one hundredths of an inch, and varied in a large number of arms but little. The English authorities were at that time lax in their requirements for the maintenance of a standard, and accepted of the contractors arms that varied considerably in design and dimensions; also variations in the caliber between 72 and 80 were not considered abnormalities, although the English musket was supposed to shoot 12 bullets to the pound and
to
be .75 caHber.
Besides
the
English used carbines; they were merely small editions of the musket,
and
of less caliber.
French
28
game, were provided with long, slender guns of government make. The French troops on European
territory
King's Guards had musketoons of elegant design and superior finish, and the cadets had small elegant muskets of light weight; in 1718 and 1728 rampart guns of two different models were issued; the soldiers of certain companies of grenadiers carried, up to 1 760, queer little hand cannon or portable mortars
for throwing grenades aloft that they
might
fall
into
armament
and as
far
home with
was sufliciently small to be dropped down the gun barrel These rifles for quick loading in an emergency. had 30-inch barrels, rifled with lands and grooves Mar6Officers had short ones. of equal width. chal Saxe (1696-1750) had a company armed with
a mallet and iron ramrod; the other
size
his amusettes
breech -loading
America, but
it
rifles.
It is
not cer-
the wars in
is
possible.
few
made
use of in a military
way
29
superficial influence.
There
1690
is,
that
Frontenac in
astonished the
Iroquois
These arms
flint-and-steel
spark principle
multi-shot firearm, and multi-barrel military guns would have been monstrosities. No further mention of them occurs. Pistols in the French War period
were
that a
still
government-model
mixed
lot
was
it
in use.
is
In the Colonies
questionable
a single
fire-
Following the
first
thousand
thousand whites in
New
England
alone.
Through-
Gunsmiths of Europe employment at repairing, and making, and selling. Between the Pequot War and King William's War it is probable that fully one third of the firearms in use by
flocked to the Colonies, sure of steady
the
Colonists
The
30
amount
being
money paid
for
them was
excessive,
taken into consideration. Old deeds and show that gunsmiths quickly gained property, and old town records show that many of them, as men of substance and respected citizens, were given civil and military positions of honor. In the period between King WiUiam's War and the Revolution, records indicate that firearms manufacturing was
wills
the
greatest
of
all
Colonial
industries requiring
was so great that muskets, fowling-pieces, pistols, and their accessories, were imported in such quanparticularly from England tities from Europe as to form one of the principal imports of the time.
made
the locks
their guns.
The
lock of an ordi-
flint gun was the most intricate part of it, and making was a trade in itself; as a rule an European made lock could be imported at less cost
The European
locks
when
A
is
Colonial
made gun
31
of early
American use
red
walnut,
such
maple,
as
cherry,
red
birch,
maple,
American
tification.
black
all,
dogwood,
and
is
curly
most
uncertain of
tradition,
may
is
Identification
by resemblance
arm
known
not proof
among
different
makes
of old
and few
Revolution.
The
firearm
demand
in the Colonies
and hunting w^eapons. Beginning about 1710 commerce brought wealth to some of the merchants in the northern Colonies, and with other luxuries fancy firearms began to be in
for plain, strong, military
was
demand.
record that in 1722 ''They" "were also entertained with the sight of a curious gun made by Mr. Pim of Boston, which once loaded was discharged eleven times following with bullets in the space of two minutes, each
tion, series 4, vol. 5, is the
which went through a double door at 50 yds. distance." But Mr. Pim of Boston had done nothof
32
ing
more extraordinary than had been done before and the military and sporting smoothbores of early America, however good or bad, were merely on a par with those of the mother counin Europe,
tries.
There was, however, at this time evolving a distinctively American firearm the long rifle which of all firearms up to the perfecting of the revolver, also American, had the greatest influence upon history, both American and foreign. Up to this time the world had been content with missile weapons which were not accurate. Each generation had perfected its kind of weapons and believed them to be the best possible. Each generation had produced men so endowed physically and mentally as to be able to get from their weapons all the accuracy of which they were capable. But that did not mean that the weapons were weapons of precision. The bow could send an occasional arrow to the mark,
could never
arbal^te or
more accurate on account of having sights and of using a more perfect arrow or bolt. The gun or the musket when first class was a little more accurate than the arbal^te because the barrel facilitated better alignment and the missile was quicker on its journey, and on account
crossbow was sometimes a
33
fluences.
gunner
mark even
at
medium
In the case
gun the
interval
and further
yet,
between trigger action and the was detrimental to good aiming, the weapon itself was incapable of
The wonder-
marksmanship of Robin Hood, Jack o' Flanders, Dick Turpin, and any other celebrated bowman, arbalist, or smoothbore wizard, are told
for the credulous
tales.
Before the
there never
had been
is
weapon
and long has been, a close approach to it. The designers of the American flintlock rifle took the first firm step, and to American ingenuity and science about every succeeding advance
yet ungained
but there
is,
1710,
when
the Colonial
came
to the eastern part of Pennsylvania and its borders an advance guard of a host of Germans and Palatine Swiss who at home were artisans and many of them gun makers. Central Europe, which included their home country, was then the only place in the world
34
considerable
grooving
had been constantly in use there since Gaspard KoUner of Vienna became celebrated for rifled guns as early as 1500. And rifles were in the same stage of undevelopment in 1 700 as they were two centuries before. They were short, heavy, clumsy, an inch or so in bore, terrific in recoil, spiraled and deep grooved by guess and not by knowledge of cause and effect, slow to load, more powerful but only a little more accurate than a good smoothbore. The bare lead ball was driven down the barrel by blows of a mallet or a hammer upon an iron ramrod, and after the first shot had fouled the barrel the loading of a
rifle
America an
immediate output of their wares for use upon the abundant game of their new country. But the shooting conditions in Europe and in
America were very different. Europe was thickly settled. There the unsuccessful hunter could readily supply by purchase the dinner which he lost by a bad shot. There ammunition could be procured
almost anywhere.
And,
in
Europe,
if
the
rifle
was
used
in warfare, the
a very material
defect, since
was common
to both
35
But in America the pioneer traveled the sides. immense wilderness, dependent upon his weapon for food and life. The weapon must be accurate, and must waste none of the powder of the charge, hence a long barrel was necessary. Ammunition sufficient for a long period must be carried on the
person; hence a
small-bore
little.
weapon, that
It
many
that
was important
amount of metal, to absorb sound vibraand yet be manageable. Speedy repetition of fire was absolutely necessary if the rifle was to be a competitor of the murderous Indian's bow; hence there must be an improvement in seating the
possible
tions,
ball.
Pioneers
and gunsmiths consulted and experimented and changed and improved a little at a time here and there until, perhaps as early as 1750, a new form of weapon had come into general use. This was the
long, slender, graceful, heavy, small-bore
rifle,
using
which could be fired in rapid sequence because the ball was lubricated. Who invented a greased ''patch" is now unknown, but
of half-ounce weight,
36
it
was a stroke of genius, and was the perfect adapmeans to an end. No heavy iron ramrod, deforming both the ball and the grooves, and no cumbersome mallet was now needed. No great amount of time was used in loading the pioneer's In the stock of the gun there was a little box rifle.
tation of
In
it
were kept a
lot of cir-
all the same and cut with a die. The powder being poured into the barrel and the rifle held perpendicular with the butt on the ground, one of the greased patches was laid on the muzzle, concentrically, the ball placed on it, and pressed into the bore with the thumb. Then the light wooden ramrod was drawn from the thimbles, the head put to the ball, and with one long sweep of the arm the lubricated ball slid down the barrel until it stopped upon the powder. A few whangs with the ramrod expanded
size
it
so that
it
held
its
position.
The powder was fine of grain and quick of ignition therefore when the rifle was fired the impact of the
explosion acting against the inertia of the lead caused
the ball
cover,
fill
to
its
and receiving
ball,
Upon
exit
the unfastened
patch became detached from the which flew toward the mark. And so patiently
37
and ingeniously had the pioneers and the gunsmiths experimented, some httle idea of the relation of the
velocity of rotation of a bullet to its caliber, mass,
and velocity of flight had dawned upon the new American rifle makers, and, allowing that the distance was under one hundred yards and the area of
the
mark
Now for the first time was there a weapon which was capable of repeating consecutively for a large number of times its first performance. Now for the first time could an intelligent man be sure of the limits bounding his own capabilities and those of his weapon, and by brains and experience get to know the limits within which he and his weapon could do the same thing time after time, unvaryingly, like
a machine.
And now
of
all
men
others;
and unconquerable power, living their simple and doing their daily duties without ambition for conquest and supremacy. But, unintentionally, unrealizingly, they were the power that made posrific
lives
sible
a new nation.
^
^'j
^'-
--i^l
38
first really great influence of weapons of preupon the destinies of Colonial America did not come until the Revolutionary War, but during
The
cision
wars American
No
America began with the third war and culminated with the
last.
In the
heroic
in
King George's, Pennsylvania rifles did work against the Indian allies of the French
by French forces and saving English settlements from pillage and slaughter. Ultimately the expulsion of the French from Pennsylvania threw
territory
open
tegic
beyond the
Alleghanys.
In
this
war
importance was the capture by the English of Louisburg, on the French stronghold of Louisburg. Cape Breton Island, guarded the entrance to the
Lawrence, and was a key to the French possesIts walls, twenty feet thick sions in the new world.
St.
and
skilfully arranged,
were believed to be
proof
39
invulnerBut Penn-
sylvania riflemen,
in
trenches,
advanced by night
useless
weapons rendered
their view,
terrified
such
and commander by the certainty of their shooting, and certainly contributed more than 50 per cent to the reduction and fall of the fortress, which took
place after a siege of only six weeks.
rifles,
by
their in-
numbers,
did
yet
greater
service.
The
to the
from the
St.
Lawrence
mouth
of the Mississippi,
make up
the difference
by
enlist-
In
this
man
for
himself,
maneuvering
to
40
an arm,
breast, or
head
to shoot at,
and
in
Particularly in this
war
of
all
weapons contrib-
had a paramount
influ-
life
of George Washington.
When
swarms
fields
like sheep,
ambushed savages were shooting them the trained soldiers of European battle-
No
his
musket;
his
all that was required of him was to hold musket horizontally from the shoulder, point it towards the ranks of the enemy, and fire at command. Braddock's soldiers saw no enemy in ranks an officer,
;
men were
;
happened to be before their guns. No soldier's musket would have been useful at the work before it. Of the thirteen hundred English troops, about four hundred escaped, and it is a certainty that but
41
backwoodsmen with
rifles
under Washington,
Braddock's army
man
in
Indian fashion,
his
men
commander, despaired of being able to get into Not only was there no apparent battle with his foes. way to scale the steep banks of the river which prevented his approach to the town, but his incurable
illness
made him
possible, victory
under
be immediate or not at
a
When, by
luck, he
way
Abraham, he
of Penn-
he half doubted
their inability to
and
stand
doubted for
the effect
fire
of the
if
accurate
of their rifles
fire
which could,
like
mow
an enemy
a scythe.
French veterans
in
42
the
ex-
"They
run!
run!"
claimed
run?" asked Wolf. "The French, sir," was the reply. American rifles had slaughtered them so that the survivors had to run. And therewith ended the power of France in
an
officer.
"Who
America.
But there was yet work for American firearms in defending American homes. The English King instead of the French King now claimed to be father to the Indians, and they were not content at the
change in
fathers.
Under
It
was so sudden
the
that out
surprised
and taken.
Thus
war because of
Perhaps
into
it
that
was
the
brought
service
who
number
of savages en-
was not
43
New
who
England and
it
hosts;
riflemen.
From
there
War
to the Revolution
was an
and
in France.
which American firearms of precision to the muskets which then formed the armament of nations, it would be expected that the interval would be occupied by the nations in complete or at least partial re-armament. In foreign
superiority
had shown
new power
in changing destinies.
Critics
com-
monly attribute behind-the-times armament to apathy or old-fogyism. There were and are juster causes. Expense is one. To discard all the serviceable arms
of a nation, educate
of
workmen
in the technicaHties
and arms enough to re-arm and educate soldiers to use them, is an expense in both time and money that appalls a ruler and adds a new burden to dissatisfied taxpayers. Besides expense is doubt. Those arms which are familiar, which have served in the past, are weapons upon which a board of ordnance feels reliance, upon which they can base calculations for the future upon the certainties of the past. Novel arms, however,
ones, build tools
new
the nation,
are
unknown
quantities,
terri-
44
tory,
human
upon a
fied in
and government are all dependent armament, those in power feel justiemploying all caution. This excuse for shortlives,
nation's
comings
in the past
is,
let
proportheir
and
upon economics,
politics,
government, and
period,
future wars.
CO
MATCHLOCK MUSKET
Plate No.
Length 4
ft.
2
ft.
7 in.,
caliber about
y-J-
pound
loosely.
lbs.
an Length
of
Weight
The armorer's marks have not been identified. The wood seems to be beech, about The mountings are iron. There is no 2 in. thick. butt plate. The barrel is half octagon, and has simple front and rear sights. The pan cover is
about 10
This
is
purely
military
to 1600,
and
such in general
and Plymouth at their arrival. The gun may be somewhat older than the dates given without identifying the marks it is impossible to set a definite
;
date.
47
MATCHLOCK MUSKET
Plate No.
Length
pound,
5
ft.
(Dated 1620)
2
ft.
ij
in.,
length of barrel 3
loj
in.,
caliber -}| of
an
inch, taking 10
round
balls to the
Weight about 14
Length of lock plate 7! in. The lock plate is dated 1620, and the barrel and stock bear the private marks of the armorer and
the stocker.
or varnished.
wormer and scourer. The musket is brass mounted, and in size and shape these mountings are much like those of an early Brown Bess. The thimbles
are of size for a ramrod | of an inch in diameter.
The
lock
pressure on
the trigger.
The pan
is like
a hemispherical bowl
horizontally
large,
and swings
Since the
butt.
"^1
49
pan holds a considerable amount of flash powder it the fence is of enormous I of an inch in diameter This musket was size to protect the shooter's eyes. presented in 1807 by William Parsons to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and bears every evidence a Colonial musket of of being all that it seems
is
It is probable,
however,
did not
come
to
may
muskets of the Pilgrims were probably the old style ones, while this one in shape was then comparatively modern. It is particularly interesting as showing
the derivation of the form of the
flint
Brown Bess
from
Brown
Bess.
11 J
inch,
in.,
an
smooth bore.
identified.
brown by
scrolls.
forming
pistol, the
of both locks are on and both are operated by the single trigger. Pressure upon the trigger operates the wheel first, if it is wound, and if not it operates the serpentine. This combination of the wheel and matchlock, so that if one misses fire or gets out of
from below.
the
The mechanisms
plate,
same lock
may
prove serviceable,
is
credited to
the celebrated French General Vauban, about 1670, and was used extensively by the armies of Europe; it must therefore, have been used to some extent in America. The arm shown seems to have been
military purposes,
and doubtless belonged to a person of consequence. It was more appropriate to sporting purposes in America than to mihtary. The wheel is on the
exterior of
WHEELLOCK RIFLE
Plate No. 3
Length 3
ft.
7 in., barrel
30I
in.
octagonal, caliber
about I of an
weight about 8
to be a variety
of hard, close-grained
mahogany, rather light in color, any at present on the market. from and different It is inlaid with horn, ivory, and mother of pearl, forming designs in good taste and, from an artist's standpoint, well spotted, well balanced, and harmonious
not slip
71
in.
in tone values.
The
when standing on
the floor.
The
lock plate
long and J of an inch thick at the part where is On the exterior it is engraved with the wheel is.
conventional designs of leaves.
The cock
its
is
formed
and engraved
animal, half
bird's
tail,
with a bird on
head.
The
There is a cover for the pan, which slides with a snap on and off, both by hand and automatically.
SI
52
The
mechanism
is
hidden by a cover-plate.
is
When
seen to be about an
inch and a quarter in diameter, about three sixteenths of an inch thick, and contained in a recess
sunk
channeled so as to
The cirmake
the cock
pyrites
teeth.
it
When
presses
its
this toothed
circumference
of the wheel,
and when the wheel revolves, which it does with tremendous force and speed, it reduces a considerable portion of the flint to chips and dust and at the same time causes, under favorable conditions,
If
flint
produces no sparks.
plate, and,
One end
of the axle
on which
The
Beoffset
tween
to
is
an
which
The
other
of tremendous power.
On
there are
y.
53
wound a
lever bearing a
knob stands
ready to
slip into
The
force exerted
prevented
by the sear at the other end of the lever. The mechanism operates by the trigger action on this As the wheel starts to run a projecting arm sear. throws the pan cover forward out of the way. The mechanism of this lock is a beautiful example of skilful hand forging, so accurately done as not to
need smoothing or shaping by the file. The edges of the main spring are ornamented with simple
chiseling.
This lock
is
not badly
worn and
is
is
in
as service-
able to-day as
either for
when new.
an
officer of
In Colonial
1
700.
the
pan
cover,
shown
position,
is
its
circumference
its
On
account of
the great
to
the cock
is
really
d
is
is
the back
its
other
arm
arm
knob on the
Plate No.
4.
The
Interior of the
Lock
of the
Wheellock Rifle
SNAPHANCE MUSKET
Plate No.
Length
barrel 3
ft.
5,
ft.
in.,
12 balls to the
long.
fine
pound
Lock
plate 5I inches
is
to be
Seven inches of
The mountings
are brass, and the lock has a brass pan, which has on the outer side a large fender capable of being swung perpendicularly on a pivot at the rear, and shown half raised. The musket was made at St. Etienne, France, and bears on lock, stock, barrel, bayonet, and ramrod the old-style St. Etienne proof
marked Manufacture Royale, it may have been made before 1669; on the other hand the fact that the separate parts bear proofmarks seem to indicate government manufacture, which would set the date between 1669 and 171 7, because the model 171 7 musket was true flintlock with gooseneck cock. This musket was probably
marks.
it
As
is
not
common
con-
Pequot
War
[G.E.M.]
b
ft.
Length 4
6|
in.,
ft.
7 in.,
an
inch.
marked
G E M in
is
The
butt
butt plate
brass;
when new the gun was probably without a plate. The wood is American black walnut.
and
its
The
barrel
make.
initials
The
lock
unidentified.
bone.
56
Plate No.
Length 4
ft.
5, c
ft.
gj
in.,
length of barrel 3
in., cal-
iber about of an inch, taking 8 balls to the pound. Length of lock plate 7I in. The wood seems to be Honduras mahogany. The mountings are of iron,
They may
The stock was made without a The barrel is half octagon, and bears the old London proof -marks. The lock is marked with a broad arrow, A. R. for Anne Reina, and the maker's name, nearly obliterated. The cock has a
safety clutch
flat.
;
this,
is
the cock,
The
lock
The
breech-pin has
head
wood
within the
trigger guard;
there
is
no
trigger plate.
This
is
(ORR?)
Length 4 ft., loj in., length of barrel 43I in., bore I of an inch, length of lock plate 6| in. Weight The mountings are of of the gun about 9J lbs. brass, and are rather thinner and lighter than are to be expected. The wood seems to be red birch, and the wooden ramrod seems to be of split oak,
with a tip of deer's horn.
thick
The
butt
if
is
three inches
and
of parallel thickness, as
sawed from a
plank.
ability
The
and economy. This gun has all the "earmarks" of Colonial manufacture. While in type it conforms to English and Continental European arms of the period 1650 to 1700, it is, if of Colonial make, probably of somewhat later date. Unfortunately all the marks (except a number) are so
eroded as to be almost unrecognizable.
however, on the lock what appears to be
are
is
ORR
Hugh
more or
less distinct.
It is
748 by
59
A few of
muskets made in
tt lkM<
gj
in.,
length of barrel 3
ft.
in.,
||
of
an inch, taking 14
balls to the
pound.
Length of lock plate 5I in., sporting style, no marks. Wood seems to be maple. No butt plate. Barrel
and
tang
Brown Bess
style.
Brass
mountings.
60
Plate No.
7.
Elegant
7
ft.
ft.
in.,
length of barrel 4
5^
in.,
caliber about
{r
of ^-n inch.
This arm weighs about 15 lbs. The outside diameter of the barrel at the breech is if in., an unusual size. The wood is curly maple. The mountings are of brass, particularly elegant in form,
and
is
The butt plate, instead of being secured in the usual way by screws, is fastened by many small hand-made
nails
forming a row
all
While of
arm
is
not
made
and
piece,
to take a bayonet,
and
is
it
finely
made.
When new
for
suitable
dignitary.
Its date
and
likely
made
in the Massachusetts
61
7
ft.
ij
in.,
length of barrel 4
caliber about f of
an inch.
handsome
The wood grain. The lock is ''Ketland." The mountings The ramrod
is
8 J in., is apple
The
This fowling-piece
the Revolution.
of
its
made
prior to
In spite
great length
it is
handy.
6a
Plate No.
7.
Long
Fowlinff Piece
WHEELLOCK PISTOL
Plate No.
8,
a
in.,
Length 25 in., length of barrel i6i about jV of ^^ ii^ch. Wood inlaid with
engraved.
plate
caliber
ivory, richly
Wheel
let into
and covered. Pan has Armorer's marks unknown; ornasliding cover. mentation indicates German make. Appropriate to Colonials of rank, period up to 1650.
from the
exterior,
<53
Length 23i in., length of barrel isi in., octagonal; an inch. Mountings of iron. The armS, have not oitr's marks, a bird in a shield over
ctiibcr <|V of
been
identified.
The
its
head
wood of the under side of the pistol and passes upward to thread into the tang; this is the reverse
in the
of
the
usual
position.
This
is
plain,
strictly
It
is
from 1640 to
Since
flint
was almost
daM
authorities directed
ponible.'*
plate.
arms with which the Colonial the soldiers to be armed "if The wheel is on the exterior of the lock
flint
This is the sort of pistol mentioned in the schedule of prices fixed by Charies the First as "fire
lock,
the pair."
SNAPHANCE PISTOL
Plate No.
Length about 15
in.,
8, c
in.,
length of barrel 9 J
2 J lbs.
bore
so age-darkened as to be unrecognizable,
hand-
somely carved.
tifully
The mountings
is
The
beautifully modeled,
and
left
fancy tip of
steel.
On
the
band extends between the The weapon is side pins, to support a belt hook. one, and was, when new, one of a a very elegant very expensive pair. There were two Lazarino Cominazos, father and son. This arm was probably made by the son, sometime between 1680 and The productions of both rank among arms 1720. as Raphael pictures do among paintings, and are greatly prized by such European museums as possess them. A generation or more ago the Due de Dino collection held the greater part of all the Cominazo arms known to be in existence, and a part of those Cominazo arms are now held by the Metropolitan
Museum
of Fine Arts,
in
New
York.
This par-
ticular pistol
early titled
in
probably came to America with some French refugee, and may have served
of the Colonial wars.
65
any or
all
SNAPHANCE DAG
Plate No.
Length 17
belled muzzle
in.,
{
8,
d
in.,
caliber of
} of
an
inch.
Apparently of Spanish
make, monogram of armorer unrecognized. Wood unknown, very fine, dark, and glossy. Mounted
in sflvtr,
rich
which
is
cut, perforated,
and engraved in
with several
design of the
designs.
The
barrel
is
is
inlaid
metals.
ball
belt
tip,
The ramrod
and holding
is
of
spring.
The
hook
The
was made particularly in Scotland, Spain, and Germany, was particularly suitable to elaborate decoration, and was the favorite show weapon of people of rank and wealth. Like the
type of pistol
Dag
Highlander,
il
it
is
distinct type.
In Colonial days
men
as Cover-
favorite
New
New Amsterdam. It was weapon >\nth the Spanish grandees in the Worid, and an equally favorite weapon with
who
captured them.
66
67
John Lokhart, 1604; John Hamiltown, 1610; John McClellane, 161 1; John MaKclellan, 1626 (the
same?); William Black, 1625; William Clerk, 1626; James Clerk, 1626; William Walker, 1626; John Auchinleck, 1629; John Reule, 1629; Robert Smyth,
1629; George Bruce,
Gilbert
1629;
1634;
Thomas
Robert
Bruce, 1632;
Bear,
Williameson,
1643;
Michael Achisone, 1646; John Millar, 1647; John MaKalaster, 1649; Alexander Logane, 1658 Alexander Logone, 1670 (the same?); William Mitchel,
1658;
Miller,
1668;
8, e
in.,
length of barrel 10
caliber
||
an
inch.
Wood
carved and
tippled.
Lock
and lock etched. Small and the pan-cover are entirely separate; the latter slides backwards and forwards by hand as on wheellocks. The pistol bdoQgs to the transition period between snaphance and fuUy developed flintlock. It seems to be of Italian make, and is such as a Colonial officer or a person of means used about 1600, before and and cock
belt
faced.
Barrel
hook.
The
frizzen
after.
tt
Length 7 in., length of barrel 3 J in., caliber -jV an inch, weight about 7 oz. This shape of pistol is called the Bird Head, from the form of the butt. Bird Head pistols were made in both Europe and America, and were popular in Colonial
of
times.
The
is
only 3^ inches
It
way
complete.
seems to be
was
pre-
Its date
may be
vious to
700.
69
775-1 783)
War and
the
Large fam-
of children,
and a constant
influx of immigrants,
As a whole,
were
industry flourished
when other
in
industries languished.
New
York, and
bring^ig an abundance of
work
for
the resident
armoiers.
Some
of
the
British
oflScers
brought
and fowling-pieces, others purchased in America, and the pursuit of both large and smaO game became a favorite means of passing
away the time. In 1769 the merchants of Boston created a fund for carrying on a manufactory of
70
71
In
the
made
and by 1775 the migration to Ohio country was like a constant succession of small armies. The Indians being hostile, every male white who was able to point a gun carried one, and
tucky,
left
KenKentucky and
rifle,
or a pair of
pistols.
In 1774 a Philadelphian wrote to a member of parliament that there were sufficient gun makers in
the Colonies to
make
made.
nent,
Yet,
although the
Revolution was
immi-
the
of hostilities
For more than a year the outbreak of hostilities was expected daily. Committees of correspondence had been active, and a union of the thirteen Colonies against the mother country was assured; there was no national government, no executive, yet each
Colony for self-protection should have established and did not. In New England small armories,
stores of
collected
72
FIKEARB4S IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
from the people and from old town supplies stored since the French wars or before, but the main seems to have been upon the personal pioperty arms which existed in almost every housereliance
The
came
militia
active;
and
inefficient
officers
and by
officers
whose
themselves on
privileged
not,
commanders and
to
obey or
particularly in Massachusetts,
Some good
of military
much
in the
way
efficiency as in
to high pitch
upon them.
arms to the Colonies; still, with war imminent, no preparations worth while were
being made.
the exporUtion of
Some
of the public
men
of the time
Whether or
no,
shot.
The outbreak
pistol shot at
war came with Major Pitcaim's the "minute men'* upon Lexington
of
73
there
was no lack
of the activities
of warfare thereafter.
cairn's pistol
the
assurance and pride, hundred and seventy-five trained British soldiers and only about one third as many Colonial rebels, was not one which set a standard of American shooting ability. Neither was Bunker Hill, which followed less than two months after, where the trained British regulars lost more than ten hundred and fifty as good men and officers as ever charged a redoubt, while the Colonial mihtia lost less than four hundred and
cause,
shocking to
to
deadly
about
two
fifty,
and with
sufficient
still
These were cases where the British contempt for uncouthly dressed and armed "peasant rebels" caused them in their pride to waive precautions, and
their
American farmers accepted the British lives them almost upon the muzzles of their guns. Protracted wars do not consist of such opportunities and such slaughters. The British became careful
the
offered
afterwards,
rely
and thenceforth the Americans had to upon skill. During the whole of the war, which was carried
74
on with a great multitude of engagements from 1775 to the capture of Yorktown by the Americans in
1781, there
was
in the
condition of dissension,
and
It is
distressing pov-
years.
doubtful
if
even
DOW
it
condition of affairs.
lasted, actively, for
And And it
for
ended
nttioiL
nation
Domic, and political aspects of the conditions then operating for and against both nations.
It
victory
due
to
foreign
intervention.
France,
Americans won the important battle of Saratoga in 1777, assisted America directly with loans of money, sales upon credit of munitions of
after the
war, and with French troops upon American soil. Fruice, Spain, and the Nethcriands, combining,
threatened Great Britain in Europe.
Britain,
after
losing the
at Yorktown, being
weakened
75
safety at
her rights to govern two and a half milhon Colonists; presented them, so to speak, with the immense
tory which they occupied, with all
its
agricultural,
and the Netherlands, Great Britain would not have up America, if America, disorganized and poverty-stricken, could have been conquered by
given
force of arms.
1775 and
to three
781,
had been as
soldiers.
American
Also, France
won
Saratoga.
had reHence
in battle so
much
greater
not sufficient to
make a
general statement
and before there were fewer mistakes American strategy, and that during the war the American soldiers showed themselves superior with the gun or the bayonet. In the first place, strategy,
that at Saratoga
in
76
HREARMS
is its
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
influence, is only
one element outcome of a battle or a war. In the second place, given two Revolutionary soldiers armed with muskets, marksmanship counted littJe, as the inaccuracy of the weapons beyond very
great as
power of
of the
many
human element
of marks-
half the
American
So the
why
the Americans
won
other
And
since
all
examined and passed upon, the weapons in use by the opposing armies, which have so far been neglected,
merit examination.
Was
the
war fought
with muskets?
muskets
at the
the
muzzle and equal inefficiency at long range. In same opening movements of the war were the ex-
pedition to
1
Canada, occupying the fall and winter of Great Bridge, December 9, 1775,
the skirmish at Moore's Creek, February 27, 1776; nd the siege of Boston which resulted in its evacuation by the British March In each case 17, 1776.
77
heavy most excessive ratio was at Great Bridge, Americans nothing, British 61), while the con-
fight
were not such as, at the running from Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, favored the American militia. Here are indications
ditions in each case
fire, and there comes to mind the remarkable weapon evolved by the mid- Colonials and
of precision of
was used in those early fights. And, further, all that could be had were used on every occasion throughout the war. To the limited number
wars
rifle
;
the
effect in the
French
it
available
is
abundant evidence that had the war would have been quickly over. Washington and the ConColonists been a nation of riflemen the
tinental Congress strained every nerve to increase the
number, but the gunsmiths who knew how to make them and the men who were skilled to use them were
confined to a Hmited area and were a small minority.
The
first
of Concord and Bunker was spread throughout the Colonies by post riders, and the Continental Congress realized that war had really begun and that the British stronghold of Boston was to be a seat of war, messengers
When
the
news
y8
the
sparsely
to
western
borders
in the
ofifer
urging
the
pioneers
them a reward, nor even guarantee them pay, for it had no funds, and no power to raise money by loan or by taxes. But the mid-Colonial pioneers were born and bred to
Congress could not
fighting
and, self-equipped,
they responded
with
for.
alacrity in
As they reached
little
the large
while to
for
enlisting.
Ac-
way
into
the
newspapers.
The
last
Virginia
"On
Friday
Capwere
tain Crescap's
company
active
many
of
whom
the Indians.
These men have been bred in the woods to hardships and danger from their infancy. With their rifles in their hands they assume a kind
Two
brothers
company *' (probably the Shain boys who were cefefarated as marksmen and for recklessness) "took
79
by
and while one held the board upright gripped between his knees, the other at 60 yards without any kind of rest shot 8 balls through it successively and spared his brother's thighs. Another of the company held a barrel stave close against his body perpendicularly while one of his comrades at the same distance
shot several bullets through
told that there
it.
The
spectators were
were upwards of 50 persons in the company who could do the same." There is also contemporary mention that three of
Captain Crescap's
men
fired
simultaneously at a buz-
The
had
bird
it.
fell,
man
the
proved that
1 8th
three bullets
first
hit their
On
of July the
company
(Nagel's, of Berks
middle of
August
there
1430 instead of
for
the
810
required
reported
duty.
command
to
of Col.
son of Carlisle,
infantry,
and
assigned
duty
in
army.
the
command
of
army he arranged a
New
and
Hampshire,
Massachusetts,
Rhode
Island,
So
Connecticut militia
British
to shut the
up
in
rate shooting at
distance,
It is
probable that to
New
poflBiNf exception of
Green Mountain Boys and a very few veterans of the French wars who had served with mid-Colonials) the rifle was then unknown. In the presence of the army, drawn up in parallel lines each side of the range and an
some
of the
immense crowd
British
of spectators, in
which a number of
welcome visitors, a pole 7 inches in diameter was set up, and a marksman stepped At the place where he stopped a off 250 spaces. company of riflemen was lined up to show what
spies were
to that
man would
No New
would waste powder and ball firing at such a mark and distance with his musket or fowling-piece
hit.
command, so riddled the pole that it was apparent that no enemy could survive an instant General Howe, cooped up in Boston, was fully as much impressed as the spectators, and wrote home about the "terrible guns of the rebels." In the army around Boston the riflemen were employed
8i
who were
to perfection.
There
is
mention of
a British soldier shot at 250 yards when only half his head was visible of ten men, three of whom were
;
officers, killed
rifle-
man who,
on a
lot.
seeing
some
British
on a scow
until
at a dis-
he potted the
that his
And
Howe, thinking
might need proof at home, gave orders for the capture alive of one of the curiosities complete with his
shooting-iron,
and
offered a reward.
rifle
Finally he got
and all, and the marksman was made to perform there and exhibited This bit of stage-play had an effect as a curiosity. upon the British public that perhaps Howe did not anticipate and perhaps he did, for he was accused of being lukewarm to the King's policy that of
army,
of
whom King
89
about his
marksmen
of the deadly
notice.
German
princes
he stipulated that as
should be riflemen.
many
He
the
where
in
Colonies and
rifles
an equal
neutralize
his
number
them.
of
European
fault
riflemen
his
would
The
were
those he
was
hiring.
campaign in New England had ended, and that of the Hudson had begun. The campaign opened with the immediate loss to the
sent to the slaughter, the
New York
City.
The
battle of
Long
Washington's distress
as,
bank of the
river,
oC Hessians charge
up
Wash-
S^
few straggHng sharpshooters outside the works who were trying frantically to reload their rifles. Where those backwoodsmen who had spread death and
fear at the siege of Boston were at this period of the
war
is
a mystery.
It is
homes.
The German
rifle-
men
of
them disappear
The
British
General,
Burgoyne,
following
the
waterway down from Canada, needing supplies and horses, and hearing that the Americans had gathered a store of each at the little Vermont village of Bennington, sent five hundred Germans armed each with a rifle and a big saber, about *a hundred
Indians,
and a couple
of cannon, to gather
them
in.
These troops, together with a reinforcement of five hundred more Germans and two more cannon, were surrounded, killed and captured, together with their munitions, by the Green Mountain Boys on the i6th of August, 1777, with casualties to the Americans of
only 56, while the killed and
wounded among the more than two hundred. Since the Americans used mostly muskets and fowling pieces, the inefficiency of the European rifle is disGermans amounted
to
84
linclly
And, as
in addition to the
two
hundred
the influence of
the Revolu-
At some time between the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of Bennington, Daniel Morgan was organizing his famous Virginians. This was a rifle
regiment formed of skilled marksmen.
Noted shots
were drawn from other regiments: applicants for admission whose fame had not preceded them were
obliged to give proof of their
superior soldiers but superior
skill.
Thus
not only
collected
arms were
Morgan had won a great reputation for bravery and resource in the French and Indian War. He was of Welsh descent, a native of New Jersey, but a resident of Virginia; his stature and his tenacity
of purpose were equally
cated, but he
With
his Virginians
national fame.
news of the victory at Bennington reached Washington near Philadelphia. Washington was too busy there to be able to leave; the situation in the
85
looked
critical
to
him.
The
which had been fought on the 6th of August, hand to hand, tooth and nail, with heavy loss to each side, looked doubtful in its effect the flight of the British General St. Leger and the capture of his stores had not taken place, and the junction of the armies of St. Leger and Burgoyne looked to Washington both probable and menacing.
Battle of Oriskany,
In
this
extremity he turned to
In
the
first
day's
fighting,
Morgan's
advance
fell
undecided
On
As the
British
moved
was attacked by Morgan's men. was broken and Fraser began forming them a little farther back, and on the west border of Freeman's Farm. Morgan saw that a disheartening blow delivered then would
After a short, sharp fight their whole Hne
86
anny.
HREARMS
Calling to
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
him Tim Murphy, a Northumberhim arms demanded American the of success that the death of General Fraser, and, pointing him out to Murphy, ordered him to do his duty. Murphy climbed a tree and, resting in a crotch, aimed his Fraser was about three hundred rifle o\'cr a limb. yards away, sitting his horse with an orderly beside him and one behind, and quietly directing the moveland County Pennsylvania hunter, he said to
ments of
his
men.
Murphy
fired
two shots
in
quick
first
succession from
The
paand between him and the man beside him and killed the man behind. Fraser was perfectly aware that he was being used as a target, and had even
seen the flashes in the tree before the bullets struck.
safety, but
His subaltern implored him to move to a place of he chose to remain. In a few moments
was another flash from the tree, and Fraser wound. In the confusion following his fall, the British position was taken in reverse and made untenable. Nothing was left for Burgoyne but to get the wreck of his army out of the way by retreating to Saratoga. There, surrounded,
there
received a mortal
American
r,
rifles
87
had been no open help; no After that victory there was foreign intervention. foreign assistance, by help of which the war was dragged on to a favorable conclusion. Success at Saratoga was therefore the hinge upon which the
to that time there
Up
Revolution swung.
hinge was
And
Tim Murphy's
military
bullet.
operations were
active
than
Americans opportunity
for drill
and reorganization. Riflemen were sought everyand formed into regiments. There were Morgan's Virginians, Colonel Samuel Miles's Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, Colonel Moses Rawling's Maryland Riflemen, the Augusta Riflemen of Virginia, the Eleventh and Twelfth Continental Line, and perhaps others. Upon the killing efficiency of the gunnery of those regiments hung the failure or
where,
success of the
Campaign
less
of the South,
the
third
and
last
Baron Steuben, doing active frontier service, which then seemed of minor importance, but now appears of great value. Bands of pioneers operating upon the ''Dark and Bloody Ground," were freeing it of savages and making a
the systematic, pupils of
88
and dangerous country a safe refuge Only the rifle could have so for future settlement. During the rapidly and efifectively done the work. Indians and Tories deof bands of mnmer 1 778 Pennsylvania, and Cherry vastated Wyoming Valley,
great, fertile,
New York. Again the only efifective weapon an immediate stop to wide devastation and continued horrible cruelties was the deadly rifle, and
VaUcy,
to put
that
ate,
He
totally
destroyed
the
Indian
and Senecas.
In 1778 and 1779 George Rogers Clark with a heroic band of only two or three hundred riflemen passed
dominion of the
the republic,
territory, and hoisted the flag of marking the end of British authority
territory to
campaign of the
Charleston,
pris-
South began.
oners.
The
British
captured
five
thousand
as was this loss for the Americans, it was not a mortal blow for the reason that loss by
British
Bad
The
army
in
89
to
diminish
the
it
tended to
make
Working toward this end the guerrilla warfare of the marksmen under Marion, Sumter, and Pickens became a more valuable AmeriBattles ican movement than otherwise appears. Camden, and skirmishes called British successes were in reality rendered by American for instance sharpshooters steps in ultimate British defeat by the
weakened remnant.
Hill,
etc.,
of riflemen
the
British
were so excessive as
his
to cause a repetition of
Saratoga.
drew
remnant of an army to Saratoga, and there, surrounded, saw no safety but in surrender, so, again, did Cornwallis, with the remnant of his obsoletely armed army, get caught at Yorktown. And, although his surrender at Yorktown was on the 17th
and peace was not declared until Yorktown ended the war. 1783, The outcome of a war is influenced by an immense number of diverse factors, and a claim for the predominance of any one of them is a very difficult claim to maintain. During the Revolution the great
of October, 1781,
go
credit
officere
due to the ^ise Washington and to his able and self-sacrificing soldiers makes all other Yet an accurate ftctors of success seem puerile.
and events makes necessary the recognition of all the diverse factors, and their classification as either political, economical, or marAccording to a historian's leaning towards one tial. or other of these specialties, so do the others seem to sink into insignificance, and so accordingly is a
dominant claim apparent
Firearm
in his especial presentation.
influence belongs
to
history in general
and
to
economics
in particular.
Neither
it
nor any
are,
and
will
many
mighty
first
The
its
among
the
fire-
arms of
American history is merely because of sameness then throughout the civilized world. The cannon of one nation neutralized those of
another, weight, numbers, position, service,
and luck
being equal.
an important
REVOLUTION
The
armies of four nations took part in this
America.
Germany, France, and of English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh subjects of King George the Third, all commonly called English, and the hired German troops forced into the war by their rulers the electors or princes of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, Anspach-Be3n:uth, Waldeck, and Anhalt-zerbst, all commonly called Hessians. The British Army in America totaled for
struggle:
Great
Britain,
The
British
it
did not
number
thousand
number
at
numbered about four thousand; when reinforced by French marines and sailors during
91
pa
Continentals,
There
who
enlisted, or the
one or
t^'o
arms
at once.
The
land, France,
and America
cooperated with
;
Eng-
their
armies.
war of
The
and
rifles
were
by
and
no classification. Also the arms used hy deserters and by Indians in the opposing armies do not affect the general classification, as follows:
AiMY muskets, a
few
rifles
Navy
Atmr
muskets,
hundred), a few
pistols.
93
of infinite variety,
the
flint
great
numbers and
variety, pistols
muskets, and blunderbusses anything that would French Army muskets and Navy muskets,
kinds known.
Navy
fowling-pieces,
shoot.
pistols,
pistols,
pistols.
blunderbusses.
George
1.
Queen's
702-1 714).
or
Arm
dates
(i
Although
British
snaphance
musket was in
its
^*fA$^^
94
nREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
applied only to one
name was
with a flintlock.
The
once
it
individuality of this
is
arm
is
so strong that
recognized
it is
another arm.
however,
show some of them, but the arm itself would be In words there is possible only the broad better. statement that a Brown Bess differed from other
will
flintlock
muskets
in
these
particulars:
first,
the
by pins, not by bands; second, the arm was mounted with brass; third and more important, the arm was marked by
barrel
was fastened
Because
this
it
because through
making arms
alike the
hundreds
of gun makers
who made
them
little
the
and because so little is known about for any but the most expert firearm antiquarian to judge whether or not a certain
slightly unlike;
them,
it
is difficult
Brown Bess could have been used in the Revolutionary War. Illustration No. 10, a shows a perfect sped-
95
men
b, c,
of a Revolutionary
War
and
size
mentioned in
carbines.
What know is
not so
much whether
it.
it
As
if
to the latter,
when
is
one
G P in
gun could not have been in the RevoThe lution because the mark was first used in 181 3. BGP is the 181 3 part of this mark; the crossed These were scepters without the letters were old. Other RevoluBirmingham proof house stamps. tion-time proof stamps were the London one, G P interlaced with a crown over, and also the private
ones of such large manufacturers as Sharpe, Edge,
The D. Egg, Grice, H. Nock, the Ketlands, etc. English laws regarding the proof of arms were lax,
and private proofs were in some cases allowed instead of government ones. Illustration No. 9 shows also the lock of gun, a a typical lock. The marks on the lock plate are " Tower," a crown with G R under it, and a broad
^6
arrow.
HREARMS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY
The word "Tower" means that the finished inspected at the Tower of London by the was gun agents of the government and declared by that mark
to be
a serviceable arm.
Revolutionary
Brown
in
made
The
in the reign of
appeared on firearms
late in her
George
I, it
seems to
the
hence, again,
was an abbreviation for George Rex and the crown with G R was not only on a Revolutionary arm but also on those of all four Georges between 1714 and 1830. Until the fourth George these marks cannot be told apart. Not
King's Arm.
all
The
GR
to the standing
stamped as described were issued army; very many purchased by the English government were sold to or issued to the
the muskets
and
to privateersmen.
Such,
another mark
ownership.
broad arrow (showing on the upper lock under the pan), signifying government
the
barrel,
appearing on firearms
(i
714-1727) and has been in use ever since. The head oC the broad arrow was frequently stamped as
Vi
\n
\...
.J
Hmwn
Bess Lock
97
Inside
a small crown.
on the exterior with the date. This upon the same principle as did
flintlocks used in the Revolution, firing the gun by means of sparks thrown into a pan of powder upon The flint (c) was forcible contact of flint and steel.
When
the cock
is
drawn backward
done against
upon
the
When
and the
the
pan
is is
covered
held up-
held over
(/).
it
frizzen
by the spring
Upon
its flint
and the
same time, exposing the pan to the sparks. In muskets the frizzen and pan cover were usually one solid piece of hard steel, but in good sporting weapons (and some were used on the American side) the frizzen had a facing of correctly tempered steel which, when worn, could be removed by heat and another fixed on by soldering or brazing. A proper hardness of the frizzen was conducive to sparking, while an
frizzen falls forward at the
in the
powder
flint
and
powder
"
98
in the
through a hole
in the barrel
to the
chamber and
have names.
a lock
word ''screw
did not occur in connection with the flint gun: the screws were called "pins," of various kinds. The
locks of the four
are
were kept polished bright. The wood of a Brown occasionally maple Bess was usually black walnut
finished with
oil,
The
greater
fac-
in great
arms
Birmingham where muskets were made complete. As a rule a gun maker who had a government contract sub-let it to a number of journeyman workmen,
each of
whom made
man made
made
were
made
work
.
at his
cottage or in his
in
Birmingham hundreds
each of
whom
The
Then he
bit off
poured
99
pan
full of
powder, closed
it
dropped the butt to the ground, poured the powder down the barrel, struck the gun of the rest to jar some of the powder into the touch-hole, dropped
frizzen,
in the ball,
to
it
down
The
When
its flint
against the
which caused the frizzen to fall forward and expose the powder in the pan, into which fell (perhaps) a shower of sparks. The priming powder flashed, the flash ran through the touch-hole and ignited the
powder
same moment.
happen
man was
make
sparks, or rain
the touch-hole
The second
cause of unrelia-
was the
weapon
to shoot
accurately.
And
this again
lOO
made by wrapping a
sheet of
around a mandril and welding the edges, which were sometimes butted and sometimes lapped, the
iron
interior of the barrel
but true. There was no desire on the part of the makers to put out accurately made barrels such as the famous Henry Nock was already furnishing on
his double-barreled shotguns,
ulations
The
soldier
not
sight
towards
musket
horizontal,
the enemy,
at
command.
The
execution of
entirely entrusted
The
was the
bullet itself,
was
fired out,
never, except
wished
it
to go.
"BROWN
a.
BESS" MUSKETS
War
(i
musket.
Weight 10 J
in.,
ft.
with
length
bayonet iij
socket 2i|
Barrel 42
length of
bayonet including
9I
in.,
of lock 6| in.
gun 4 Cahber | of an
inch.
rod thimbles.
h.
Indian
War
cavalry, artillery,
like that of a.
barrel 39
in.,
and navy. Weight 9^ lbs., length 4 ft. 6\ in., caliber | of an inch. Three ram-
rod thimbles.
Name WILLETS
inside of lock; he
One
of his
mus-
now
to
This gun
have been carried by John Burnham, of Bolton, Massachusetts, Capt. Josh Brown's Com-
pany, Col.
1777, to
c.
Tim
May
i,
December
1780.
fits
Description of h
this
gun except
for lock,
under
loa
lo lbs.
Hill,
This gun
is
said
Bunker
June
17, 1775.
Sea-service musket.
cially for
supply of regulation arms on hand was inadequate Weight 10 lbs., length 4 ft. to 8ca-scrvice demands.
5
in.,
barrel 37
in.,
caliber
|| of an
inch.
Two
land
service
arm
are
omitted.
Fore-end
tip omitted.
Butt plate
flat
instead of oval.
barrel
The
usual Birmingham
Brown Bess
stamp of a
R, with or with-
is on this gun surmounted by the curved part of an anchor. Lock Thick trigger guard and guard strap. like that of c.
When
age
fired
was
five
War Brown
in the
fired
and out as
upon the
farm.
the figure of a
man
Imm
door of
If there
103
was in favor of this one; of ten successive shots from one gun at 100 yards six were misses, one struck
it
the breast, one the knee, one the mouth, one the ear.
That
is,
was only 40
feet.
at
A
at
modern
military
target of only
same range
a small hole in
feels
But whereas the modern rifle drills a man so suddenly and cleanly that
ball
of the
old
musket
smashed his bones, tore his flesh, let out and shocked him "hors de combat."
his blood,
illustrated
gun maker marked his arms with either his Dame or proof-mark, and frequently also with the name, arms, or mark of his city. These marks
the barrels, since, unlike the English, the
tell
where, about
Collectors
when, and by
whom
made
gun
in
in
all
sincerity,
"My
the Revolution."
The marks on
lists
gun
help to verify or
of the
Many
"Hessian"
muskets were second hand, purchased as such of Frederick the Great by the petty German rulers.
Some of them he had used in his own army and some he had captured. A German musket of the Revolutfao could also be a veteran of the Continental wars
104
105
is
the preceding
fifty
years.
marked with a
soldier's initials,
men
killed.
ii, e
i in.;
yVV
of
3.n
inch;
mounted.
contrary
had
St.
royal
armories
established
since
1718 at
Etienne, Charleville,
Maubeuge, and
sufficient
Tulle, the
be similarly armed.
The
colo-
on sea-service and
The
who
/
assisted in the
of model 1763.
a bare chance that they had also some of the other models of muskets and musketoons designed between 1763 and 1777, but it is more probable that if any of these latter arms went to America during the war they were arms pur(See, under Muskets of the Americans, Foreign Muskets.) The French muskets were superior to all others in
itltQgth, range,
and accuracy.
106
When
fired
with reg-
107
five feet
before
yards, or
more than
This
Brown
Bess.
was due to the lighter ball, its closer bore, and the more exact bore of the
accuracy of
of
fire
fitting to the
barrel.
The
fire
that
of the
Brown
Bess,
as precision of
from a smoothbore was impossible. The superior strength of the French musket was due mainly to securing the barrel to the forestock by bands instead of pins, and to the strengthening of the cock by a connection between the fore part of the under jaw and the neck or weak place.
The Musket
is
shown
By Picture No. n,
Used by the Americans
of 1763,
also.
/
is
This one
St.
the
model
made
at Charleville.
Etienne and
Mau-
beuge muskets of the same model were similar in generaHties. This one weighs gf lbs. Length 4 ft.
I
if
in.,
barrel length 44I in.; bayonet length 17I including socket; caliber about tVd" of ^^ ii^ch,
in.;
Marks on
fits
lock
Man-
engraved in
script.
the
Mountgun and
lo8
correctly
but
of
according to Bottet
1763.
is
model
1746
See
also
Muskets
under Musket
Model 1763.
OW
existed
muskets are
set
vary a
little
from the
measures
by
rule.
It is inevitable,
being
made
by hand, that
and weights
when new; many scourings have exaggerIn the St. Etienne and Maubeuge ated them.
muskets the edge of a band which has two straps
is
straight
on a musket made
at
There
considerable
old-time printed
flintlock
matter
period,
bearing on French
arms of the
now
:
in
common
reader
is
use,
u du chicn
aiijit
bore
priming
space beneath under jaw of cock
du now
lock plate
du noix
109
pan
assise
" "
"
"
"
entablement
table
"
baguette
bassinet
ramrod
pan
sling swivel
battant
batterie
and
batterie
its
parts
restricted
meaning
frizzen
bayonette
bayonet
bouche
bouteroUe
muzzle
thickened portion of the upper edge of the
lock plate in rear of the
pan
bride
bridle
busc
canal
comb
barrel
rear
rifle
of the butt
wood
for barrel or
ramrod
canon
capucine
carabine
carrd
band
du chien
tumbler
chenapan
chien
clou
contre-platine
esse
snaphance
cock; in
nail
modem
phrase,
hammer
side plate
"
porte-vis
"
"
corps de platine
lock plate
coude
coude du chien \
espalet "
elbow
"
"
(of
a bayonet)
left
is
which
when
the cock
down
support"
lock plate
no
do
noiv
(lalf
and
full
cock bents
du noix
do
chien
. .
.
de cdoture
hook
butt, stock
uncock
trigger
dot do chien
cock
socket
recess:
reduced size
cmboochoir
It
muzzle band
the cut in the
receiving a removable
pan
de btttehc
fiafl
musket or gun
fore end; fore stock
fti
...
gichrttr
fM^MUe
a slender long
cylindrical
metal
pMd
Itaort
main spring
middle band
do
ooix
tumbler hook
sight
l)rass
I*"*
hmikft
du chicn
manner wood
tumbler
that part of the frizzen taking the screw
flint
pivot pivot
du noix
pivot de platine
pan
plaque de couche
platine
poignee
front of butt
pontet
trigger
guard
extending back
queue
tang
queue de culasse
rampart de
ressort
ressort de batterie
la batterie
.
.
tang or
spring
tail
from breech
see pivot
band spring
riveted
trigger-plate
rW6
sousgarde
taraud^
tenon
tete
and
its
front
sions
when
the guard
separate
stud
nail
de clou
head
tire-bourre
wormer
breech
tonnerre
toume-vis
tringle
trousse
the
tail
by contact
from going
112
vli
vit
^RF_\R^fS IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
screw
du
chieo
vit
graade
vii
da
ooix
of
any
were owned by the various colonies, counties, and towns, and were issued to their militia: many an American soldier carried as his private
cities,
Many
property the
Brown Bess
many were
Foreign
captured from the English on both sea and land and used against them.
Muskets.
The
Continental
Congress
countries,
and new assorted sizes and shapes. In the beginning France wished to appear neutral while at the same time giving aid, and secretly appointed as agents the commission houses of Rodrigue, Notalez et Cie, and Pliarne, Penet et Cie. From them came in March, 1777, the Amphirite to Portsmouth, N. H., bringing 12,000 muskets and the Mercury to Philadelphia with 11,000. This supply, added to those already in use, was sufficient to equip the whole American Army for the rest of the war. "3
shoot
old
muskets
114
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
These muskets were from the royal arsenals and annories, and were a mixed lot, containing scatterand perhaps ings of all the regular muskets and between made 1718 musketoons 1777, with
the incxlel
lot,
and the
small
models
in
very
coming in 1777, brought the Americans as a present a mixed lot of firearms, about 250 of which were muskets, and it is believed that
numbers.
Lafayette,
the most of those muskets were
model
763, Charle-
viDe manufacture.
Arms
of that
were
and
sometimes
are
now
Lafayette
the model
muskets.
Of
is
all
the French
muskets
1763
cauisc
is
it
most interesting to modern Americans, bethe one the United States adopted as a
at Springfield
1
Fcny began
model 1777
to
is
produce arms in
extent, because of
lock, brass
80 far in advance
same design. All of the French musket models from 171 7 to 1763 described under Colonial Firearms were doubtless in use by the Americans during the Revolution, with the possiican adoption of the
bility of their using also some of those between 1 766 and 1777. There is more probability that these last were used by the Americans than by the French.
115
Musket Model 1763. Length 5 ft. less about J an inch; barrel 44I in.; caliber about -^ of an inch; two barrel flats, one on each side at breech; bayonet stud but no sight on barrel; mountings in general similar to those of model 1754; the rear ring of the muzzle band bears a brass front sight, knife
of
flat
pan fastened by a pin (screw) on inner face of lock plate pan has fence exterior of pan has 3 flat faces and has forged strap connecting with pin; tail of frizzen curled up; flat-faced cock with under jaw
; ;
Weight 10
lbs;
iron
and a turning
barrel.
band
to
Outline
straight.
SHng swivels elliptical. No brass. (See illustration No. 11, /) Musketoon (cavalry) Model 1763. Length 3 ft.
in.; barrel
about 41 in.; cahber about iVdij- o^ an inch; the fore end goes almost to the muzzle;
8|
plate,
musketoons do not take a bayonet; bands, butt and side plate of brass; both muzzle and middle
bands are two-strap; forward sling swivel attached to middle band, rear one on under edge of butt; on
left side
Il6
ing between rear band and forward screw in side plate; iron ramrod with nail-head (sometimes called
button) end.
Dififering only
from model
it
flpring
Musketoon (cavaby) Model 1766. Only differing from model 1763 musketoon in having an iron sight on the barrel, an iron rear band which is not
a short fore end leaving about 13^ inches of barrel projecting, and no sling swivels, but on
in
recess,
left
rear baxKl
and
side plate.
long,
the
sling
swivels;
Musket Model 1770. Length 4 ft. io| in.; similar to model 1768 but has heavier barrel; exterior of pan rounded; stouter mountings; ramrod spring
band bayonet model 1 763. Musket Model 1771. Differs from model 1770 in reduced size of butt and in having the outline of the under part of the grip and butt convex instead
filed to rear
;
117
and
in
Musket Model 1773. Practically the same as model 1 771. Weight 9 lbs. 6 oz. Musket Model 1774. Differs from model 1773 in weighing 10 lbs; spring on barrel to hold bayonet;
bayonet has long socket containing a long
short parallel
slot,
slot,
and a
1777.
slot
Musket
Model
yVV
of
an inch;
weight 9 1 lbs.; breech of barrel has 5 short flats; touch-hole instead of being horizontal slopes slightly
into
of
models 1771-74: cheek indentation in left side of butt; rear tang of trigger guard has finger recesses;
bow
of trigger guard
flat
;
markedly
elliptical;
all
screw
heads
band held
to
wood by a screw;
right
and
its
tang
make a
angle; lock
pan horizontal, no fence frizzen has its face in two planes, the upper Bayonet model 1774. tipping slightly forward. Dragoon Musket Model 1777. Length 4 ft. 9I in.; barrel length 42J in.; mounted with brass, with the exception of the middle band which is of iron;
plate wide for
;
its
length; brass
Il8
middle band
musket.
Length 4 ft. 3 in.; barrel length 36^ in.; middle band brass, sling swivels iron, otherwise like dragoon musket. Marine Musket Model 1777. Length 4 ft. 9 J in.;
Artillery
musket.
Musketoon
arm; length 3
in butt; rear
(cavalry)
ft.
Model
1777.
Heavy -cavalry
in.;
cheek recess ssi band of brass; rod and traveling ring as with musketoon model 1 766.
10}
in.; barrel
of Sajety
Muskets.
In the spring of
many committees
thirteen colonies
guns
committee detailed at
men engaged
the
gunsmiths there
These
least
were at
New
England
and many blacksmiths, to make arms under contract. Perhaps 50 per cent of all the gunsmiths in the
Colonies were in the middle Colonies, but probably
the
first
made
in Massachusetts,
was
first
most
119
day October
master armorer.
as a
gun maker.
He was He
considerable out-
The
act of the
Assembly of Virginia
in
June, 1775, at
Rappahannock Forge near Fredericksburg, Virginia. This armory was destroyed by fire before 1780. Then came Pennsylvania, which established in
February, 1776, a gunlock factory in Cherry Street
This "lock"
fac-
and the records of the time mention constantly the and repair of guns there. In the "Minutes" of Wednesday, August 20, 1777, it is called the "Factory of Muskets and Other Arms." It was then at French Creek in Chester County, and on October 3, 1777, the Council of Safety voted to move it to Hummels Town in Derry Township. It was aboHshed in 1778, and an order was issued December 17, 1778, to auction the tools and parts of incompleted firearms. Apparently there was no bidder, for January 10, 1779, Mr. Stiles, Commismanufacture
sary of Military Stores,
following
stores
sets
Haven: 139
was ordered to receive the and give his receipt to Mr. de complete and finished gun mount-
WF
v/
[,
I20
ings;
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
barrels; 141
stamps and brands; 113 gun locks; 237 gun new muskets lacking only bayonets and
stocks.
was
P.
directed to prove
and
to
stamp them
is
constant mention of
muskets."
Copper, of which to
repeatedly
for
make brass, is menThe name "firelocks" occurs 1776. flintlocks. The muskets made at
and also by gunsmiths, were,
after
in
the "factory,"
made
accordance with a pattern musket, but the rule was ikH enforced anything that was serviceable was
;
acceptable.
the
Provincial
in.,
bore
were
with barrels 3
in. long, to
and
to
Their lock plates were stamped "V. Forge" and the date of manufacture.
An
is
believed to have
121
been used in the early part of the war bears the capital letters
C P
on the lock
plate.
These
letters
large,
of irregular
form and
Property.
At the beginning
of the
war gunpre-
scarce in America.
Guns
America generally were equipped with imported locks. There was on hand a small stock of these imported and foreign marked locks, others were immediately obtained abroad, and others yet were taken from a stock on hand of old and parIn order tially bad Dutch and French muskets. that the new gun with the foreign lock might not later be mistaken as the property of some state
in
made
its
C P
identifi-
There seems to have been one other That was upon complete arms such arms would otherwise be purchased abroad undistinguishable from the quantities of similar ones already in America. It is probable that the C P was
used only during 1774, 1775, and part of 1776, for on September 9, 1776, Congress resolved that the
word "Colonies" and the words "United Colonies" should thereafter be replaced by "United States."
names on
their productions.
VERMONT
Thomai
HOI, of Cariotta.
MASSACHUSETTS
Richard
Falley,
of Wcstfield.
He became
ensign in
Colonel
"Mid Falley being a complete master of the business. To have 40 fMWfc^f per month in addition to his pay as ensign." His rank
lilcr
became
lieutenant.
Hofb
Orr, of Bridgewater.
ScoUand; came
;,
bright,
Bom January 13, 1717, at LochinAmerica 1737; gunsmith and lock filer; many interests, became prominent. In 1748 made
to
Son
Robeit
in
Thomu
Vuaom;
pefiod.
of
Leicester, about
workman
large
America
at that
"Dcaon**
power shop
Barret, Concord.
Had
in 1774.
Beman.
Dike, of Bridgewater.
123
Gideon Frost.
Benjamin Guillam.
Seth Johnson, of
Old Rutland.
Enoch Putnam,
Shaw.
of Granby.
Asa and Andrus Waters, of Sutton. Horace White, of Springfield. Anos Whittemore, of Boston. Before and John Wood, of Roxbury.
after 1800
made
rifles.
factory in Northboro.
Details missing.
RHODE ISLAND
Stephen Jenks, North Providence.
during the Revolution.)
(Doubtful
if
he
made
locks
CONNECTICUT
Lieutenant Ard Welton, Waterbury.
Made
NEW YORK
Waters, of Dutchess County.
MARYLAND
Richard Dallam.
Isaac Harris,
Henry Hollingsworth, Elkton. Particularly barrels and bayonets. John Messersmith. Lock maker at $3.00 each in 1776, doubtful
as to complete guns.
Moved Lancaster
in 1776;
perhaps to Phila-
delphia also.
\\
m.
>\
nctcroft, Annapolis.
Winters.
is.
Joho
Yoflt.
^^s at ;^ 4
x 5 x.
PENNSYLVANIA
Wmain
Antis, of Frederick To>^^lship.
Two
hundred locks at
ns,t
d. each,
according to pattern.
John
Butkrr, of Lancaster.
Celebrated.
Superintendent
of Provincial Factory.
Adam
Deterer, of Lancaster.
Ludwig Fohrer.
Joaeph Foster.
^ Gouger.
Jort, of
Hary
Gingerich, of Lancaster.
Commissk>ned
to
make 35 muskets.
GMpar Malbum,
Wfflkm Henry,
of Lancaster.
^tthiaa
Kccly.
Contracted to
SiUatian Rccly.
125
Contracted to
make 50 muskets
Kinder.
Contracted to
make 35
muskets.
ufV^
Township, Chester County.
Abraham Moore,
James Pearson.
of Coventry
-^'^^Amu^
Superintendent of a gun-
probably a
muskets at
Con-
Benjamin Town.
Tomlinson.
Valley Forge
55. each.
an
armory established
in
1742 by Stephen
first
called
Mount
a
in operation for
Two
John
Willis.
Two
hundred muskets at
5 s. each, according
to pattern.
Josiah
Wood,
of Norrington Township.
VIRGINIA
The Rappahannock
act of the
Assembly
in
June 1775.
The
Spitzers, father
and
son.
Rifle
kets also.
,a6
NORTH CAROLINA
At ChtrkHtesviUc a
rifle
factory
the
it
was established in 1740 by workLemans of Lancaster, and this factory is known to have made pistols.
Musket about equal to $30 of modem money. As Continental Currency or even to no value at tffrmt*^ to \'alue to 3 cents on the dollar
all
the
wnpoos
first
U.
S.
Government arms.
CO
SHOWN
Plate No.
Weight 10
length 3
ft.
ii,
^
5
ft.
lbs.
Length about
Barrel
8J
in.
Mountings brass containing conMarks on lock E. Ong. Ong was a workman in the Philadelphia factory under Peter de Haven. Judging by the composition of the brass the musket was made during July or August of 1776.
red birch.
siderable copper.
Wood
107
MISCELLANEOUS SMOOTHBORES
The Committees
of Safety of the various Colonies
not only had arms made, but they also appointed members to go about the country collecting from the
people
all
sen-iceable
arms
The
result
of
distributing to
medley of guns was to make, in the matter of ammuThe Pennnition, "confusion worse confounded."
sylvania Conmiittee of Safety therefore directed that
the guns of
its
soldiers should
be calipered.
The
30.
gages were
in
use:
13,
15,
21,
24,
Gage meant number of spherical balls to the pound. The diameter of the bore of a 13-gage gun would
be about seventy-three one hundredths of an inch,
while that of a 30-gage
four one-hundredths of
fifty-
bullet
The
military
arms or
war
inch,
129
which was about 13 gage, was standard for all but French military arms, it is fair to assume that guns with gages smaller than 13 were mostly sporting
arms.
medium-grade ones.
would sport an elegant and expensive weapon, nor that an officer or a wealthy soldier would enter the army carrying, for instance, an H. Nock doublebarreled gun worth two hundred dollars or more in gold when he had the wherewith to buy a common Yet there were, of course, good sporting one.
smoothbores in the war.
The two pieces chosen to illustrate this t}TDe of ami are intended to be typical. No. 12, A, is a perfectly plain fowling-piece which when new was within
and working man. It is of English make, date somewhere between 1750 and 1775, and bears the private proof-mark of Wogdon, a London gun maker. Its length is 5 ft.
the
means
in.,
barrel length 4
and
it is
gage
20,
arms were made with long barrel at a very early date. European collections show them seven feet or more long, whecllock, dating about 1600. They
were
and
plete
before.
Revolutionary times
permitted the comcoarse-grained
poor or
mon
liked
by Indian traders,
too,
pile of skins of
equal height.
3o
C/3
131
and
other piece, No. i2,i, goes to the other extreme, an expensive weapon, although not abnormally This gun has a brass barrel instead of an iron so. one in order that it might not spoil from rust when It is probably of American make with neglected. an English lock. Its length is 4 ft. 4 J in., barrel
length about 3
of a
ft.,
lbs.,
stock
mountings
silver
name
and shows skilful w^orkmanship. The lock marked '^R. Ashmore. Warranted." Arms of Ash-
more's
indicate
name
that
seventies
for
this
Revolutionary
War
claims
in
new
condition.
ACCESSORIES
Plate No. 13
Cartridge.
A cartridge
of a charge of
times a ball
into the
For a musket
of three quarters of an inch bore the British standard of four and a half
drams
of
The
was somewhat smaller than the bore of the musket in order that it might go easily into a barrel fouled by firing.
Cartridge Box.
a few
American
It is
soldiers
claimed to have
been carried by
It
it
Laban Lwis,
to him.
of
Milton, Massachusetts.
may
was
The
interior part is of
13a
wood, bored
133
damage by rubbing
together.
The
stiff,
exterior
is
now
very hard,
and
brittle
Brush and
Picker.
from age.
attached together by a chain and usually worn hanging from the shoulder strap but sometimes carried
in the knapsack.
the
flint,
touch-hole.
frizzen,
the
Eprouvette,
The
due
and pan.
^prouvette, or
to the
was a
ferent
necessity
unequal strength of
dif-
same brand.
A small charge A
sample tested
many
same
principle.
measured amount
powder,
dial or
work num-
,34
particularly in Many soldiers Pmvder Horn. powder horn and carried army the American bullet pouch instead of cartridge box; some carried two horns, a large one for powder for the charge and a smaU one for fine-grained powder for the flash pan. These horns were slung by cords from the Some of the soldiers who had artistic shoulders.
or, rather,
engraved
objects,
sta-
interestingly
drawn
date, their
Many
of
in exist-
Those
bear
critical
inspection,
and
interesting.
But
large
They
large
were regular
Also there are
many
recent imitations.
The
BvM
mold.
Mold.
The
of iron.
mold shown in the is the regulation Brown Bess The molds for sporting arms
bullet
were similar when made to cast a single ball. Close to the mold, between the handles, is a sharpened
135
bullet.
had
large brass
would cast, at one time, many bullets varying in size from small ones for sporting arms to those three Soldiers who used quarters of an inch in diameter. loose ammunition cast their own bullets when sitting
about their evening camp-fire.
Bayonets.
The
inches
They
are
shown marked
the
other
g.
bayonets
and those
of all sorts
made by country
blacksmiths
that
is,
when
the
American army had bayonets. The German bayonet is unknown. The Ferguson rifle was
equipped with a bayonet 25 inches in length, ij inches wide, flat and Hthe. A bayonet was carried
in
The
cross-
ing was secured and marked by a buckle hence the famous American order, ''Aim for their buckles."
136
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
flints were made in EngThose of light color were preferred. They were shaped by a flaking process called knapping. A good flint could be used about sixty times. A new flint was usually set in the cock with the flat
Flints.
land.
side up.
Soldiers sharpened
off
from the edge backwards. Soldiers were not allowed to snap their locks in play
flakes
by chipping
or practice except
when
the
flint
a wooden
dummy
called a snapper.
Plate No.
13.
Accessories
RIFLES OF
rifles
There were only two places in the world where were considerably in use before the nine-
teenth century
Central
Colonies in America.
Jager company, and Major Patrick Ferguson of the 2d Battalion, 71st Regiment Light Infantry, Highlanders. The British attempt to remedy the deficiency consisted in hiring European riflemen and in endeavoring to equip some of their own troops with breech-loading rifles patented by Major Ferguson. As this breechloading flintlock rifle was the first military breech loader adopted into any service; as it was a serviceable and practical weapon patented in England in 1776 where rifles were almost unknown; as it was used against the Americans in several battles and many skirmishes; and as Ferguson lost his life and
raine)
137
138
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
Mountain on the
7th
own
rifles, it is
weapon.
Apparently only about two hundred of these rifles were made, and their military use ended with the
Turner and D. Egg, of London, and Newton, of Grantham, who made Possibly other gun makers prothe one illustrated.
war.
S.
duced a few.
for
loading,
by
different
makers are
all,
otherwise unlike.
fitted
Some
of them, perhaps
were
with bayonets.
is
(See Accessories.)
like
This one
is
by Newton
4
ft.
shaped
5 in.
long, the
is
barrel
36 and f
in.
long,
and the
to load
caliber
it
about
fj^ of
is
an inch.
In order
used as a lever to
lower, by
single
from
is
bottom to
buDet
top.
When
the bolt
is
lowered there
barrel.
The
hole to the chamber; downward, lets the bullet run forward to the front of the chamber where it sticks in the space constricted by the lands; a charge of powder is then poured into the hole and
this
dropped into
fills
the
space
behind
the
bullet.
One
turn
of
fill
bolt to rise
and
139
arm was spherical, but by preference a pointed With this rifle four bullet of his own design. aimed shots per minute could be fired, as against an
service bullet for this
The
average of one shot in fifteen minutes with a European muzzle-loading rifle after it had become foul. The fouling of the Ferguson did not delay the load-
With a muzzle-loading rifle, if the charge became wet by rain or immersion, the rifle was useless from that moment until such time in the future as it could be put into a vice and the breech-pin
ing.
The
Ferguson,
be
It
is
made
minutes.
the
merits.
Although in rapidity of
superior to
the
rifles
fire this
English
it
rifle
was
all
stood second to
in preinferior
of the
American backwoodsmen
led
cision.
In
that, they
the world.
Its
and to the fact that it was bored and by gunsmiths who knew nothing of rifle making.
of powder,
rifled
RIFLES OF
About
six
THE GERMANS
soldiers
were sent to
called
of those
who
then
"Jagers," and
they
Chasseurs."
Most
men
brought
were
mostly
their
personal
property.
They were
plain
Some
inlaid with
But,
the
German
had a general resemblance; they were short, heavy, of large bore, with ramrods of iron or steel.
bayonets.
like that
The form
of
the
shown
in the picture
comb was rounded and the bottom of the stock between the toe and the grip wzs often flat and about three quarters of an
inch wide.
brass;
steel
Plain
rifles
elegant
mounted
in
or iron
embossed, and
The
average
length
was 30
to
32
inches;
barrels were
twist of
almost always
octagonal;
140
the usual
the
141
feet
the caliber
inch,
sometimes
more, rarely
with the
less.
These German
rifles
rifles
in use in Central
which served as models from which the immigrant Pennsylvania gunsmiths developed the American The greater part of them were probably rifle.
made
in
wooded parks of the German nobles where the Jagers served when at home the rifle was used quickly and without conscious aim. like a shotgun The rifle shown in the illustration was made without a rear sight. Such of the German rifles as were made in Switzerland, where shooting was in the open, had elaborate rear sights, adjustable both vertically and horizontally, usually set in the wood back of the These sights were such as had long before breech.
been
invented
in
for
wheellock
arms.
The patch
which opened
box (used
Europe not
by sliding rearward.
wheellock days.
It
was not so practical as the hinged metal one of American design, because it came entirely off and could be lost; it was also not so decorative.
142
HREARMS
of
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
of
Some
rifles,
the
causes
the
inferiority
of
the
European rifles, were as follows: the European gun makers were not so skilful as the American in giving just
that pitch to the grooving
the ball to
its
mass; the
air while in
rifle
while
American
the shooter
had the
slightest attack of
"nerves"
the
American
aim was much disturbed, while the recoil of the rifle was light and the balance so far for-
ward that the barrel swung slowly; the sights on a European rifle were near together in comparison with those on a "Kaintuck," hence the alignment of a European arm was less accurate.
Total length 43 in., barrel length 27 J in., weight about 10 lbs., caliber about \\ of an inch or 15 The bore is hexagonal, with balls to the pound.
grooves at the corners, and slightly opened at the
muzzle to
patch box
is
facilitate loading.
is
The
merely
There an
oblit-
excrescence.
erated
143
RIFLES OF
The
typical
THE AMERICANS
flintlock rifle, later
American
or,
full
called
"Kentucky,"
reached
its
in
development by
In
the
otho^ of
rifles
Morgan, Boone, John John Sevier, James Harrod, and kind, the best of the American
has
been able
To
be an expert rifleman a
perfect
man
needed a strong
eyesight,
body,
nerves,
lots
excellent
practice.
sound
he
that he
judgment, and
of
In
addition
infinite painstaking,
and give
classed
not,
regular, frequent,
and
strict attention
weapon.
In such hands a
as an
instrument of precision.
rifles
We
must
capable
it
by the story
to
145
many an enduring
shot.
a chance
It is
by
tests,
because there
is
not
its
But, knowing
modern
rifles,
the
make them,
and
its
weapon
itself,
we can by
cities it is
prob-
man
forged, one
made
locks,
one
mountings, one
made
stocks,
one assembled,
fitting;
at
and delivered it to the customer with lengthy encomiums. But in the smaller shops which formed the great majority mere cabins on the outskirts of the wilderness one man with or without an
have made
,4^
worKcr5
men
of
made guns
but also the tools with which to do their work. They were ignorant of science, and they cared nothing
for cause,
They
and work
five-thousandth part of
an inch they could not cut all the grooves of exactly the same ^^ndth and depth; but after the gun was
done they adjusted the
bullet, the
until the rifle would shoot into the bull*s-eye a measured distance perhaps a two-inch bull'seye at eight rods would do for the average, some would
S^ts
at
better
it.
The shop of
was a
log cabin,
feet
perhaps twelve
wide
inside,
twenty
long,
The
wide-open door
let in
at least
light, the
remainder came in at a window in the side near the front, over the long work bench. From the brown
lifters dangled bunches of gun parts, steel traps, tnd accumulated odds and ends. In the corners and along the unwindowed wall stood bunches of
147
to sell. Fine guns lay on wooden pegs driven high up, out of harm's
way.
and the rear wall lay the great leathercovered, clanking, and wheezing bellows. Front of The bench continued way the forge was the anvil. down into this dim rear of the shop; it was Httered with clutter and tools; large tools leaned against it and the forge. The smith, clad in grimy deerskin, great cowhide apron worn and black, sleeves rolled up, shaggy beard hanging down his hairy breast and in his way,
between
puttered about getting ready to
make a
rifle.
The
rum
'raound onct in
fit
a rod."
The
smith,
having no tools to
in spare time
horizontally
Next he
had
to
make them.
First he
a device containing a solid iron wheel with a small its axis and its circumference
3, 5,
and
7,
equal parts.
The wheel could be turned J, |, |, or the whole way around, and fastened by a catch fitting the Then he poked around in the dimness, notches.
overhauling his stock of iron until he found a rod
148
about 10
Then, on the
dirt floor,
he
laid
line of charcoal
from the
laid off
forge,
and when
it
was heating he
feet
on the edge of
his
slot.
Between
these
two extremes the red-hot rod was to be fastened, and, in order that it might not sag he fixed several supports.
The
rod, hot
at
and glowing, was then poked the wheel and also fastened into the
turn of the wheel and the
VTench.
One complete
rod was twisted so that in a length of 8J feet (half a rod) its spiraling edges went once completely
around
it.
One
of the tips
was cut
off
and a
rifling
The
rod,
now
cool,
through the square hole in the center of the wheel, do^Ti the gun barrel to the breech, the cutter
slid
was
raised,
the rod
drawn forward, and there on the was a groove which made a comin
revolution
the
required
distance.
Suc-
depth of cutting.
Five or seven turns of the wheel caused five or seven grooves in the barrel. Odd numbers were preferred
In order that
se
ttdes of a
diameter
mere
witchcraft, so
to
149
When the cutting was complete a wad of tow was put on a ramrod and pushed from the breech along to within about two inches of the other
end.
right,
The barrel, with this end up, was stood upan iron ramrod held so that its end went part way down that two inches, and melted lead poured The lead plug was thereby made fast in around it.
to the
its
form
and size of the interior of the barrel, with its lands and grooves. The plug was drawn out, the inside of the barrel oiled and dusted with fine emery, the plug inserted and worked back and forth until the inside of the barrel was clear of burrs and was sufficiently pohshed.
No
amount of poking and searching among the litter on the bench and in boxes and drawers was proIt was ductive of a breech-pin of the right size.
So he whittled a pine plug, screwed it into the breech, withdrew it, and compared But it with what dies he had of about that size.
necessary to
one.
make
it
he recollected
was not
of his
own make
I50
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
man; he was concerned only at the extra time and work for which there would be no payment. When he had forged a new breechpin in the rough he set it in his simple home-made lathe and turned that part of it which was to be a
screw into a cylinder.
The diameter
of the cylinder
he made equal to the diameter, threads included, The wooden plug also showed of the wooden plug.
the pitch of the threads inside the barrel, their depth,
and distance apart on centers; these he reproduced upon the breech-pin by winding it with wire. Then he scratched the position of the wire with a sharp tool upon the breech-pin, removed the wire, and cut the threads by patient and skilful work with a
triangular
ing,
file.
The
lock,
brown-
new
ones; he
could
to,
make a
it
but
was cheaper
buy them
in the cities,
where
Next he picked out a good piece of wood for the stock from among the many pieces of curly maple and crotch cherry which had long been seasoning up among the rafters above the forge. He had cut these pieces himself in the forest. Days and weeks went by while he worked happily at his bench in the light of the open
door and window, fashioning the rough wood with
w,
plane,
151
curves of a pioneer's
rifle; letting
in the barrel
made
himself;
Last of
coins
all
silver
and beat
thin,
lucky
stars,
he hoped.
When, on the date appointed, the customer came, the gun was done. "Thar, Bill, she's youm
for
a hundred an'
sixty,
which.
I ain't takin'
none er ther
dum
Continental
keen
critter
with sech a
man
I'm glad
officers."
I ain't relation to
Of such a kind
shown on Plate
full stock.
before the
war
rifles
ordered February
by the Provincial Congress were plain ones, as were others made during the war, for men were
24, 1776,
too busy
The
merely state
was not
152
were to have bridle locks, barrels not to exceed a length of 3 ft. 8 in., total weight not to exceed
7J
lbs.
have bayonets.
They know
did not
that the
telescopic sight
1775 state "Resolved, that there be procured a rifle that will carry a half -ounce ball, with
tember
7,
teleacope sight."
Another variety of
rifle,
a few of
and the over-and-under. Of the latter there were, again, two kinds: one having fixed barrels and two locks, the other having only one
lock for both barrels,
which revolved.
;
These
into use.
rifles
many
years passed
came
When dropped
part
of
with the
the
scar
the
mold,
Careful
and
smoothed
with
knife.
riflemen
when
The
bullet
was a
trifle
This
cover
called
patch
was
bit of
greased linen
or buckskin, not fastened to the ball, but merely enveloped it, with its puckered opening to the front;
it
dropped
when
153
made a
gas-tight
fit
weapon after each shot with a swab of tow. Hence shooting was But if the atmosphere was dry and he rather slow. failed to clean it each time, fouHng from powder
careful rifleman cleaned this
all.
All sights
MAKERS PREVIOUS TO
PENNSYLVANIA
Those marked * were early Lancaster rifle makers; 1775, some of their arms were nevertheless in use.
if
not living in
tester,
etc.
Abraham Easton.
Berlin, Isaac.
* Busch, Lancaster.
Cowell, Ebenezer, AUentown.
Cowell, P.
* Decherd (Dechert, Deckard, Descherd, Dickert), Jacob. Probably various spellings of same name. Famous. Philadelphia
before
rifle
and after 1732, Lancaster before and after 1753. One by him now in existence has 48-inch barrel, 64 inches over all,
X54
HREARMS
r,
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
this
Henry.
Son of
Drippftrd, Lancaster.
Famot, Jacob.
Fente, Jacob, and son
14 mOes up
the
Joel, Lancaster.
In 1785
moved shop
Ferre,
before
Joel,
Monongahela from Pittsburg. not Jacob's son, Leacock Township near Lancaster
and
after 1750.
FoOecfat, Lancaster.
Foodegrift.
Fondeamith, Lancaster.
Fouike, Adam, Easton, Allcntown, Philadelphia. ^ Franck, Lancaster. ^ Gaspard, Lancaster.
Easton.
Famous.
Employed at
PUhddphia
Returned to Easton.
Made many
kck ne^'olving double-barrel rifles. Graeff, Wm. Reading, before and ^ Grafaetm, Lancaster. BcBch, Lancaster.
Apprenticed to Peter Roeser at 16.
after 1761.
Bom
1729.
Began for himself in 1750. Armorer to Braddock's expedition. Most celebrated gun maker of bis time. At Lancaster had 14 employees. Son William became
Horn, Stephen, Easton.
hA,
Cbiirtiaii, Lancaster.
JoMiiCharks, Lancaster.
JoQCi, Robert, Lancaster.
155
Thomas.
Moved
to Esopus,
New York
in 1768.
and
after 1758.
* Sneider, Lancaster.
Starr, Lancaster.
* Stenzel, Lancaster.
Taylor, George, Easton.
ployee of
tester, etc.
Em-
Durham
Iron Works.
the "factory"
Tyler, John.
When
was moved
to
AUentown he
Vondersmith.
Withers, Michael, Lancaster.
156
and decorator.
In Febniary, 1776, had, with Johnston Smith, contract for 1000 In April, 1776, had, with Adam Foulke, contract for 130 lifla.
YooBg^P.
Virginia
;
father
and
son,
Newmarket.
Kentucky
and
after.
North Carolina
who
modem
made
at Charlottesville.
balls.
They had
lt<lBdi barrels
MisccUamous
Before 1760 Lancaster had practically a monopoly at
rifle
making.
Aflenvards
In I7tt Sir
migrmte
to
Wm.
New
JohniCQfwn,
Baltinxife,
York, to Schenectady, Esopus, Onondaga, and Canajoharie. By 1775 there were rifle shops in Cumberland, Alexandria, Winchester, Richmond, Cam-
Of
the folkming
nay
belong, they
unknown; they
Baitktl.
157
Bosworth.
Hawkins.
Ludington.
Reynolds.
Probably went
rifles
to St.
celebrated ''Hawkins"
of the West.
MfAflAO
15
barrel length 3
ft.
7 J in., full
graved B, eight
silver
Cheek
piece.
Made
ft
10
Half stock, cherry, weight gi lbs. Length 4 in. Barrel length 3 ft. 6 in., full octagon.
Deep
grooving.
feet.
Imported lock
marked T. Ketland, who was a Birmingham maker from about 1 750 to 1 790. Patch box opens by pressure upon a stud in the heel. Fired many times at a target in summer of 1905, and shot well considering
its
age.
Made
in
Pennsylvania, probably at
Both of these
double
in
rifles
have plain
triggers.
The
was
in use, infrequently,
lution
all
rifles
It is believed to
be a Munich
BLUNDERBUSSES
derivation of the word blunderbuss is not As probable an explanation as any is that it is a compound of the old German words donner and bilsche; donner meant thunder and busche meant gun barrel; the meaning of the compound word was distinctly appropriate. The funneling of the barrel was an evolution from the slight enlargement of the muzzle in matchlock days to facilitate the entrance of the bullet or a number of small
clear.
The
bullets.
There
is
museum
of Sigmaringen.
for
On
it
was
Probably every warship, whether English or French regular or American privateer, had on
board a few or
boarders.
many
That they were abundant in Europe in Revolutionary times is well known; they were not
only used at sea but also were kept in almost every
159
l6o
household as protection against burglars, and were carried by every mailcoach and nobleman's carriage
as protection against highwaymen.
fairly
abundant
in
America
is
issued an order in April, 1775, no citizens who left Boston should go armed, but must deposit all their weapons in Faneuil Hall, they left there by April 22, 1775, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight guns, six hundred and
thirty-four pistols,
bayonets, and
thirty-eight hlunderhusses.
The
arm
of
was unexcelled as
Its
a dealer
bore
Each of the is fxjculiar blunderbusses shown has its chamber the same diameter as that end of the ramrod which is in view. From the chamber the bore increases constantly and regularly until near the muzzle, when it widens sudcharacteristic.
many
chamber.
scattering
the
charge, which
was
frequently
made up
bles,
of shot, slugs,
peb-
charge of powder.
Since a round muzzle causes shot to scatter in
circle,
i6i
of
To
of
elHptical,
The muzzle measures 2 J by ij The one marked c has an iron barrel with a
muzzle, and
is
inches.
i| inch
had Revolutionary War service in the British Navy, but was probably The seventy-five years old when the war began. two with brass barrels (a and b) were probably
believed to have
1770,
enemy escapes
the
man
confidently awaits
and
at the critical
moment moves a
fly
stud
forward
enemy
to
sudden
also be used as a
forward
automatically locks
itself in position.
The
English blunderbuss
shown by
163
6,
which has a
163
the muzzle,
silver
It has "Fly or Die" engraved near and engraved brass mountings. The
is
name-plate
is
engraved "I.
length
Pritt
&
Co."
is
The
lock
case-hardened in colors.
The wood
is
fancy
v^alnut.
The whole
29
inches,
The
elliptical
muzzle one,
a,
which
is
stocked
Either of
blunderbuss was
distinctly not
a sporting weapon.
American blunderbuss of pretentious ornamentation, without an indisputable pedigree, would be an object of suspicion to a collector; it would be classed with the "bazaar" antiques made at the present day so plentifully in the Orient to sell to the tourist who has more money than discrimination. not lettered The fourth blunderbuss shown is a double-barreled one and is, on that account, unusual and especially interesting. The whole
is 30 inches, barrels 14 inches, bayonet when extended iij inches extra, caliber at the muzzle
length
11
of
an
inch.
The
and
are
The mountings
PISTOLS
Within reasonable limits the statement
that pistols in Revolutionary
useful
in
is
true
War
hand-to-hand
encounters.
Their inac-
and the
were
or
considered
unnecessary.
An
expensive
pistol,
sometimes had a front sight of generous bulk, but its purpose was more to enable the eye readily to
locate the position of the
than to
barrel.
ofiFer
were
ive,
really
and weighed and protected at the butt with metal. Since revolvers were not in use then, and multibarrel pistols that were good for anything besides maiming the user were so expensive that they were
itlq^ated to the wealthy,
pistols
165
if
made and
the
one shot
left
as a
last
Army
pistols
holsters,
had
belt
hooks
Sporting
pistols pistols
were
were
made made
to
vest,
to be carried either
way.
sizes,
in
a great variety of
go in the pocket of the large, or medium-sized ones for larger pockets of the
to formidable
clothing,
affairs
will
be
humans
And
such
men
There-
means
demand
for fancy
hand firearms
that put
l66
pistols that
be adapted
to the
flintlock
such means of
Luxuries such as
and double set-triggers, means for loading at the breech, and so forth, were as developed then as now,
and as
excellent.
made it fascinating and they made variety. How many kinds of pistols were used in the Revolutionary War no man knows nor ever will know, for many are lost and along with them all knowledge of them, but enough remains to give some idea as to how great the variety was. The scarcest of all Revolutionary-time pistols
sporting,
is
the
pistols
rifled
pistol;
military,
and dueling
form,
size,
Since
period,
a
of
means
flint pistol,
possibility of use at
it.
any particular
the need of a
by the marks on
Hence
167
etc.
of makers
cities
and
their
dates,
proof-marks,
In some
was used
The
coat-
up
of
to
1 8 10;
of
Nuremberg up
1750, etc.
People
who
it
were entitled to a
had
put upon and information regarding them found by reference to Der Wappenbuch, by Stebmacher. One needs a
the name-plate. These can be identified
collector's patience,
is
necessary to
know
German
would be without result, but a search for Liittische would yield the desired knowledge. A good working knowledge of the history of ornament is very useful. English pistols mounted with silver are readily assigned to a date which is liable to be correct within a year by the hall-marks on the silver. These hallalso very clear and permarks are very minute and should be sought with the aid of a strong fect
They
Book
of Hall-marks.
Hall-marks of the
New
York, and
St.
Louis.
English
mounted
troops
dragoons
6,
and
picture
ture of the
The
lock
bit
commoner type of the time, is a miniaBrown Bess locks of a and b, picture No. 10. of pistol ^, with a flat plate and flat cock,
unusual in the period of the war, although
is
was a
1800.
The ramrod
is
of
is
wood whether
;
original
debatable.
Both
the correct
are
brass
mounted.
and with
that
belt
hook.
The
swivel
ramrod
It
is
in Revolutionary times
was uncommon.
and
very probable
army
odd sizes, shapes, and calibers of all kinds of firearms was common in olden times. The belt hook, ramrod, and swivel of c are of iron the other mountings are of brass.
;
t68
17
y-J-
Length 15
inches, caliber
1 769, crown,
oi
an inch.
Marks
R, broad arrow.
Marks of an inch. b. Length 1 5 inches, caliber Tower, crown, G R, broad arrow. on lock c. Length i8f inches, caHber fj- of an inch. Bumford. Marks on lock
169
sent to
America
very few German military pistols came to America. This was mainly because in those days the only
pistol users
among
the rank
and
file
There was no German naval demonstration, and there were exceedingly few German mounted troops in the war; no cavalry, but sometimes mounted chasseurs. The single type shown picture No. 17 is the only one available which can with reasonable certainty be declared
mounted
troops.
to be Revolutionary.
vari-
their
It
is
however, bought some of their from Frederick the Great of Prussia (17401786), whose arms factories, especially those at
Plate No.
17.
Kn^lish
Regulation
Pistols
Gennan
Regulation
Pistol
Length 16^ inches; barrel length 9I inches; caliber Potsdam, about f of an inch. Marks on lock
S,
171
and
sailors
less
chance
and contemporary use. The royal (government) arms factories were at Charleville, St. Etienne, Maubeuge, and Tulle. The year of the model was engraved on the tang, preceded by the letter M. The year of make was engraved or sometimes stamped on the breech. As these marks were often very lightly
first issue,
cut, they
were liable to disappear by the erosion of and cleaning. The name of the factory was engraved on the lock, in script; different engravers
rust
The
pistols
made
at
Tulle were
for
sea-
service
models
173
produced long after 1777. These three models are frequently found marked Libreville. Although correct in appearance, they
The name
(i
was
substi-
789-1 799),
when anything
named
was abolished.
for the
Navy
pistols
and
caliber,
navy were made with brass bands for models and 1763 1773. All three models were supplied with belt hooks for either army or navy. In times of
shortage
vice
pistols were supplied to the navy and Such are still in existence. Officers ranking as captain or higher were supplied with the elegant arm shown in picture No. 18, pistol No. 4. This is the only known model of government issue
army
versa.
officer's
pistol of
It is
not
known
pistol.
to
have had a
The
small govpolice
ernment
navy,
it
pistol
numbered
is
the
gendarme or
army or
was
with
officers of
SHOWN
Plate No. i8
1.
of
Model 1763. Length i5 inches. Caliber |4 Mre de Charleville. an inch. Marks on lock
On
2.
tang
1763.
Iron mounted.
Length 16 inches. Caliber Manufacture de Marks on lock of an inch. Brass mounted. On tang Etienne. 1 773.
Model
1773.
]-J-
St.
3.
Model
1777.
Length 13 J inches.
lock
of
an
tang
inch.
Marks on
Charleville.
CaHber j|
On
1777.
Model
1763.
Officer's
pistol.
Length
lock
inches.
Caliber || of an inch.
St.
Marks on
12
Manufre Royale de
carved beneath.
5.
Etienne.
Brass mountings,
Set trigger.
Model
1763.
Gendarme
pistol.
Length gl
lock
inches.
Caliber f of an inch.
Marks on
Manufacture de Charleville.
Iron mounted.
174
Plate No.
i8.
French
Regulation Pistols
much used
The American
by the American Continentals during the Revolution. ''cavalry" was really a mounted infantry, and the American navy dwindled from thir-
There were, of course, some pistols furnished by the Continental Congress, but no records regarding them have yet been found. Only such as Congress furteen small vessels in 1776 to none in 1780.
The
were,
when
or
personal property,
disit
Committee
is fair
In the absence of
shops and
assume that they were made by the same men who furnished muskets. There is
known
shown by Plate Rappahannock Forge, established near Fredericksburg, Virginia, by act of the Virginia Legislature in June, 1775, and destroyed
existing types such as those
21,
5.
by
fire in
1780,
is
,76
Committee of Safety pistols. Although the official navy was next to nothing, the unofficial navy was a the privateer navy. It is believed that great power during the war 70,000 New Englanders alone engaged in privateering; they must have purchased immense
quantities of newly
is
made American
pistols.
at present
no way to
differentiate
There Committee of
(private ser-
and Privateer
be possible
if
may
light.
the
bills
of
sale ever
come
to
which Lafayette
arms.
Besides Committee of and navy used what they estimated at two hundred
of
Lafayette
them during his recent visit to England, and if not all of them at least most of them were of the Sharpe and Ketland type shown by Plate No. 21 6. Personal property pistols of assorted kinds were in use also.
,
a commissioned
of a
officer
should use.
France
fur-
nished an excellent
arm
government weapon. (See No. 4 of Plate No. England furnished plain, substantial pistols
for
those
Plate
who
No.
apparently
were
If
was expected
The American
life
officers,
profession,
for their
good enough
professional
temporary
needs.
But
the
military
had great pride in their weapons, and each lavished his pay upon a small arsenal of magnificent pieces. Hence about every kind of flint pistol then known in Europe was
leaders of the foreign governments
brought to America.
They
177
classify as
single-shot,
178
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
four-shot,
two-shot,
three-shot,
and so
forth.
In
each variety the attempt is made herewith to show the markedly distinct kinds judged by the standards
of size, shape, decoration, material,
Each of
necessary to enumerate.
the Colonial period,
Many
and are
classified
pistol, center
pocket.
The
barrel
is
hammer. This tiny weapon and is intended for the vest if inches long, and the ball
comes about
The
barrel un-
One end of the bullet mold has a ring with a slot in it. The ring slips over the barrel, and a stud on the barrel enters the slot, so that the bullet mold serves as an unscrew
screws to load at the breech.
lever.
The handle
is
of walnut,
folds into
The
It
trigger is hinged
and
(fold-
ing trigger, so
the cock.
Upon
slide
which engages both cock and frizzen when they are upright and locks them in that position for safety.
single
movement forward
or
backward engages
English make.
h.
pistol, center
hammer,
179
i8o
by ringed
An
all
ably Scotch
c.
make
no marks
center
WTien new was Length about 6 inches, about j^ of an inch. Probiron pistol.
legible.
hammer, barrel unscrews by ringed lever. Brass barrel and frame. Folding Handle Lxxrk, frizzen, and trigger blued. trigger. Length 6 J inches, barrel 3 of fancy walnut. inches; caliber about -jV of an inch. d. Pocket pistol, center hammer, barrel unscrews by ringed lever. Iron barrel and frame. Cock, frizzen, and trigger blued, other metal browned. Handle of fancy walnut. Thick and heavy silver butt, embossed, having Birmingham hallthe marks of 1776. Length 7^ inches, barrel 3 J inches, caliber iV of an inch; old London proof-marks. A pair like this is said to have belonged to General Wolfe, who, as he lay dying upon the Plains of Abraham, presented them to his surgeon as a memento and mark of esteem. e. Large pocket, center hammer, blunderbuss pistol with spring dagger. Rigid barrel. Brass frame and
Pocket
pistol,
barrel.
Wood of handle
Length
9
unidentified,
checkered and
carved.
of an inch.
Is
made
i8i
the
Drawing back
dagger into
its
The French
it
Length
Marks on
g.
lock
yV
of 2,n inch.
Large pocket
no metal cap on
inches, caHber
butt.
4-J-
Iron barrel and furniture, Length 10 inches, barrel 4! Prosser, of an inch. Marks
London, and old London proof. Brass barrel h. Large pocket blunderbuss pistol. Length 8J inches, beautifully embossed on breech. barrel 4^ inches, caliber at muzzle about i inch. Marks Twigg, London.
i.
mountings.
Length 12
inches,
6J
inches,
Embossed and
en-
mouth blunderbuss
pistols
were also in
the
use.
No
specimen
contemporary
with
war
I8a
;.
and so
pistol,
An
enlarged pocket
little
space.
;
Embossed
engraving.
sflver griffins,
head butt
Length 12 inches, barrel 6J inches, caliber about Rigid barrel. Marks Henry Hadley, of an inch.
London.
The
Virginia
Historical
Society
claims
hammer. Bar-
unscrews to load at breech by means of a toothed stud on end of bullet mold handle, fitting into
notches inside the muzzle.
in
the
wood.
The
notches,
either
V-shaped
or
down
Plate No.
19.
Single
and
Mechanism
of
This
pistol said to
John
April
Scott,
a Minute
Man
of Winchester (now)
whom
he shot
1775,
towards Boston.
to
The
pistol
old.
was then
seventy-five
The
first
shot of the
19, 1775,
by Major
at Captain Parker's men on Lexington was from a Highlander pistol. Major Pitcairn had in his saddle holsters a pair of very elaborate and beautiful Highlanders. A few hours
green,
183
l84
after
that
his horse dashed wounded, from the They into the American lines bearing the pistols. war General Putnam, the by during carried were
first
shot he
fell,
and are now the property of the town of Lexingon exhibition in the Hancock-Clark House. The Highlander type of pistol is supposed to have
ton,
all-steel
German
of
wheelat
The
are
earliest
dated Highlanders
present
known
in the
Museum
Dresden,
and bear the date 1598 and the armorer's initials F. K. There are a pair of them, one left-handed, the mate right-handed, snaphance. Highlander
pistols
steel; occasionally
same arm. Steel ones were generally finished when new, but were sometimes blued. They were generally single shot and smooth bore, but there are in existence a few multi-barreled ones, and one or two with rifling. Highlander pistols were undoubtedly created to meet the demands of Scotch chieftains for beautiful and showy weapons with
in the
bright
The
sale
Downe, Dundee,
fifty
185
hundred dollars
per pair
elaborately
ornamented ones.
Practically
all
The
Rob
owned a
chiefs
beautiful
Scottish
and Continental nobiHty about 1700 to 1750, and army officers. As weapons they were more showy than useful. Their light weight and large bore were productive of an amount of recoil unpleasant to the user and detrihad them, as
also did English
mental to accuracy.
be
Highlander
pistols ceased to
made
and
made
in flint
and percussion
during the
first
town
Andrew's
date
1585
and son
Gordon
Alex. Pryde
Dundee Dundee
St.
Andrew's
F.
K
M.
p. H.
A. A.
I.
1611
M
A.
(J. Alison)
about 1600
1613
CO *-^'.^
^'x
l86
MAim
R. A. (Robert Alison)
C. A. (C. Alison)
1614
1619
JB. IL H A. G
1613
1615 1622
E.C
llcKeii(sie?)
1627
Glasgow
1627
1630
R.M..
LC
A.
D
Doune Doune Doune
R. C. (Robert CaddeU)
1675
Tho. CaddeU
Thos. CaddeU
about 1650
died in 1767
Andrew
Soott
about 1675
1696
Daniel Stevart
EdzeU
about 1680
Doune
about 1680
Camp-
beU)
Doune Doune
Doune
Leith
Alexander Murdoch
T. Murdoch or Murdock
lo.
to.
Mwdock
Doune
same man)
about 1775
to
1800
(different signatures,
**
Doune?
187
DATE
TOWN
Doune? Doime Doune Doune?
Doune?
Perth Perth
ON HIGHLANDERS
James Sutherland James Paterson John Paterson
S.
about 1775
Michie
Michie
Jo.
1 701
1771
1794
(the J. Christie
same?)
Jo. Chrystie
Doune
Stirling
John Christie
Jon. Christie (the
same?
Stirling
William Christie
Jas.McKenzie(IA MK)
David McKenzie (son
Jas)
of
Dundee? Dundee
about 1700
IIMIAM40
Moncur McGlasham
John Smith
Bissel
Dundee
Perth Perth
Birmingham
or Perth
about 1760
Stirling
Edinburg
Elgin Elgin
about 1790
B. E.)
Alexander Shires
Old Meldrum
1700
David Dunbar
J.
Moore
Cameron (Cameron)
Alexa,nder
McKay
l88
KAim
TOWN
Dalmally?
Inverness
DATE
about 1725
Wood
Kennedy
John Petcairo Daniel Walker
McUuchlan
^Ro
PlayWr
^ McLeod
Robert Ancell
about 1810
about
1
8 10
about 1810
about 1810
about 1810
1833
Perth
^The pbtols of these men, almost always of cast iron, were intended only for decoration.
X
i
21
pistol.
Octagonal iron
barrel,
German
silver
mountings engraved.
Length
14 J inches, barrel 9 inches, caliber f of an inch. perhaps the commonest nonh. Holster pistol
regulation horse
inches,
barrel
8J
minimum
lock
on barrel
proof.
Extra
woodwork.
Marks on
Sharpe;
of engra-
The house
silver mountings,
plate
name
shield
is
of elaborate design,
embossed grotesque head on butt. All the silver Length 13^ inches, barrel 8 is thick and heavy. BranMarks inches, caliber about f of an inch. der, London. The house of Brander existed from
190
laid sUver
iron,
and
beautifully
Length
15
i
inches,
barrel
Italian
length
9J inches,
caliber
about
inch.
e.
make.
MagnifiAll silver
cent specimen.
beautifully
mountings
engraved.
thick, heavy,
embossed
and
Damascus-
twist barrel of
from Damascus.
scenes and
probably in Germany.
trophies.
Length
barrel
Plate No.
21.
Miscellaneous
Pistols
DUELING PISTOLS
Plate No. 22
Set of
dueling pistols
in
mahogany
officer
case with
apparatus.
theless, in vogue,
and every
who
laid claim
to
elegance
tols.
The person
pistol of
exactly alike.
The
case
was divided
into compartall
make
it
weapon of precision. Thick barrel carefully bored, front and rear sights, and set trigger were distinguishIn addition, ing marks of the dueling pistol. fashion in the period of the war had set the form
and
size
pistol
shown in the picture as correct. A dueling was made with great care by skilled workmen,
of form,
right in balance,
was elegant
fitting,
superb in
finish,
and mountings,
191
ipa
Incidentally
it
a good Although everything known was done to make it an instrument of precision, it was far from being
such.
deal of gold.
Twenty yards was about its limit iveness; duels were commonly fought at
if
for effect-
ten yards;
shots
within
three -inch
be done at shorter
its
range.
Approximately speaking,
error increased
is
15 inches
balls to
xV of an inch smooth bore, using 26 round the pound, and has a lo-inch octagonal
at that
tune,
The The
fore
and rear
steel,
mountings are of
high
its
blued,
is
and
engraved.
made
plain by
lock of utmost
bands
the barrel
powder when
it;
bullet is
seated
without
the
wood
of
hard
Pistols
193
rosewood;
checkered
grip;
elegant
ramrods
making a
its
work
of art.
treasured by their
used,
as
it is
to-day nearly
and within as 150 years ago. The maker's signature, Ryan and Watson, of London, is engraved on the lock of each. The compartments of the box or case hold snugly fitted
in appearance without
new
flask,
queer pewter
spare
flints
The
modern money.
name on a garment
some
in the opinions of
certain
makes
more esteemed
of the cele-
Some
Hawkins,
to place
Ryan
&
Watson,
& W.
not
Richards,
possible
Philip Bond,
and F. Page.
of these
It is
now
any one
men
as the leader.
pistol,
two
hammer.
cal-
Nicely engraved.
pan just above the bottom, communicates with the upper barrel; the other opens from and passes through a revolving cylinder which forms
front of the
The
cylinder
is
operated
left
When
can be
cylinder
When
in the
way
be
fired at once.
variations
on
all iron;
wooden
195
pistol,
two
which unscrew, center hammer, concealed folding Length 6\ inches, barrels 2J inches, caliber trigger.
an inch. Revolving cylinder as with account of the folding trigger the pistol occupied less space in the pocket than one with a guard, and was less hable to accidental discharge
about
a.
"yV oi
On
when
c. Pocket pistol, two shots, side-by-side barrels which unscrew, two cocks, two pans, two triggers which fold into recesses in the frame and fly out at cocking. Each cock and frizzen is provided with a safety Hke that of a, Plate No. 19. Length 8 inches,
-^
of
1746.
name The
shield
is
engraved
Culloden
Moor was
an
inch.
On
the
Moor,
Battle of Culloden
the last
This kind
(center
usual
triggers
hammer) was common with the and guard, and in iron, brass, and
the combinations.
d. Pocket pistol, two shots, side-by-side barrels which unscrew, single center hammer, single frizzen,
frizzen.
On
the
left
frame a
slide operates
left
pan.
196
once.
is
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
and second
shots,
it
side-lock
double-barrel
ever,
fire
if
the other.
in
inlaid
the
wood.
Silver
butt
embossed with
grotesque head.
t.
and one centrally under them, all three rigid. Single center hammer, revolving cylinder in pan, three
touch-holes; one opens from the front of the
pan and
is
and lower
can be
barrels.
The
The dagger
There
is
of pistol
Finely engraved.
This kind of
was
also
made
/.
in iron, brass,
pistol,
The
principle
is
the
same as combining
side
by side two
fired at will
Any
barrel can be
or
all
197
Finely engraved.
Checkered and carved handle with mother-of-pearl inlaying. Fine and expensive weapon. Length 8f inches, caliber -^ of an inch.
silver butt.
Embossed
French make.
four shots, four barrels, four pans two cocks and two triggers. The barrels seem to be made from one solid piece, and revolve, with pans and frizzens attached, on a comg.
pistol,
and
their frizzens,
mon
center.
The
catch; drawing
backward the
draws the catch, when the barrels can be turned by hand. The safety acts only on the cocks; it has a knife-like projection which enters or leaves a slot
in the rear of the cock.
The handle
barrels
is
of horn.
is
The
covered
The
an inch.
h.
-^
style.
Length
Twist barrels.
Brass mountings.
Excellently well
made.
i.
sometimes
under barrel
Barrels rigid.
is
Two
fired
side
locks,
on a
level.
by the left-hand
lock.
The The
igS
and the
right
one com-
way with
on the left therefore has to extend downwards like a pit to reach the under barrel.
The
inch,
as paper.
They
and are given the look of strength by a wooden and side covering which, in one piece, was Since slipped between them and fastened in place.
filling
shoot
other, this
woodwork
is
so
cut as not to
reinforce the
barrels.
and
butt, engraved.
An
the Revolution.
the Germans.
Made by
fixed
down
to this type.
The
prin-
barrels
to
one
set
barrels
firing
and one lock having a two-story pan; after the upper pan slides off,
and one deep pan with plug repriming necessary after the first shot; one lock and revolving barrels having pans and frizzens attached one lock and one pan and frizzen, with revolving barrels.
;
^^
Plate No.
24.
The
No
Blood
and a tin cup of tinder. With pioneers the lock of the gun did duty instead. The unfortunates who had neither tinder box nor firearm tried to keep a constant supply of five coals, and, in the event of losing the fire, appHed to a neighbor for a light. The tinder box was a domestic spark producer from about 1550 until matches came into
flint,
a piece of bent
steel,
common
use
about
1835.
evidently of early date. was a good one in its day Later period ones had an oil well attached; the application of a drop of oil to the spark saved time and exertion in blowing. Tinder was commonly made of charred linen. A supply was kept in the hollow interior of the box, reached by a little door on the left side. The tinder box was commonly kept on the mantel shelf while the gun hung beneath.
The one
illustrated
Thus the emblem of peace was in fact above the emblem of war. At the close of the Revolution, when the soldiers took home their guns, the firearm
and the tinder box
to reunited soldiers
good
and matrons
199
of the
new United
States of America.
THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE REVOLUTION AND THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY
When
the Revolution
"The
a mistake, for everywhere, was without and within, trouble beset the republic. In addition to the political and economical fomentations caused by experimental and inadequate government, the hostility of the Indians culminated in a war in the "Ohio country'* which dragged along for four
entirely
years.
militia
The
early
attempts
failures,
to
suppress
it
with
and success came only through the energy and ability of General Anthony Wayne and the fighting skill of his backwoods riflemen. England, France, and Spain imposed upon the thirteen pitiful republics bound together **w\i\\ a rope of sand," and Hamilton said, "There
were utter
is
scarcely anything
the pride
which we do not experience." There were two silver linings to the dark cloud.
201
One was the thriving condition of American comThe other was the might which weapons westward movement into Indian country, The give.
merce.
the hostile foreign attitude, the need of the dwellers
on the outskirts
by means of firearms, the necessity for a quantity of arms on every ship that put to sea, these and other causes made the firearms industry of prime importance, and besides the busy shops of the large towns
there
was almost
literally
cross roads.
Hc stood on a firm and lasting base. The causes of healthy growth were honest purpose and endeavor,
statesmanship,
increasing
wealth,
and
American
arms.
It
was
Of
Richmond by
which continued to make and repair muskets, rifles, and pistols until 1865. The Springfield Armory was of gradual growth. During the Revolution the town of Springfield was
used as a recruiting post, depot for the storage of
202
military supplies,
the repairing of
arms.
The
seem
to
have been working each for himself and in scattered houses and shops, at whatever jobs, state or congressional,
they
could
get.
Gradually
hill
the
gun-
and formed a
ployed in combination as a
armory.
made
there in
787
muskets
were.
and two magazines with necessary buildings to be erected in proper places, one to be situated to accommodate the Southern States."
which was an armory.
tablish
An
arsenal
was a
was empowered
to es-
arms.
Washington chose Springfield, which he had visited, as the site of an armory, and Harper*s Ferry, Virginia, as the best location for another, to accommodate the Southern States. Congress thereupon
$340,000 to be applied, under direction of
ael aside
203
1794).
part of this
for
gun makers.
From
matter of land,
hundred and twenty-five acres of land were purchased that year from the heirs of Robert Harper, and three hundred and ten acres from Mr. Rutherford soon after,
of the Harper's
arms began under Mr. Perkins, superintendent. The Springfield Armory had already begun, in 1795, to manufacture under David Ames, superintendent.
This quick
start
was due
ment buildings already standing convenient to water power. So far as is now known, muskets only were made at both places previous to 1800, and of them but few because of the small number of workmen; Congress had enacted that the total number of
in
government
Owing
to
a muddle of some kind the two new armories began operations with a majority of workmen who were
not gunsmiths, and
the business.
who knew
factories
little
or nothing about
Both
endeavored to produce
204
machinery,
small
parts
even
with machines
but
for
alike,
was
at
obliged
to
making depend
filed
upon hand
labor.
The
first
gunlock
made
Springfield
was
by hand by Alexander Crawford after a struggle of There were forty employees only the three days.
first
in
year at Springfield Armory, and they succeeded making only 245 muskets, or less than one per
day.
In 1796 they
in
1797 1028,
At Harper's
The output of the two armories, plus the contractor arms of 1794, plus the old arms on hand, being insufficient to the needs to the army and the militia, the purchase of arms in quantity became necessary.
In 1798 Congress authorized the purchase of thirty thousand stands of muskets, and, bearing in mind
money
to each.
So
in-
far as
known
and
neither
Whitney
(the cotton-gin
made a gun
before.
McCormick
is
believed
to
205
one of those
excellently
still
who
worthy of the
and produced
in
ablest
made muskets as evidenced by specimens existence. Of the three, Whitney was the from the mechanical point of view. He
some years before
of inter-
He
making of all tools and machinery upon and produced the first American guns made and finished almost entirely by machinery. He was ten years in fulfilling his contract, but at the end of that time he had an arms factory which
vised the
the premises,
two contractors had had enough of the tribulations of the business. The arms produced by the three
contractors were unlike,
field
unlike
of Spring-
but they
corresponded in generalities.
arms with their name and the date when the gun was finished. It was about this time that locks for firing cannon came into use in America. They were first used in the English navy, invented or introduced by the
stamped
2o6
British
and were taken up by the Americans between 1785 and 1790. It is not known that any were made before 1800 at the government armories; they were
purcliased of the
English contractors.
cannon
upper
face,
taining
an eye
a lanyard.
The
lock
and
It
the
gunner
could
a single
line
fire
In the
barreled shotgun
became the
and of the
sport-
The
flint
was very
old,
and
snaphance and
The
Henry Nock
of
207
so
improved the process of barrel boring to such an extent that his barrels were cyhnders of almost
mathematical correctness, made locks of wonderful refinements in workmanship, and made his guns
not merely admirably serviceable weapons, but guns
and finish also. His patronage by him fame which culminated in His works his becoming gun maker to the king. able to those by were brought to the United States
of beautiful grace
afford them,
smiths
there, just
they inspired
city;
the youthful
Joseph Manton
difference, that
Nock's own
no American achieved the fame of the master, while Manton, in middle life, became more famous than his teacher. Among American gunsmiths of this period noted for ingenuity in fashioning sporting weapons was the John Golcher, of Easton, Pennsylvania, who had
been employed during the Revolution in the Committee of Safety armory as instructor.
After the
2o8
He became
particularly cele-
and
for
multi-shot
arms having a
Besides these he
In
is
fact, in
this
the
if
of the
flint
period,
questionable
any variety of firearms could be produced which had not been invented before. In some cases
Golcher did a
and,
if
little
Colonel
Hawker
The close of the eighteenth century was marked by no radical changes in weapons of sport or of war.
All civilized nations
firing
were using the flintlock for a mechanism, and its limitations were reached
and could not be overstepped. Distinct progress in the mechanics and particularly in the science of firearms was still a score or more of years ahead.
Since then the changes have been so great that nothing remains of the firearms of the early days
of our country but the principle of using the energy
209
give direction to
and a barrel to There are yet many problems to meet. Their solution may have more influence upon the future than the arms of our
its
flight.
ancestors
past.
CANNON LOCK
Plate No. 25
Length 6 inches, thickness J of an inch, weight " W. Marwood," about a pound and a half. Marks a crown over, and a crown in combination with the
A cannon lock, when not in use, was When cannon were cast to arms chest. kept in the be fired by a lock the touch-hole was drilled in the When the lock was used with a cannon of side. the old style it fastened in a horizontal position on its side on top of the cannon, with the orifice of the pan in the touch-hole. In this latter case it was necessary to put a few grains of coarse powder in the orifice of the pan, to serve as a stopper, and then the fine flash powder. When primed this way the flash powder did not leak out, and the lock, so long as the frizzen was closed, could move about and be
broad arrow.
handled without
instant use.
limit,
yet
Plate No.
25.
Cannon
Lock
t/3
MUSKET, CONTRACT OF
Plate No. 26
Length 4
ft.
1798
10
in.,
length of barrel 3
ft.
6|
in., cal-
pound loosely. Weight about 8^ lbs. Marks on lock "D. Gilbert On the barrel there is a deep stamp that 1 80 1."
iber about .69, taking 18 balls to the
eagle,
a large
P
R.
by
W, and
the initials
The tang of the butt plate is stamped with the capitals A F. The wood bears for stocker's marks a number As Gilbert was not in the of seven-pointed stars.
gun
the
of
business,
first, last,
and old records indicate plainly that and only guns of his output were those
contract, this
is
the 1798
a U.
S.
contractor
musket in
It lacks
it is
not stamped U. S.
IJ
Model 1763
of
Charleville,
shortage
it
being
is
forward
the
intended for an
exact
DOUBLE-BARRELED FLINTLOCK
SHOTGUN
Plate No. 27
Length 44 inches; length of barrels 29 inches; weight 6 pounds; gage 22; marks on barrels " H. Nock, London, Gunmaker to His Majesty" and on
the under side of the breech "Patent" with
London
proof-marks consisting of
interlaced letters
GP
oval containing
is
beneath a crown.
On
each lock
letters,
"H
Nock,"
of
it.
The
fitting,
plum
brov^m,
and
The
The
touch-
holes are
^V
of
an inch
The
of
powder
gases.
By draw-
left
and removed.
213
powder chamber. The ramrod is an unrecognized foreign wood, red, close grained, and tough as whalebone. One end has a German
of
silver ferrule,
cupped
to
fit
has a
wormer
by a metal The locks are marvels of workmanship. Both cap. cocks stand precisely the same at the down, the half,
of the corkscrew type, enclosed
and the
full.
They
is
same
presrise.
sure, beginning
The movement
pans are protected by rainwater drains, and the frizzens, bearing on rollers, are very quick and
snappy in movement.
The
interior
parts of the
lock are finished to the highest degree, not in polish merely but in light, dainty, and ornamental forms,
and ingenious offsets to prevent sticking, and reduced bearing surfaces to minimize friction. The mountings are of steel, nicely engraved. The wood is Mediterranean walnut, hard, close grained, and
of
handsome
graceful
figure.
From whatever
is
is
seen
it
and
beautiful;
is as perfect in design as
a Greek statue.
Its date of
manufacture can be
a 14
nREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
The word "Patent" on the breech of the barrels refers to the patent of April 25, 1787, and was of course stamped afterwards. The fact that the gun is not marked with the Prince of Wales* feathers, which Nock showed
established within five years.
on
it
his
indicates that
before.
Hence
must have been made between 1787 and 1792. The gold name shield bears an heraldic device. If it was worth while to spend a considerable amount
it
would be posfor
man
whom
this
PQ
to
c73
CO
The
barrel
is
The
lock is marked "Golcher." The barrel is marked " Patent No. 54." The barrel was originally finished
breech
waxed or oiled. The barrel hooks to the is held by a key, and with the face-plate,
is
which
brazed to
it,
is
instantly removable.
The
when
The
three rear
The
lock
mechanism
is
The
and can be fixed in position at any touchsame hinged caps that cover the holes. The trigger acts upon a long bar, raising it as one edge of a parallel ruler is raised, and the bar throws the sear of the lock wherever the lock is. There is a priming magazine, operated by the movement of
guides,
hole by the
215
2i6
>^ith
pulverized powder.
The
general design
In addition
to
this
puzzle Golcher's
lived to the
middle of
date of manufac-
is
period
preceding 1800.
A LIST OF GUN
EIGN,
MAKERS, AMERICAN AND FORWHOSE ARMS WERE USED IN AMERICA BETWEEN 1600 AND 1800
DAGS, HIGHLANDER PISTOLS, RH^^LES, of SAFETY ARMS.
name or partnership name lasted, in some cases, The capitals I and J, U and V, were
and
COMMITTEE
family
The same
MASSACHUSETTS
Nathaniel Ames, Boston, x8oo. David Ames, Bridgewater, 1790.
field
Became superintendent
Spring-
Annory
in 1795.
217
Edmund
Enoch
Richard Brooks
Boston, 1675.
Thomas
Nathaniel
Emmes,
d. 1862.
Herman
1729, d. 1824.
John Gerrish, Boston, 1709. Richard Gregory, Boston, 1727. John Hinds, Boston, 1745.
William Johnson, Worcester, 1787. Ephraim Kempton, Salem and Boston, 1677. Richard Leader, Boston, 1646.
Thomas Matson,
John Merritt, Boston, before 1789 to after 1798. John Odlin, Boston, before 1671 to after 1682.
Hugh
d. 1798.
James, Luke and Rufus Perkins, Bridgewater, 1800. James Phips, Kennebec River, 1650. He was father of William Phips who became Sir William and Governor
Massachusetts.
the of
Made
ii-shot repeater.
Pumery or Pomeroy
and
Windsor,
1633-37;
Hartford
Conn., 1637-71.
di8
HREARMS
IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
Lemuel Pomeroy, Northampton and Pittsfield, 1 790-1840. EbeoettrPomeroy, Northampton, 6. 1669, d. 1754, son of Medad. Generml Scth Pomeroy, Northampton, b. 1706, d. 1777. Son of
Ebeoeser.
Celebrated.
Ricks, Boston, 1677.
Tbomas
Absent
in 1798.
Asa Waters, Sutton, 1776. Andnis Waters, Sutton, 1776, d. 1778. Asa Waters, Sutton, 178^1841. Son of Asa. Brother of Asa 2d. Elijah Waters, Sutton.
Amos
VERMONT
Thomas
Hill, Carlotta,
RHODE ISLAND
Stephen Jenks, Pawtucket, 1775. Jeremiah Sheffield, 1775.
CONNECTICUT
Other
Bidwell, 1800.
Berlin, 1800.
SfaMon North,
219
1778.
NEW YORK
Govert Barent,
New
Amsterdam, 1648.
Vander
Francis
Soleil,
New Amsterdam,
1656.
NEW
John
Fitch, Trenton,
1
JERSEY
New
Invented steamboat.
Also of Philadelphia.
Dis-
ENGLAND
LONDON
Those marked * Those marked R.
by Charles
I.
Thomas
S.
Thomas
Bidet,
London, 1790.
Brander, London, 1637-1850. and R. Brooks, London, 1686. Richard Burrows, London, 1632 * CoUumbell, London, 1743. R
J.
220
HREARMS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY
D. Egg, London, 1750. Dura Egg, London, 1800 and later. William Graves, London, 1632.* John Green, London, 1775. Griffin & Tow, London, 1796. H. Hadley, London, 1789. Henricke, London, in 1590; was
gunsmiths.
at the
head of English
Abraham
Hill,
London, 1664.
still
a mystery.
D. McKenzie, London, 1730. John Manton, London, 1797 and Joseph Manton, London; b. 1766,
P.
later.
d.
W.
Edmund Nicholson, London, 1610. Henry Nock, London, 1780 R; see footnote
Nock, Jover
b.
&
John Noroott, London, 1632.* Parr, London, 1750. John Pasmore, London, 1640. Proner, London, 1770.
Richards, London, 1700. and W. Richards, London, 1750. Henry Rowland, London, 1632.* R. Rowhwd, London, 17 18.
J.
Ryan
& Wataon,
Shiris,
221
Tatham, London,
E. Tilly, London, 1690.
i8cx).
Tow, London,
a.
1789.
Jos.
form of touch-hole.
1806, elevated rib.
spring.
1803,
15,
1816,
firearm
26,
February
for
22,
1816,
September
181 7,
locks
detonators.
August
h.
1818 primers.
March
1775, safety
and
port-
set lock in
for single
of breech.
Nock made many ingenious arms which he did not hammer hung inside the lock plate, Ames navy pistol percussion; multi-shot fowling-pieces, etc.
BIRMINGHAM
Jacob Austin, Birmingham, 1689. William Bourne, Birmingham, 1689.
Thos. and Ketland
Ketland
As
old
given by
Birming-
ham directo& Walker, Birmingham, 1805. ries. & Izon, Birmingham, 1805. All these Wiliam Ketland & Co., Birmingham, 1808. Ketland, Walker & Co., Birmingham, 1808-15. Ketlands specialized on William Ketland & Co., Birmingham, 1815-18.
Ketland, Walker, Adams, Birmingham, 1818.
the American
trade.
Wm.
Ketland
& Co.,
Birmingham, 1823-29.
222
John West, Birmingham, 1689. Richard Weston, Birmingham, 1689. Willets, Binningham, 1769.
1800
unknown, 1692. unknown, 1791. Richard Blight, location unknown, 1779. Charles Byrne, location unknown, 1772. Charles Cardiff, location unknown, 1682; patented superposed
location
Isaac de
la
unknown, 1762.
Tbonms
Gill, location
unknown, 1800.
unknown, 1759. Hawkins, location unknown, 1776. Jordan, London or Birmingham (?), 1 733-1 760.
Gricc, location
223
unknown, 1792.
Thomas
FRANCE
PARIS
AUevin, Paris, 1750.
Barrois, Paris, 1790.
Pierre, Baroy, Paris, d. 1780.
Bouillet, Paris, 1795.
Jean
le Clerc, Paris, d.
le
1739.
Celebrated.
Nicholas
Maker
to
Louis i6th.
La Roche,
Lenormand,
Tanguay,
Paris, 1730.
De
maker
to
Napoleon
ist.
De
unknown, 1650. D. Jumeau, location unknown, 1625. Le Conte, location unknown, 1650. Ponsin, location unknown, 17 15. Jean Renier, location unknown, 1750.
Gabrielle, location
aa4
brated.
Fw"
cele-
of tame name.)
Aqua
Lazaro Lazarino (sometimes spelled Laro Lino), Brescia, 1650. Lazoro Lazaroni, Venice, 1640.
Filippo Negroli, Milan, 1525.
Postindol, Spezzia, 1780.
Camillio
Vitelli, Pistoja,
1540.
1800
unknown, 1650.
Bartolomeo Cotel, location unknown, 1740. Joseph Domineo, location unknown, 1750.
Giocatane, location unknown, 1650.
Midiel Langrenus, location unknown, 1640. Gcroooinio Motto or Mutto, location unknown, 1750.
225
THE NETHERLANDS
Georg
Alt, Libge, 1666.
POLAND
C. L. Gibenhan, Warsowe, 1783.
Utter,
BOHEMIA
Leopold Eckhard, Prague, 1800.
Libeda, Prague, 1800.
SWITZERLAND
Zell Blazi, 1614.
Husbaum, Berne,
Michel, 1790.
1790.
Wys, Zurich,
d. 1788.
226
Wien, 1687.
Hans
I.
Breitcn, 1666.
Hans Heinrich
A. Kuchenreuter, 1740.
J. Chri.
Kuchenreuter, 1740.
Qaus
Adam
Schnepz, 1670.
1685.
227
Wien, 1750.
Marcus
or
later)
Mantz.
Anschiitz, Suhl.
Argens, Stuttgard.
Baumann,
Bergh.
Villingen.
Behr, Wallenstein.
Bergstrasser.
Brenneck.
Calvis,
Spandau.
Claus, Halberstadt.
Dinkel, Hall.
S. Dison.
Echl,
ist,
2nd 3d,
Berlin.
M.
Felber, Ravensberg.
228
Ulm.
J.
Georg, Stuttgard.
Ghrerde, Strasbuiig.
J.
C Gorgas,
Ballenstadt
Gottcschalk, Ballenstadt.
Heber, Carlsbad.
Christ. Hirsch.
Jach, Speier.
F. Jaiedtcl, Vienna.
Kemmerer, Thorn.
KIcinschmidt, Wisterberg.
J.
C. Klctt, Potlsdam.
Knopf, Sakthal.
Gcorg Koint
Kimwinsky, Posen.
Kruger, Ratibor.
J.
Lammerer, Cranach.
Lichtenfels, Carlsruhe.
Stettin.
Lippert, C5thcn.
Marter, Cologne.
229
Bemberg.
Cassel.
Muller, Steinau
Naumann,
Nordmann,
Very famous.
Ortel, Dresden,
and Amsterdam.
M.
Oit,
Wiesbaden.
Otto, Brandenburg.
Pfaff, Carsel.
Pfaff, Posen.
Pistor,
Schmalkalden,
A. Potzi, Carlsbad.
Polz, Carlsbad.
Presselmeyer, Vienna.
Quade, Vienna.
Rasch, Brunswick.
Man fried
J.
Reichert.
Rewer, Dresden.
Schackau, Bamberg.
Schedel, Stuttgardt.
Schirrman, Basewalk.
Schneevoigt, Baden.
Schramm,
Zelle.
Spaldeck, Vienna.
Stack.
Stark, Vienna.
23
Tanner, Cdthen.
Thciss, Nurembuiig.
T6U, Sahl.
Ulrich, Eberodorf.
Waas, Bamberg.
Walster, Saarbruck.
M. Weitschagw,
Jean, Zcrgh.
2Uirich,
Willingen.
Vienna.
UNKNOWN
Taken from Demmin.
Michael Buxbaum, 1680.
Leon Georg Dax, 1690. Johann Gutzingcr, 1667. Johan Georg, Hoffman, 1610.
Heinrich Keimer, 1691. Hieronimus Ldger, 163a.
231
UNKNOWN
Taken from Demmin
CUT LETTERS
H. F.
1638
J.K. S. W. V.
1639
p.
1597
1702
T. P. C. D. G. E. B.
RAISED LEITERS
H. K. I. and W.
1520 1550
M. W.
F. L. F. H. V. Z. Z. P. 0. V. G.
1550
H. C. R.
P. V.
FOR CONSULTATION
Journals of Congress.
Journals of
Lincoln.
of
Massachusetts
8.
New York Convention Journal. New York Historical Society's Collections. New Jersey Historical Society's Proceedings.
Essex Institute Collections, volume 14.
in
Pennsylvania
5.
of
the
Presidents,
volume
10.
J.
D.
U. S.
Statistical
Annals, Seybert.
Newspapers,
the Revolution.
New
Magazine,
in Historical in
May,
J.
1862.
Fitch, Jr.'s
Diary
in
May,
1894.
23 a
233
Archives,
in
Pennsylvania
volume
1900.
15, p. 748.
American
Thompson
County
(S.
to
C).
Washington's writings.
Military Journals of a Private Soldier.
2.
Bangs' Journal.
Heath's Memoirs.
Historical Record, R.
Historical Notes,
Cannon. Moore.
in
Winnowings
in
American History,
Revolutionary Narratives,
No. 5. Groton duing the Revolution, Green. Uniforms of the Army of the U. S.
T. Balch's Papers Relating Life of Steuben, Knapp.
to the
American Line.
The Hessians
Battles of the
Pictorial Field
in the Revolution,
Book
The American Revolution, John Fiske. The Rifle in Colonial Times, H. Kephart.
Magazine of American History.
Massachusetts Magazine.
The Gun and its Development, W. W. Greener. Weapons of War, A. Demmin. A Treatise on Ancient Armor and Weapons, Francis The Tower Armories, Hewitt.
Geschichte der Handfeuerwaffen, Schon.
Grosse.
Georges
Stalin.
234
L'Anne k Feu
Armfes
Mooogn^ies
Armand
Cotty.
Julin.
Alphonse Polain.
Mteoire sur la Fabrication des Armes Portatives, Dci Aides M6noires, Gn6TdA Gassendi.
INDEX
Accuracy, 27, 81, 99, 100, 144, 145.
Breech-loading arms, 28-31.
Armor,
10.
first settlers, 4, 5, 10,
Brown
Arms
of the
II, 48-59-
of the Indians, 8,
9, 13, 39.
in
America,
4,
16,
29,
Brush, 133. Bullet molds, 19, 134. Burgoyne, General, 83, 85.
England,
P, 121.
lock, 205, 206, 210.
Cannon
11,
in France, 10,
16,
Chasseurs, 140.
Colonial period, 1-44.
73 of Charlestown, 88.
of of
Bunker
Hill,
Long
Island, 82.
8.
Crossbows, 31.
Bandolier, 12.
Bastard musket,
7.
Birmingham, 20-22,
Dags, 66, 67. Daniel Boone, 71. Double-barreled rifles, 86, 208.
95,
Double-barreled
shotguns,
100,
Dublin Castle,
7, 8.
22, 96.
compared,
fiprouvette,
133.
a36
Ftiguaoo
Fireloclu,
rifles,
LNDEX
i37-i4a
jagcrs,
140.
13.
Flinu,
J, 99, 136.
Fowling-pieces, 6, 7, xa,
Fraser, General, 85, 86.
10-113.
24.
Kentucky rifles, 145-153. King George's War, 38. King Philip's War, 10, 1 2, 13, King William's War, 19.
Lafayette, 1x4.
Libreville, X73.
X5, 55.
gunsmiths
219.
216makers, X53-
'763. 107.
X766, 116. 1768, 116.
"5-
American,
American,
157-
1 600-1 800,
rifle
1770, XX6.
177 1,
"6.
773. I7.
French war^
Dueling
pistols, 193.
England, 219-223.
France, 223.
German and
230.
Austrian, 226-
104. 105.
German
Revolutionary
War
rifles,
Highlander, 185-188.
Italy,
140-144.
224.
Miscellaneous, 230-231.
see
ao, 2S.
list
of.
London,
HftO-OMrks, 167. Harper's Ferry, 114, aox-ao5.
Louisburg, 38.
Harquebus,
11,
19.
Marksmanship,
Howe, General,
80^ 81.
Maubeuge,
ladiuia, bows, 8, 9. '*'*"" 8. 9. 14, 39.
Militia, 92.
Molds, Bullet,
19, X34.
**.
3. 4,
S-
144.
INDEX
Muskets, bastard,
7.
237
Rest, 6, II.
Musket
fork, 6, 11.
11.
Musketeer,
making, 145-151.
28, 32-34, 38-41, 51,
80-
Patched
Pequots,
double-barreled, 86.
Ferguson, 137-140.
Pequot War,
Picker, 133.
Pistols,
Snaphance,
7,
8,
12-14,
I9
55.
65, 66.
Sporting arms,
6,
7,
12,
22,
61,
highlander, 183-185.
multi-shot, 84-198, 208, 215.
sporting, 63-69, 164-198.
Powder
185,
19312.
Priming wire,
Proof of arms, 17, 18, 21. Proof marks, 17, 18, 95, 167.
Public property arms,
58, 594,
United
States,
121
Puritans, 7, 11,
Ramrods,
140.
12,
26,
Sh
Rappahannock Forge,
208,
215.
119, 175.
Worm,
12.
Id
p\
"^o
r>i
AUG
'--C
^y.r.
CARDS OR
SLIPS
bih3M Qfhawi