Author: DEG

 

This article goes over the more common and interesting long arms used during the American Revolutionary War in what is now Canada and the United States. If I tried to cover all weapons used in anywhere the war was fought, this would be a very long article.

The American Revolutionary War turned into a global conflict. As the war in the American Colonies progressed, France and Spain entered the war on the Colonial side. Both France and Spain wanted revenge on Britain for past losses. Spain did not recognize the United States’ independence due to concerns that Spain’s colonies would get ideas about themselves becoming independent. France thought that supporting American independence would give France leverage over Britain. The Dutch colony of Sint Eustatis became a major shipment point for goods going between the American Colonies and their supporters. Angry at the Dutch support for the American Colonists, Great Britain declared war on the Dutch in 1780. The expansion of the conflict led to fighting in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and India.

With such a wide ranging war, and with such a large number of combatants, there is a huge variety of arms used by all sides in the American Revolution. Some examples:
• American militia men equipped themselves with firearms and a secondary bladed weapon. Requirements for those weapons from each colony’s militia system could be vague.
• Some British sergeants still carried halberds, and some British officers carried spontoons.
• Indian forces used rockets against British troops in Mysore.
So, to try and keep the article to a reasonable length, I’m going to write only about long arms used in what is now Canada and the United States.

Flintlocks

First, a description of flintlocks for those aren’t familiar with them. All long arms covered in this article are flintlocks. A flintlock uses a piece of flint, held in a hammer, to strike a piece of metal called the frizzen to create sparks. Underneath the frizzen is a small pan which holds gunpowder. There is a hole in the pan leading to the chamber with the powder and ball. When the flint strikes the frizzen, the sparks ignite the gunpowder in the pan. The sparks travel down the hole to ignite the powder, firing the weapon. Since the powder in the pan was exposed to the elements, flintlocks were useless if it was raining. The flintlock’s lock brings all the pieces (hammer, frizzen, pan, and barrel) together. This short animation shows a flintlock in action.

Muskets

Muskets were the most common type of long arm used during the American Revolutionary War. Muskets are muzzleloading, smooth bore firearms.

Muskets could be reloaded and fired quickly. The best on-line source, a re-enactor’s work, I can find states that a rate of 3-4 rounds per minute come from 18th century live fire studies, but doesn’t mention the studies. The British Manual of Arms for a soldier to reload and fire a musket consist of 15 steps. If each can be done in a second, then there is a theoretical limit of four rounds per minute.

Black powder residue would foul rifling; however, the residue would even buildup in smooth bores, eventually making reloading difficult despite the smooth bore. To increase the amount of time before fouling made loading difficult, musket balls were generally smaller than the musket’s bore size, which hurt accuracy. Muskets of the period did not have sights, though some had sighting grooves and bayonet lugs on the top of the barrel that could be used as sights. Muskets had an effective range from 50 to 80 yards, depending on the musket.

I’ve read that if you use a tight enough fitting ball, a smooth bore musket can be fairly accurate, rivaling rifles of the time. I have not found any tests which show this.

As a result, tactics of the time emphasized speed of loading and mass fire over accuracy. Hand-to-hand combat with fixed bayonets finished the battle.

American Made Muskets

In 1775, “Committees of Safety” placed orders with gunsmiths to produce muskets for Colonial forces. Few of these muskets survived. Most had no identifying markings due to fear of prosecution from Royal authorities. Soon the states superseded the local committees. As the war went on, Congress centralized production, storage, and repair of arms in six arsenals: Philadelphia, PA; Carlisle, PA; Lancaster, PA; Head of Elk, MD; Albany, NY; and Manchester, VA.

Early in the war, American made muskets were loosely based on the “Brown Bess” muskets. Later in the war, production shifted towards French designs. However, there was no standard design pattern. American gunsmiths used whatever parts they could get their hands on. Many parts were imported because, despite British blockade, it was easier and cheaper to import whole components. Those parts which American made tended to be cruder and more cheaply made than imported parts.

“Brown Bess”

“Brown Bess” is the nickname for the British Land Pattern Musket. The “Brown Bess” traces its roots to 1713, when the Royal Board of Ordnance began standardizing weapons production for the British Army. Entrenched interests in favor of the existing arms procurement system opposed these changes. The Board persevered, and in 1722 released the “King’s Pattern” musket. Political pressure and the lack of wartime pressure delayed the new musket’s production until 1728. The new musket was first issued in 1730 as the “Long Land” pattern musket. There are many explanations for how the musket received its nickname, none of which are convincing to me. The earliest reference to the name I can find, courtesy of George Neumann’s work, is in the “Connecticut Courant” newspaper in 1771.

The musket is .75 caliber and has a walnut stock. The stock ends before the muzzle to allow for a bayonet. Attached accessories were made of brass. The musket weighed 10 to 11 pounds. The barrel was held to the stock with heavy pins. The musket’s bayonet lug could be used as a front sight and there was a groove at the rear which could be used as a rear sight. There were many variations of the musket. The two broad variations were the “Long Land” which had a 46 inch barrel and the “Short Land” which had a 42 inch barrel. There are several sub variations which were developed based on war time experience with the musket and to ease production.

British, American Colonial, Loyalists, and Hessian troops all used the Brown Bess. Generally, only the British forces used the newer variants. American Colonial forces used whatever Brown Bess muskets they had at the beginning of the war or could capture as the war progressed. The British equipped Loyalist and Hessian forces with older Brown Bess muskets which were being replaced by newer muskets shipped in from England.

Here is a video of Australian re-enactors demonstrating Brown Bess accuracy using standard loads.

Charleville Musket

The French infantry musket was standardized in 1717. The musket became known as the Charleville musket, after one of the many arsenals which produced the musket, even though Charleville was never an official name for the musket. I did not find any official naming for the musket beyond it being identified by the year a variation was introduced. Most of the variations were to lighten the musket and make maintenance easier. The musket used a .69 caliber ball to reduce weight in the field. The stock is walnut. The barrel and stock were held together with three lightweight bands. The musket throughout its life was lighter than the Brown Bess.

The French sent 200,000 of these muskets of various types to American Colonial forces. American Colonial forces received the Model 1763, Model 1766, and the Model 1774. Post-war, the Model 1766 heavily influenced the design of the American Springfield Musket of 1795. The Model 1763 was shorter than previous models and had a different lock. The Model 1766 was a lightened version of the Model 1763. The Model 1774 had more lock modifications and had a modified stock.

The French kept the Model 1777 for their own forces. The Model 1777 stayed in use in the French military through the Napoleonic Wars. The Model 1777 supported a new type of bayonet, had a cheek rest in the stock comb, among other variations.

Quebec militia units probably used left-over Model 1728 muskets while defending against American Colonial invasion.

German Mercenary Muskets

The British, for various reasons, found it cheaper and easier to hire German mercenaries than to raise more troops for the British Army. The British hired about 30,000 mercenaries from various German states for combat in America. As a side note, George III, who was also King of Hanover, leased some of his Hanoverian soldiers to Britain for use during the American Revolution. The Hanoverian troops remained in Europe. Roughly half of those that went to America came from Hesse-Kassel, which is why the mercenaries are known in America known as Hessians. In addition to Brown Bess muskets from the British, the mercenaries’ muskets came from all over Germany. While American colonists captured many Hessian muskets during the war, only a few hundred were listed in American post-war inventories.

M1752 Musket

The Spanish Army’s first standardized firearm was the M1752 musket. Spanish Colonial forces were armed with this musket when they attacked British forces at Pensacola. Spain sold between 10,000 and 12,000 of these muskets to American Colonial forces.

Rifles

Rifles are a long arm with a rifled bore. Rifling is the process of cutting spiral grooves into the bore. The rifle’s projectile, when fired, grips these grooves as it travels down the bore. The spin stabilizes the projectile, improving the weapon’s range and accuracy. Muzzle loading rifles of the time were slower to load than muskets due a tighter fighting ball and were more prone to problems with powder fouling. Rifles of the time could not be fitted with bayonets.

The American Revolutionary War was the first war with widespread use of rifles. German mercenaries, American Colonial forces, and British forces all used rifles.

Use of rifles was fairly new to the British Army. British rifles corps were small.

American Colonists and German Jäger troops were familiar with rifles. Hunting was a common past time among both groups.

The range of rifles of the time is disputed, but there are accounts of effective fire from 200 to 300 yards. I’ve searched for information on the longest rifle shot in the Revolutionary War, and found nothing definitive. Timothy Murphy’s killing of General Simon Frasier comes up most often. The range for that shot varies between 300 and 500 yards, depending on the source. Unfortunately, it is impossible to verify.

Ferguson Rifle

Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scot who joined the British Army. During his time the British Army, he developed a breech-loading flintlock rifle. This was the first breech-loading firearm adopted by a military, but it was not the first breech-loading firearm. Maj. Ferguson based his rifle on the French Chaumette.

The Ferguson rifle relied on a screw mechanism to open the breech. The riflemen would turn the trigger guard, which worked the screw, and opened the breech. The rifleman could fire four to six rounds a minute, as fast or faster than the muskets of the time. The rifle was expensive, difficult, and slow to make. The rifle also used a special powder, which was more expensive than regular musket powder.

Only about 100 or so Ferguson rifles were made. These rifles equipped an experimental unit which was under Ferguson’s command. They arrived in America in May, 1777. Ferguson was killed at the Battle of King’s Mountain. His unit was disbanded afterwards.

Here is a short video from the NRA about the Ferguson Rifle. At the end of the video is a demonstration of shooting a Ferguson Rifle replica.

Jäger Rifle

Among the mercenaries from Hesse-Kassel were Jäger troops. These troops were armed with rifles, and they covered advances and withdrawals. Their rifles were made in Schmalkalden (a town in present day Thuringia). Their rifles had 29 inch long barrels whose external shape was octagonal. The rifle bore was .65 caliber.

Long Rifle

The Long Rifle dates to the early 1700s when German immigrant gunsmiths began making rifles in Lancaster County, PA. The rifles were based on German patterns and there is a good bit of variation between rifles. Generally their bore is between .45 and .60 caliber, and the barrels long. American Colonists used the rifles to engage in hit and run tactics and to snipe at British officers, which the British considered “ungentlemanly.”

Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle

The Pattern 1776 rifle was another British attempt to equip troops with rifles in order to counter American rifleman. About 1,000 were made. They were made in Germany and by four different manufacturers in England. Nine are known to survive to this day, and some had been modified after the Revolution. Loyalist American rifle companies were among the units which received the rifles.

Sources

Allison, Robert, “The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction”

Chavez, Thomas E., “Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift”

Collins, Bethany, “8 Fast Facts About Hessians”, https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/08/8-fast-facts-about-hessians/

Edler, Friedrich, “The Dutch Republic and the American Revolution”, https://archive.org/stream/dutchrepublic00edlerich#page/170/mode/2up

Haigst, Don N., “The Aim of British Soldiers”, https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/08/the-aim-of-british-soldiers/

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Harrington, Hught, T, “The Man Who Shot Simon Fraser”, https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-7/the-man-who-shot-simon-fraser

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Neumann, George, “Dutch Arms in the American Revolution”, https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2009/10/8/dutch-arms-in-the-american-revolution/

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Paterson, Thomas; Clifford, J. Garry; Maddock, Shane J.; Kisatsky, Deborah; Hagan, Kenneth, “American Foreign Relations: A History, Volume 1: to 1920”

Pegler, Martin, “The Genesis of Sniping”, https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/7/30/the-genesis-of-sniping/

Ramsey, Syed, “Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times”

Thayer, Charles, “Tories, Traitors, and the Birth-Pains of a Nation: British Pattern 1776 Rifles in the American Revolution”, http://www.thayeramericana.com/back/research/research12.pdf

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-, “The French Charleville”, http://www.11thpa.org/charleville.html

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