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07 18th, 2009| 
Ferguson, in the meantime,, had been promoted Major and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, and put in command of the ‘American Volunteers’, a corps of loyalists from New York and New Jersey and armed with the Ferguson rifle antique slovakia ceramics vase . The unit sailed with the expedition commanded by Sir Henry Clinton and Was present at the siege and capture of Charleston antique pembroke tble . Ferguson was then made a Brigadier-General of the Loyal Carolina Militia, and with his own corps of about ioo men as a nucleus marched into the interior, collecting loyalist recruits on the way square brass dial . On the 7th October 178o, his camp at King’s Mountain, close to the border of North Carolina, was surprised by a large force of mountaineers under the command of General Shelby value of hand painted wales china tea set . The training of Ferguson’s men did not match their enthusiasm, and after a gallant defence the majority of them were either killed or captured john widdicomb china cabinets . Ferguson himself was amongst the former 17th century imported oriental cabinet .
With the death of its inventor, the destruction of his rifle units and the capture of their armament, the Ferguson rifle disappeared from the Army antique paper mache card table . Beautifully made models for sportsmen were, however, made for many years afterwards photos of victorian sofa with zebra pattern fabric .
There is an interesting contemporary account of the manufacture of Ferguson rifles table lamps . A Mr berkey & gay american empire furniture . William Clincher records in his diary of 1776 that he visited Birmingham and waited upon Mr edmund etling glass bird . Baskerville who showed him his gun factory belgian gothic revival cabinet . He described this as follows:
‘ The Gun manufactory is pretty; the forging, scraping, and boreing, pleas’d me much;—The Rifle Guns are handsome pretty pieces, 800 are nearly finish’d on government account, at three pounds three shillings each; A Gentleman, with one of them at a distance of i So yards, shot a Ball six times out of eight within the circumference of the crown of my hat: at 400 yards he shot within half a yard of the mark antique brass table with animal legs .
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GUNMAKERS
The number of gunmakers in Great Britain during the eighteenth century was very considerable antique drop leaf table with leaf built in . Those of them who made military arms could be roughly divided into selmersheim .
(a) Makers under contract to the Government to supply either complete weapons or component parts arabesque vertical plate racks .
(b) Establishments which made firearms of Government pattern which were subsequently purchased for the Army middle east antique collectors .
(c) Makers of firearms designed for military use, but not of a Government pattern art deco dining table . These were primarily intended for purchase by officers, and might be of the particular gunsmith’s own design, or one in common private use chippendale knife boxes octagon .
Some of them engaged in two, or even all three, of these activities; and, in addition, made sporting arms as well regency ironstone marks blue . To name all the gunsmiths making military arms would entail the compilation of a fairly lengthy catalogue expensive antique furniture chests . It will suffice to give a few typical examples antique gaming table claw feet .
I louis xvi revival sideboard with porcelain inlays . Clarkson, who flourished as a gunsmith from m 1680 to 1730, made flintlock muskets and holster pistols for the Army under Government contract antique early american drop-leaf butterfly table . In addition, he made the box-lock type of pistol which was introduced in the reign of Queen Anne wooton chest . The lock of this pistol, instead of being mounted on one side plate with a counter-plate on the other side of the weapon to support it, had a plate on top- joined to one on each side to form a metal box lacquered furniture . The cock, flash-pan and steel were mounted on the top plate telescopic table pedestal . The barrel was the cannon-shaped screw-on type, with breech-loading gateleg table with drawers and drop leaf . This box-lock was to be popular for over loo years painted silver trays . In later years Clarkson made some breech-loading holster pistols, the mechanism of which was of the screw-plug arrangement from which the Ferguson breech was derived “table george iv” .
John Hawkins conducted a business in London from 168o to 1714, which was carried on by his son to 176o, and his grandson to 1776 epergne antique for sale . His particular speciality was a flintlock holster pistol which had a brass barrel with a bell muzzle robinson and leadbeater figure . ‘It is of interest that George Washington had a pair of these pistols which were made by the second Hawkins 18th century walnut-veneered and oak chest of seven drawers .
Another founder of two further generations of gunsmiths was James Freeman of London, the business lasting from 1705 to 1782 art deco english suburban house . Freeman also made box-lock pistols, and, in addition, muskets and holster pistols under Government contract luxury antique items .
In Scotland for most of the eighteenth century there were a number of gunsmiths of the name of Murdoch engaged in making all-metal flintlock pistols wallendorf candelabras . Two of them, father and son and both christened James, had a shop in Inverness barker brothers coffee table for sale . Some of those made by the father had the lobe-shaped butt, and he differed from his son in chasing the whole of the barrel century hepplewhite walnut card table . The pistols made by the younger James have only the muzzle chased 18 century wooden novelty pipes .
Thomas Murdoch worked at Leith, and made pistols with both lobe and ram’s-horn butts wrought iron church candle sticks . In the museum of the Royal United Service Institution are two pistols with rain’s-horn butts which have ‘To: Murdoch’ engraved on the lock plate german 1940s furniture styles . They were picked up on the battlefield of Culloden british designers dining table . They are a beautiful pair and must have been the pride of some gallant Jacobite of the ‘Forty-five sutherland drop leaf table . One wonders what happened to their owner, and if the pistols were found where he had hurled them empty at the stolid English infantry shagreen knife box .
John Murdoch had a shop at Doune french neoclassical tables . His pistols have ram’s-horn butts, acorn triggers, and are sometimes ornamented with gilt brass stock and butt 4 foot wide walnut drop leaf table . Major John Pitcairn, who commanded the British advanced guard at Lexington on the 19th April 1775, had a pair of these pistols kotahya pottery . It is supposed that with one of them Pitcairn fired the first shot of the American War of Independence mason patent ironstone china . In the struggle which followed he lost his pistols, which were subsequently picked up and given to General Rufus Putnam british antique wardrobes . Putnam carried them for the remainder of the war, and they are now at the Lexington museum nesting tea tables .
One other Murdoch made pistols in Edinburgh with the lobe-shaped butt fall-front chest of drawers .
Joseph Farmer of London was in business from 1718 to 176,2 how to repair veneer table on couch . He had a Government contract to make standard flintlock muskets and also short flintlock muskets fitted with grenade cups for the Grenadiers bureau de coene art deco . One of these latter is in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution 19th century glass fronted cabinet . The inscription ‘Farmer 1744′ is placed vertically on the lock plate behind the cock adjustable silver candlesticks . This method of discharging a grenade was revived in the First World War, and survived to become a
standard Army weapon wardrobe of a 17th century lady . Farmer also made a double-barrelled I version of the box-lock pistol antique chamber cabinets .
Bidet, who emigrated from France, practised as a gunsmith in London from 17-21 to- 1731 antiques with plain legs . He did not make military weapons, but a sporting rifle he produced had a breech mechanism which is an obvious forerunner of Ferguson’s idea inlaid marble table lapis lazuli antique . The trigger guard was a lever turning a screw plug; but in this case the plug came right out and had a single thread harlequin painted bar . The action was therefore much slower than Ferguson’s, and the return of the plug to its seating might well be difficult in the heat of battle “perspectiva cabinet” . I trestle tables refectory . Johnson made a similar sporting rifle about 1750-B pictures of 5 drawer antique library desks and tables . Griffin had a shop in Bond Street from 1739 to 1773-Apart from the superlative quality of his arms, his chief claim to fame is probably a breech-loading carbine which will be described later 18th century mahogany wine cooler with brass feet . He also made fine holster pistols with silver mountings antique 1960’s table cigarette dispenser . Under the later name of Griffin and Tow their manufacture was continued till 1796 2009 chinese porcelain antique . The small `IG’ on a Griffin forged barrel was a hallmark of excellence countries where art deco was very popular .
William Ketland was one of the most famous of gunsmiths antique inlaid pembroke table . He started making guns in Birmingham in 174o, and was primarily responsible for establishing the town’s reputation for the manufacture of firearms 18th century writing table cabriole ball claw feet . Ketland was one of the greatest makers of Brown Bess muskets, and other ‘Brown Bess’ arms, for the Government furniture . In 176o a shop was opened antique chinese display stand dealers . in London r dubarry art deco . After William Ketland’s death one of his grandsons carried on the business as Ketland & Co angouleme guerhard . until his own -death in 1804, His brother-in-law, Thomas Izon, continued under the same name until in 1831 financial difficulties led to the firm closing american tripod tables . Old William Ketland is still commemorated, however, in the Birmingham Proof Mark imperial drop leaf antique table . In 1813 the Gunmakers’ Company of London tried to get a Bill through Parliament to compel every gunsmith to mark his firearms with the place of manufacture italian buffet furniture . The reason for this was that firearms marked `1,n don’ coiamat,ded a higher price than those made elsewhere night chamber pot . Some Birmingham makers had accordingly succumbed to temptation and put ‘London’ on their own arms pictures of yellow antiqued cabinets . The public implication that Birmingham arms were inferior to those of London make, however, annoyed the better Birmingham gunsmiths, and they formed a Guild to protect the standard of the products of their own town art deco french inspired dresser . This new Guild was called ‘The Guardians of the Birmingham Proof House’ antique campaign chair with lion paws . The proof house mentioned in the title was set up at the same ‘ time lion feet table . Ketland & Co turn tripod into table . had taken a prominent part in this movement and the proof mark adopted was an adaptation of the arraourer’s mark of two crossed sceptres, used by old William Ketland antique stores brass ashtrays made in china . The Birmingham viewer’s mark, stamped on the barrel after testing in the rough, consisted of the crossed sceptres between a crown above and a V below antique mushroom shaped table lamps . The proof mark for the finished barrel again had the crossed sceptres and crown, but in place of the V in the bottom angle, there were the letters B, P and C: the B and C being in the flanking angles and the P in the base andre hunebelle glass .
The two generations of John Richards, who covered the years 1745 to 1810; had shops in both London (in the Strand) and Birmingham for sale louis 16th walnut sideboard cabinet . They made an odd weapon, not uncommon at this period,•which was a bell muzzle flintlock pistol with a small bayonet under the stock which sprang into position on odiot tureen . releasing a spring antique clerks desk . Owing to the number of times a flintlock missed fire it probably had an appeal as providing an emergency weapon for close combat “english ironstone”+england”+marks .
One of the most famous of London gunmakers had the peculiar name of Durs Egg antique bentwood chaise . Business was carried on under that name from 1770 to x834 “alexander roux” pietra . It was then changed to D antique mahogany chippendale dining table . I meissen cris de paris . Egg (probably by a son or nephew) and lasted as such till 1865 antique oak drop leaf end table . Egg had a shop for the sale of private arms at No antique spring loaded drawer arm . x Pall Mall mid eastern style shell drawer . He had a Government contract for muskets and carbines, and made a large number of the Ferguson rifles queen anne gate leg table 18th century . In addition, he made a smooth-bore flintlock breech-loading carbine of his own design antique empire mahogany curved buffet with mirror . This was actually adopted by the Government and issued in large numbers to the cavalry towards the end of the century sheraton occasional table . It had a hinged chamber which was tipped up to receive the charge duncan phyfe buffet with legs . It had the advantage that since the chamber was loaded from its front end it could be loaded with the same cartridge as was issued for muzzleloaders antique oak and fabric dressing screen with fretwork . After loading, the chamber was lowered again and locked in position by giving a quarter turn to a steel bar which pivoted on the top of the chamber and engaged in two slots mid century antiques and porcelain tea sets .
This Egg carbine was capable of a fairly rapid rate of fire walnut veneer wardrobes art deco . To load it entailed only the simple operations, which could be performed on horseback, of tearing the cartridge, priming the pan, opening the breech, inserting the cartridge in the chamber, and finally closing the breech antique oak tables with leaves . Good as it was, however, the breech mechanism did not provide a gas-tight joint and there was thus a considerable escape of flame french clothes designers during 17th century . The reason for this was that there was only surface contact between the faces of chamber and barrel fauteuil bureau .
That such a carbine was required for cavalry use is shown by a passage from Captain Hinde’s The Discipline of the Light Horse antique wood inlayed wine cellaret . Hinde says:
`As light troops are more intended to act loose than in bodies, their principal practice should be to acquire personal address, viz escritoire antique . to manage the horse well, to use the sword with dexterity, and fire the carbine with great justness steele art deco chair wood arm rests . The proposal of Monsieur de Saxe, for loading at the breach of the carbine, seems well calculated for the fire arms of cavalry, if it will not make them too complicated (the author once saw a carbine belonging to a brother officer, made according to this proposal of Monsieur de Saxe; to be loaded, it was held firmly in the left hand, as when it was presented to be fired, and about the same place; then with the right hand the guard over the trigger was pulled back, on which the but of the carbine dropped down, hanging by a pin, and discovered the breach of it quite open; in a cartridge box he carried nine iron tubes loaded, one of which he thrust into the barrel, and directly with his right hand pushed up the butt, which made a click, and securely shut up the breach british longcase makers . On striking the lock with his hand the piece primed it self, and he fired without missing fire at any time art deco dinner service . He loaded his iron tube or cartridges without any rammer, with his finger shoving down powder, ball, and paper india old antique dining table . I think he told me Mr Griffin, gunsmith, in Old Bond-street, was the maker of it, and the officer had himself invented it, as he was a very mechanical ingenious gentleman, and an horse officer) the ramrod is apt to be lost, and at any rate is very difficult to manage on horseback, whereas a chamber with a fresh charge, could easily be introduced; but of this, the period preceding art deco .Mr Barbor, or any other gunsmith, can give the best account “art moderne” furniture . The objection of expense should not be admitted, for economy in the price of arms is, at best, very injudicious “bristol porcelain” for sale 18th century .’
The ‘Barbor’ mentioned by Hinde is probably I antique sideboard cabriole legs . Barbar who had a shop in London, from 1740 to 1780, in Shoe Lane antique ivory sofa table . The firm, however, seems to have been in existence since the beginning of the century, and to have been one of the foremost in fine decorative work marble table inlaid antique .
T tudor rose design waterfall furniture . Twigg was another well-known London gunsmith of 176o to 1780 designs for dressing table glasses . The firm was carried on from 1780 to 1783 as Twigg & Bass; and then reverted to Twigg only again from 1783 to 1813 antique mahogany card table, imperial . Twigg made Government flintlock holster pistols, and also flintlock holster pistols for officers which were of very fine workmanship art deco examples . His most noteworthy contribution to gunmaking was a number of different designs of multi-shot flintlock pistols chess table spiral legs . One of these was a seven-barrel pepperbox type of weapon, the barrels of which were rotated by hand after each shot joan klock, amsterdam, clockmaker . Some of his pistols had the under spring bayonet, which was released by sliding back the trigger guard jupe dining table’ . Twigg had a foreman named John Manton, who founded his own business at about the time Bass was introduced into the partnership antique enamelled glass . Manton, too, became a famous gunsmith, but he belongs more to the; nineteenth century and will be dealt with more fully in a later clawfoot antique lowboy . chapter 19th mahogany clerks desk .
John F satinwood commode john cobb . Probin of the Minories in London, 1780 to 1831, made flintlock holster pistols and carbines under Government contract meissen porcelain louis xiv . He also made pistols for officers, and there is, in the museum of the Royal United Service Institution, a pair made by him for General Sir Thomas Picton and carried by him in 18 r 5 antique walnut gateleg table . They have J neoclassical dressing table . Probin’ on the lock plate, and along the top of the barrel ‘Probin Maker to His R H the Prince of Wales’ delicate leg drop leaf table .
One of the troubles experienced with eighteenth-century flintlock weapons was failure of various parts of the mechanism due mainly to rusting glass supper table . Military locks were strongly made to withstand the rough usage which they inevitably experienced, but they could not be made waterproof antique porceline candle sticks . As a result regiments frequently suffered a serious loss of fire-power through draw leaf table northern furniture company . the number of muskets which were out of action owing to mechanical faults neo-rococo rockingham lamps . Rusting particularly affected the small moving parts of the lock, and the screws which held the various components together designs of arcs and pillars . The most serious breakages were the screws, for the rusted pieces were often so firmly imbedded that it was beyond the powers of the regimental armourer to remove them coalbrookdale neptune dish . The trouble caused considerable concern and gunsmiths were encouraged by the Government to offer suggestions 1800’s furniture makers .
The first to give a practical response was Jonathan Hennem, who submitted a design for a screwless flintlock musket to the Board of Ordnance on the 2nd May 1781 18th century card table . The Board appear to have been favourably impressed, for they directed `that two Musqueis be delivered to John Hennet [sic> for him to alter according to his proposal’ english baroque pottery . Arrangements were made for Hennem to carry out experiments near Woolwich, and he was engaged on these for the next two years antique meets modern furniture . Trials were apparently concluded successfully by the 18th October 1783; for on that date the Master-General of the Ordnance issued instructions to the Board ‘That zoo locks be provided by Mr imperial gateleg table . Hennem of his own Construction and that an Imprest of C70 may be granted to him towards Compleating the Order, the said Locks being found of great Utility in his Majesty’s Service’ swiss walnut art deco motif .
A short time later a celebrated London gunmaker, Henry Nock, made an apparently surprising intervention clear glass trinket boxes or powder boxes . On the 8th November 1783, he presented a bill for twenty’Musquet locks of Hannim’s Construction’, for which he charged 9s utensils used in britain for cooking . 6d paris style art deco desk . each sheraton +antique +gaming table . In view of the 18th century austrian porcelain . fact that Nock himself, as will appear later, was engaged in somewhat similar experiments he may well have taken Hennem under his financial wing leather revolutionary war writing box .
Finally Hennem sent in 400 locks, or four times the original order, and was consequently able to lower the price kedleston hall birds . Of these 400, 201 were coloured black and 199 were polished, presumably for comparative trials cedar chest genoa 16thc .
The 2oth Foot (now The Lancashire Fusiliers) was chosen to carry out trials with the Hennem locks 1900 era drop leaf gate leg table . The regiment was about to embark for Ireland on active service and it was already short of muskets; though if these were the reasons for issuing it with new and untried weapons, the former particularly seems to have been a pretty weak one art deco stemware . Anyhow, they received 308 of them, and in July 1784 Hennem was given permission by the Commanding Officer to instruct the men in the use of the locks the development of art deco . Hennem duly arrived at Plymouth only to find that the regiment had left for Ireland ming porcelains . He then obtained permission to follow it, with the proviso that his stay in Cork must not exceed three weeks fiddle shape flatware . This limitation proved, however, impracticable, for the 2oth was split up over southern Ireland in widely scattered detachments, and the roads and unsettled conditions of the time made travel slow and hazardous glass/wood art deco designs .
There was little in the appearance of Hennem’s lock to differentiate it from the ordinary flintlock bugatti furniture range . There were no screws, of course, and the mechanism was secured by pins riveted to the lock plate islamic influence 18th century . By means of a tool which Hennem called a ’spring lifter’, the lock could be completely dismantled in a few seconds antique trends .
The screw barrel has already been mentioned in connection with a pistol which first became popular in the reign of Charles 1. A rifled version of this `turn-of}’ pistol was produced in the Civil War to meet the demand for an accurate and hard-hitting short-range weapon. The barrel unscrewed at the breech, and the charge and ball were put into the chamber. The pistol took a very heavy charge, and the chamber .was about the same size as that of the modern bolt-action rifle. The walls of the barrel were specially thickened to withstand the force of the discharge. It has been suggested that these pistols were designed to penetrate the heavy armour which still appeared in the form of helmets and back and breast plates. An account which is given later in this chapter would seem to support this view.
These rifled ‘turn-off’ pistols were full-length cavalry holster weapons. In the cavalry tactics of the period, the discharge of pistols at the enemy formed the preliminary to the normal shock action. That little is heard of rifled pistols after the Restoration may be due to the alteration in cavalry tactics. Marlborough, for instance, would not allow his cavalry to use pistols in a set-piece action at all.
The demand for privately manufactured arms led to the names of some of the gunmakers of the period becoming famous for the standards of design, workmanship and precision of their firearms. William Upton of Oxford, for instance, was perhaps the best known of the suppliers of arms to the Royalist army. The Royalist headquarters was in Oxford throughout most of the war so that Upton was well placed to meet the requirements of the King’s officers. He made pistols and carbines, both rifled and smooth bore, and his arms were known for their quality.
Another famous maker of firearms was Harman Barne of London. He was gunmaker to Prince Rupert and made one of the earliest known breech-loading magazine rifles. Six shots could be fired in succession from this remarkable weapon, and one movement of a lever which formed the trigger guard successively loaded with powder and ball, primed the pan, closed the pan cover and cocked the lock.
Although Barne’s rifle was far too expensive and complicated in manufacture for adoption as a millt4ry firearm, it is worth describing, since it was the first conception in England of present-day requirements in a hand-operated rifle. It was nearly 25o years, however, before Barne’s ideas were incorporated in the personal firearms of the British Army..
In appearance the rifle was similar to a finely made flintlock piece of the period, save for some additional bulk round the lock. There are no obvious mechanical complications. Its mechanism is best explained by the method of loading, which is as follows:
(a) The rifle is held in the left hand, vertically with the muzzle upwards and the barrel towards the body.
(b) With the right hand the trigger guard is turned to the right and upwards.
(c) The movement of the trigger guard turns a cylindrical breech block. This passes vertically through the barrel, and is drilled through with a hole which is in line with the bore of the barrel when it is in the closed position.
(d) The trigger guard also moves a powder measure, from its normal position below and in front of the trigger. This measure normally communicates with a powder magazine which is in a hollow in the stock below the lock, and is thus filled with powder when the rifle is held vertically. As the measure moves a spring flap closes its aperture, and a similar flap closes the opening of the powder. magazine. When the trigger guard has turned through i 8o degrees the flap on the measure strikes the front of the lock plate, opens and allows the powder to pour down a channel which runs inside the plate to an aperture on the right of the barrel. The movement of the breech block has brought its central hole into the line with this aperture, and the powder runs into it.
(e) Meanwhile the other end of the breech-block hole ,has received a bullet from the bullet magazine. This is a tube containing six bullets communicating with an aperture in the left side of the barrel. Through this a bullet is fed into the breech block before the powder is introduced.
(f) The trigger guard is now reversed to its normal position. This movement actuates links on the inside of the lock plate which move the tumbler of the lock to full cock, and close the pan cover. At the same *time a small portion of powder for. priming is dropped into the pan.
The rifle is now ready for firing; the very complicated process of loading, cocking and priming a flintlock weapon having been performed by a to-and-fro movement of the hand, in the same way as with a modern bolt-action rifle.
J. N. George, in his English Guns and Rifles, is of the opinion that this rifle was made for .Prince Rupert himself; and he considers that support is given to this supposition by the stamped impression on the butt, of a capital ‘R’ and the figure ‘3; which might well be the Prince’s initial and the serial number of the weapon in his private armoury. Since Barne was a London gunsmith (the gun is inscribed ‘Harman Barne, Londini), George points out that if he made this piece for the Prince it must have been Wore the start of the Civil War, since London was, throughout, in the possession of the forces of Parliament.
Edmund Nicholson of London provided the same type of arms for the forces of Parliament as Upton did for the Royalists. He too was known as a maker of fine arms, and he was still making guns after the Restoration.
By about the middle of the seventeenth century the calibre of the various types of firearms had become more or less fixed, and there was little change during the whole of the time that muzzle-loading arms remained in use. These dimensions -were: x2-bore for a musket, with i42 bullets to the pound; 16-bore for a carbine, with 20 to a pound bullets; and 20-24 bore for a pistol, with 34 bullets to the pound. Muskets and carbines were fitted with fore and back sights until the reign of James II, but pistols had no sights.
The pike remained the standard shock weapon of the infantry
FIG. 47. RAPIR HILTS.
Prow the Tower Zrmotwy, London.
and was the complement of the musket, until the adoption of the bayonet. In 1645 its length was 15 feet, but this appears to have been increased to x 8 feet a short time later. The best steel was used for the heads, and the staves were of well-seasoned ash. From the head downwards they were protected for 3 or 4 inches with iron plates to prevent the heads being cut off by the swords of the cavalry. It was behind the protection of these long pikes that the musketeer retired when he had to go through the lengthy process of reloading his weapon.
There was no standard sword for either cavalry or infantry during this period; but for most of it the most popular weapon was the rapier, which had been introduced from the Con-tinent in the sixteenth’ century. It was a long, very light sword, generally with a rup protection below the quillons, or cross-piece, and often with a knuckle guard as well. The use of the rapier was so universal that even pikemen were equipped with it, though it was far too long for effective use in battle by a man who was already encumbered with a heavy pike.
A vivid description of the use of the various weapons of the Civil War is contained in a contemporary account by Richard Atkyns, a junior Royalist officer of Horse. He says:
`When we came within 20 score yards of the enemy, we found about Zoo dragoons half musket shot before a regiment of horse of theirs in two divisions, both in order to receive us. At this punctilio of time, from as clear a sunshine day as could be seen,, there fell a sudden mist, that we could not see ten yards off, but we still marched on; the dragoons amazed with the mist, and hearing our horse come on; gave us a volley of shot out of distance, and disordered not one man of us, and before we came up to them, they took horse and away they ran.
`I waited upon Prince Maurice, and presented him with a case of pistols, which my uncle Sandys brought newly out of France; the neatest that I ever saw, which he then wanted.
`When I came to the top of the hill, I saw Sir Bevill Grinvill’s stand of pikes, which certainly preserved our army from a total rout, with the loss of his most precious life: they stood as upon the eaves of a house for steepness; but as unmovable as a rock; on which side of this stand of pikes our horse were, I could not discover; for the air was so darkened by the smoke of the powder, that for a quarter of an hour together (I dare say) there was no light seen, but what the fire of the volleys of shot gave.
MUSKET AND PIKE
An attempt to produce some order in the manufacture of firearms had an odd terminological result. In the army of Piedmont, before the battle of Moncontour in 1569, there were so many sizes of bore amongst the arquebuses that ammunition supply became a difficult problem. To overcome this 7000 arquebuses were ordered of one calibre, and referred to as ‘harquebuze de calibre de Monsieur le Prince’. The type of arquebus which was made to comply with this order had a bore of 10 or 11, weighed 12 pounds and had a barrel length of 42 inches. It became so popular that its use on the Continent became very widespread, and it appeared in England during the last quarter of the sixteenth century.. The original cumbersome reference had been contracted by the soldiers to `Calibre du Prince’, and later simply to ‘Calibre’. This became anglicized as ‘Caliver’, and in 1578 the Tower of London had 7000 of them in store. They were matchlocks, rather. heavier than the previous pattern of arquebus, and about four feet ten inches in overall length. Eventually the term came to mean any firearm which was light enough to be fired without a rest. ‘Arquebus’ was then frequently applied to cavalry wheel-lock arms.
In 1595 the Trained Bands were ordered to exchange their bows for calivers and muskets, and by this time calivers formed part of the armament of every English infantry unit. In fact, in a levy for Ireland of the following year, the ’shot accounted for half the infantry, and of these three-quarters were armed with calivers and only one-quarter with muskets. The days of the caliver, however, were numbered; for, unlike the musket, its shot was too light to pierce heavy armour.
The musket was actually earlier in origin than the caliver, having been invented in about 1546, though its adoption in England was somewhat slow. It was, essentially, an improved form of matchlock arquebus, with a greater g rane and accuracy and firing a heavier
rang
It had a barrel 4 feet long, a bore of 8 or io, and was designed to penetrate the heaviest protective armour. Its weight was 2o pounds, and it was consequently necessary to support the barrel on a forked rest. The first type of musket seems to have been too cumbersome to use for anything except siege warfare, and the Duke of Alva has been stated to have been the first to adapt it for use in the field, in his campaign in the Netherlands in
1567. By the time of the Civil War the musket had been considerably lightened, and it was possible to use it without a rest.
In one respect the musket was destined to achieve undying
FIG. 41. A MATCH-BOX.
fame; for its name came to denote any shoulder firearm, and even ‘rifle’ is merely a shortened form of ‘rifled musket’.
One of the disadvantages of the matchlock was the match. In very wet weather it was liable to be extinguished. To give some protection a ‘match-box’ was introduced. This was a tube of pewter, latten or tin, about a foot long, with holes in the side to let in aif.
It was this difficulty with the .match which was responsible for the development of spark ignition. The first substance to be employed for this purpose was pyrites; a mineral which included a combination of iron and sulphur. The mechanism in which it was used was known as the ‘wheel-lock’, and was invented in Nuremberg about 1517. A fragment of pyrites was held in contact with a steel wheel which had a serrated
FIG, 42. WHEEL- LOCKS.
Top: A Wheel-lock Carbine, Elizabeth I. Bottom: A Wheel-lock Dag, Edward VI.
edge. The wheel was rotated by the release of a powerful V-spring attached to the lock plate. The resulting stream of parks was directed at the priming powder.
The spindle of the wheel had a square end, and the lock was set by fitting a key, or spanner, to the spindle and winding it in a clockwise direction. This pulled a short chain of about three links round the spindle, and tautened the spring. After a three-quarter turn a scear (spring catch), which was fixed on the inside of the lock plate, engaged a slot on the wheel.
The flash-pan was then primed and closed. The bottom of the pan, however, was pierced to admit the top of the wheel. The piece of pyrites, which was held in a clamp at the head of the cock, was next lowered on to the top of the pan cover. Assuming it to have been loaded, the weapon was now ready for firing.
Pressure on the trigger drew back the scear and released the spring, causing the wheel to revolve. An ingenious device then caused the pan cover to open. A cam attached to the wheel spindle struck an arm which was connected to the pan cover. This opened the latter, permitting the pyrites to fall on the wheel. The pan cover was then held open by a spring catch.
The wheel-lock was, as may be imagined, an extremely
FIG. 43. WHEEL-LOCK DAGS.
expensive firearm to make, particularly when compared with the simple matchlock. Its adoption in England was consequently slow, and it never became a general issue to the infantry. It was a very useful lock, however, for a horseman. The management of a matchlock on horseback was a difficult feat, for the match had to be kept alight and any adjustments made to it with one hand.
The first single-handed firearms were intended for the horse soldier. These were the dags or tacks, the forerunners of pistols. The first dags were, in appearance, small arquebuses with wheel-locks. In 1544 they were introduced into England as a cavalry weapon.
The wheel-lock, also known as a firelock, suffered from two disadvantages; the first was the expense, and the second the weakness of the pyrites, which was liable to break into pieces. The demand for a sound and inexpensive method of spark transmission led to the introduction of the flintlock. The name originally given to this new mechanism was ’snaphaunce’. This was derived from the Dutch snaphaan, meaning a pecking fowl, and referred to the pecking motion of the cock.
The sparks in the flintlock were produced by striking a piece of flint against a case-hardened steel plate, with serrated ridges on its face. The flint was held in- a clamp at the top of the cock. The ’steel’, against which the flint was struck, worked on an arm which was hinged to the lock plate and held in position by a V-spring. To fire the weapon the cock -was drawn back, thereby compressing the main spring, which in turn actuated an internal tumbler connected to the cock. The scear engaged the tumbler and held the cock in the fully open position. The steel was then lowered towards the rear of the piece and on to the lip of the flash-pan; bringing it within range of the cock. Pulling the trigger drew back the scear, thereby releasing the cock; with the result that the flint struck the steel, directing a stream of sparks into the pan. This last was uncovered, during the forward movement of the cock, through a tumbler actuating a steel link which thrust against the lower part of the pan cover.
This type of flintlock was complicated and still fairly expensive. It was little used in England, though some of the troops ordered to Ireland in i58o are said to have been armed with it. On the Continent, however, it was in common use for a long time. In England it was superseded in the first quarter of the seventeenth century by the so-called ‘English lock’ flintlock. This was a much better and simpler weapon than the original snaphaunce, and the mechanism remained basically the same for all future flintlock firearms.
In the English lock the steel and pan cover were combined in a single piece which was called the ‘hammer’. This consisted of a hinged pan cover which worked upon a screw set in the lock plate and held in either the open or closed positions by a V-spring. The steel, or striking surface, rose approximately at right angles in a curve from the free end of the cover. When the cock was released the flint hit the steel, causing a shower of sparks, and at the same time pushed the whole member back on the hinge, so uncovering the priming powder to the sparks. The firing mechanism was practically the same as that of the snaphaunce, but the weapon could be put at safety by raising the cock half-way and leaving the pan
FIG. 44. AN ARQUEBUS WITH SNAPHAUNCE LOCK.
closed. This “half-cock’ position was achieved by providing a notch on the tumbler in which the scear engaged.
On some English locks there was an additional safety device. This was a catch on the outside of the lock plate which engaged in a notch on the cock when it was in the `half-cock’ position. This type of safety-catch was called a dog-catch and locks so fitted were known as doglocks.
Although the term `snaphaunce’ seems to have been applied originally to those flintlocks with separate pan covers and steels, it appears to have been soon used, in the early seventeenth century, to denote all flintlocks.
The difficulty of managing a matchlock on horseback has already been mentioned. Nevertheless in about I 53o a modification of the arquebus was produced for this purpose. It was called a ‘Petronel’ or ‘poitrinal’, names derived from the French and signifying that the weapon was intended to be fired from the chest. It was shorter than the arquebus but of a large calibre, and, on account of its weight, was carried on a broad shoulder belt. As a matchlock it was a fairly impracticable weapon, and later -versions were fitted with wheel-locks.
Another horseman’s firearm was the dragon. This was something between a petronel and a pistol. Traditionally it had a. dragon’s head at its muzzle, and it is supposed to have given its name to the French Dragons (Dragoons), first raised by Charles de Cosse, Marechal de Brissac, in 1600. Of the later and similar English troops, Markham, in his Souldier’s
FiG. 45- PETRONELS.
Acidence of 1645, says: ‘The last sort of which our horse troopes are composed are called dragoons, which are a kind of footmen on horsebacks, and do now indeed succeed the light horsemen, and are of singular use in all actions of warre. The armes defensive are an open head piece with cheeks, and a good buffs coat, with deeps skirts; and for offensive armes they have a faire dragon fitted with. an iron works, to be carried in a belt of leather, which is buckled over the right shoulder and under the left arms, having a turnill of iron work with a ring, through which the piece runnes up and downs; and these dragons are short pieces of sixteen inches the barrell, and full musquet bore, with firelocks or snaphaunces, also a belt with a flaske, pryming box, key, and bullet bag, and a good sword.’
In the heavy horse petronel and dag were succeeded in due course by carbine and pistol. The difference between a pistol and a dag is, however, not very clear. Weapons which we should normally call pistols were often called dags in England and tacks in Scotland in the early seventeenth, and, in the case of the latter, eighteenth centuries. Owing to their small size,. and consequent popularity as a personal weapon; pistols from very early days seem to have expressed tastes in design and decoration of different gunsmiths. In addition, there have
FIG. 46. A DRAGON.
frequently .been fashions in pistol design which gunsmiths have met in their own particular style: To describe all the pistols which have been used in war would, therefore, be quite beyond the scope of the present work. Nevertheless there are two special types which must be mentioned. The first of these is the screw-barrel pistol. This had a cannon-shaped barrel ‘which screwed off so that the charge could be loaded direct into the breech piece. These enjoyed a great vogue during the reign of Charles I and for some time afterwards. The second is -one of the most famous pistols, or rather -family of pistols, ever made.. This was the Scottish all-metal pistol, which, as far as is known, was first made towards the end of the sixteenth century. The earliest one on record was manufactured byAlison of Dundee. The principal difference between the Scottish pistol and others was that the stock was made of steel or brass instead of wood. The butts of the earliest models had a fish-tailed end, and they were sometimes made of wood encased in, or mounted with, brass or silver.
The early seventeenth-century carbine, according to a 1630 book on cavalry by Captain Cruso, was the same length as an arquebus but had a smaller bore. It was a flintlock, and it was slung from a shoulder belt by a swivel.
There were two disastrous expeditions during the reign of Charles 1, the failure of which was to some extent due to defective firearms. In the force sent to Cadiz, in fact, the majority of the firearms are said to have been either defective or useless. As a result of these deficiencies a special Commission under the Privy Seal appointed a select committee of gunmakers, arniourcrs, pikemakers and bandolier makers, `being the skillfullest and prime workmen of this land’, to undertake an investigation into the arms of the national militia and Trained Bands and to rectify any deficiencies. The London gunmakers mentioned as being on the Commission were Henry Rowland, Richard Burrowe, Thomas Addis, John Norcott, William Dawstin, John Watson and William Graves. These gunmaker members were temporarily vested with powers of proving and testing firearms.
The lance was, of course, the weapon specially associated with the knight. At its head, in the great days of chivalry, it bore the small flag which indicated the knight’s rank and. status. A baron or knight-banneret had a square or rectangular banner emblazoned with its owner’s arms. A knight commanding in the field had a swallow-tailed pennon, also
FIG. 6. BATTLE-AXES.
2, Henry VIII; 3 & 4, Elizabeth I; 5, James I; 6, Dutch.
emblazoned with his arms. If, for his distinguished conduct in action, he was made a knight-bannerct on the battlefield, his pennon was converted technically into a banner by cutting off the swallow tails. An ordinary knight, fighting in the ranks, carried a triangular pennon, or pensil, on which might be either his badge or arms, and frequently depicted so that they were the right way up when the lance was horizontal. In the reign of Henry VIII all this gay individual heraldry was swept away, and the lances of the cavalry bore the white pennon and red cross of St. George.
There were a number of other shafted weapons which had their origin in mediaeval times; some of them lasting until a
FIG. 8. BATTLE-AXES. From the Bayeux Tapestry.
much later period of history. The oldest of these was probably the battle-axe, which was used by the Normans at Hastings, and it had some affinity with the Saxon bill. It had, however, a much shorter shaft, and was essentially a weapon for the mounted man. Another early weapon was the guisarme, which was a form of lance with a hook at,its side, and which was known to the Normans in the eleventh century. It was probably derived from the peasant’s ox-goad.
FIG. 9. MACES.
Top row: Quadrelle, temp. Edward IV; Massuelle, temp. Richard III; temp. Henry VII with hand-gun; Henry VIII; Philip & Mary. Middle row: Mace, temp. Henry V-, Henry VI; Henry VI, Edward IV; Henry VII; Henry VII; Henry VIII. Bottom row: Henry VIII; Henry VIII; Henry VIII; Edward VI.
The guisarme appears to have been little used in England, but from it came a derivative which was very popular in Wales. It had a broad, heavy, pointed blade on the end of a long shaft, and could be used either for cutting or thrusting. Presumably experience of it in the Welsh wars had impressed its value on the English, for in the first year of Richard III’s reign one Nicholas Spicer is recorded as having issued an order for the impressment of smiths to make Zoo Welsh glaives. Chaucer gives a hint at its formidable nature in a line: ‘And
FIG. 10. PIKE HEADS.
Left to right: Henry VII;’Henry VIII; Edward VI; Elizabeth I;
James 1; Charles I; Cromwell; Charles II; Charles II.
whet their tongue as sharp as sword or glaive’. In the sixteenth century the glaive was fashioned in all manner of decorative shapes, and generally richly engraved.
The baston is another of the shafted weapons of the Bayeux Tapestry. At its best it was an iron-tipped staff, but was sometimes merely a wooden bludgeon or a knotted club. It was succeeded by the similar but much more decorative mace. Maces became very popular with the many war-like prelates of the Middle Ages; since by using this arm in battle they were able to persuade their elastic consciences that they were evading the condemnation of all holding office in the Church who fought with the sword. Maces were made in all sorts of decorative and fantastic shapes, and they were the weapons of the King’s Serjeants-at-Arms as early as the fourteenth century. There was a smaller kind of mace called a masuel. This must have been a cheap, handy and dangerous little weapon, for it was included in the list of arms which Edward 1, in the first year of his reign, forbade his turbulent London subjects to carry.
The pike, which from the time of its introduction until the coming of the bayonet was to be the main shock weapon of the British infantry, did not reach England until the reign of
FIG. II. LINSTOCKS.
Early Italian; Elizabeth I; Elizabeth I; Charles 1.
Edward IV. It could not claim to be an original weapon; for it was merely a modification of the cavalry lance adapted to the needs of infantry, and a reintroduction in a slightly different form of the earlier short and light infantry spear. Nevertheless, its appearance on the continent of Europe in the hands of well-disciplined infantry revolutionized military tactics. For the first time for centuries infantry had a shock weapon with which they could face and repel cavalry. For 400 years mounted troops had dominated the battlefield. That place was now to be taken by the infantry until armoured formations arrived to-redress the balance some 5oo years later.
