Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/108

 100 MUSKET old British musket "Brown Bess" had a bore 76 of an inch in diameter. The length of the barrel was 42 in., the weight of the ball 1'06 oz., and the weight of the musket 12-25 Ibs. The whole length, including bayonet, was 59 in. About 1853 in Great Britain the Enneld rifle was adopted, the bore of which was -577 in. Until this time British muskets were made without bands, the barrel being fastened to the stock by pins. The Enfield rifle had bands. The weights of all muskets in use in the last century were from 10| to 12 Ibs. In the FIG. 10. English Musket, "Brown Bess." United States the first muskets used were of course of English manufacture. The Indian and French wars had caused the distribution of large numbers of these arms among the col- onies, and the war of the revolution was com- menced with them. But after the alliance with France was perfected, French muskets were obtained, and it is likely that by the end of the war, in 1783, the troops were generally armed with French arms. The United States began to manufacture muskets at Springfield, Mass., in 1795, after the French model, and this model with slight variations was used un- til the adoption of the Springfield rifle, mod- el of 1855. New models were introduced in 1799, 1822, and 1840, all of French style, and of the French calibre, '69 in., and carry- ing a ball weighing a little less than an ounce. FIG. 11. Musket and Bayonet, Model of 1841. In fact it may be said that until the intro- duction of the needle gun in Prussia, France gave the model for the musket to all civilized nations. About 1842 percussion-lock muskets were adopted, and when the Mexican war be- gan in 1846 there were enough to have armed the troops ; but Gen. Scott preferred the flint- lock musket, considering it dangerous to cam- paign in an enemy's country with so untried a weapon as the percussion musket. After that war its use became general in the army. In 1855 the Springfield rifle was adopted, and it gradually displaced the old musket, until at the commencement of the civil war in 1861 the troops of the regular army were armed with tbat weapon. Nearly all the infantry arms at that time in store were muskets of '69 in. cal- ibre. The whole number of muskets and rifles manufactured at the Springfield armory from 1795 to 1865, when the manufacture of muzzle- loading arms was stopped, was 1,517,464, and the expenditure during the same period was $25,199,626 30. Over $2,000,000 reckoned as expenditure was the value of the property of the United States in lands, buildings, &c., be- longing to the armory, and about $3,000,000 was the value of the parts of arms unassembled when the manufacture was stopped. The num- ber made at the other United States armory, that at Harper's Ferry, Va., cannot be given. At the commencement of the civil war this armory was dismantled, and all the records and mov- able property were carried to Richmond by the confederates. Its capacity for turning out arms was then about equal to that of the Springfield armory. There are other names of muskets besides those given previously. The hand cannon was a tube on a straight piece of wood about 3 ft. long. It had trunnions, cas- cable, and vent on top like a cannon. After- ward the vent was placed at the side and the priming was held in a pan. Its date was near- ly the same as that of the J)ombardelle. The hand gun was longer in barrel than the hand cannon. It had a cover for the pan, and some arrangement for taking sight. The Eng- lish seem to have used it in 1446. The snap- haunce was a modification of the wheel lock. Instead of the wheel a straight piece of fur- rowed steel was used. The flint pressed against it, and when the steel was suddenly moved by the spring, fire was struck. It was introduced into England in Queen Elizabeth's time, but did not get into general use until the time of the civil wars. The name is derived from the Dutch. The caliver, lighter and shorter than the musket, had a match lock. The carbine was simply a horseman's musket, and was shorter and lighter than the in- fantry musket. The ori- ^^=3 gin of the word is ob- o scure. It was intro- r^ duced into England from France, but the term came from Spain, and from Calabria, where it was first used. It has been surmised that the Ca- labrians used it on board of small vessels called carabs. The term fusil applied to a musket appears to have been taken from the French, and was brought into England when locks using flints were introduced. It is technically the steel against which the flint is struck in a tin- der box or gun lock. The term fusiliers for part of the infantry is still retained in some armies, particularly the British, and was origi- nally the name given to troops using the flint- lock musket, to distinguish them from those who used the match-lock or wheel-lock mus- kets. The mousquetoon was of French origin, and shorter and not so efficient as the musket. The petronel was a short musket for horse- men's use. The name comes from pedernal, flint, and not, as is generally supposed, from poitrine, as it was supported against the breast when it was fired. The blunderbuss was a short piece with a large bore and funnel-shaped