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Brown Bess
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Brown Bess is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. This musket was used in the era of the expansion of the British Empire and acquired symbolic importance at least as significant as its physical importance. It was in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its design. These versions include the Long Land Pattern, Short Land Pattern, India Pattern, New Land Pattern Musket, Sea Service Musket and others.
The Long Land Pattern musket and its derivatives, all .75 caliber flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the British Empire's land forces from 1722 until 1838 when they were superseded by a big percussion cap smoothbore musket.
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Brown Bess is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. This musket was used in the era of the expansion of the British Empire and acquired symbolic importance at least as significant as its physical importance. It was in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its design. These versions include the Long Land Pattern, Short Land Pattern, India Pattern, New Land Pattern Musket, Sea Service Musket and others.
The Long Land Pattern musket and its derivatives, all .75 caliber flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the British Empire's land forces from 1722 until 1838 when they were superseded by a big percussion cap smoothbore musket. The British Ordnance System converted many Flintlocks into the new Percussion system known as the Pattern 1839 Musket. A fire in 1841 at the Tower of London destroyed many muskets before they could be converted. Still, the Brown Bess saw service until the middle of the nineteenth century. Some were still in service during the Indian rebellion of 1857, whilst some were used by Zulu warriors who had captured them from the Europeans at the Battle of Isandlwana in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, and some were sold to the Mexican Army who used them during the Texas Revolution of 1836 and the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. One was even used in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.
Most male citizens of the American Colonies were required by law to own arms and ammunition for militia duty; the Long Land Pattern was a common firearm in use by both sides at the commencement of the American Revolution.
Origins of the name
One hypothesis states that the "Brown Bess" was named after Elizabeth I of England, however this lacks backing. It is not believed that this name was used contemporaneously with the early Long Pattern Land musket but that the name arose in late years of the 18th century when the Short Pattern and India Pattern were in wide use.
Early uses of the term include the newspaper, the Connecticut Courant in April 1771, which said "...but if you are afraid of the sea, take Brown Bess on your shoulder and march.". This familiar use indicates widespread use of the term by that time. The 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, a contemporary work which defined vernacular and slang terms, contained this entry: "Brown Bess: A soldier's firelock. To hug Brown Bess; to carry a fire-lock, or serve as a private soldier." Military and government records of the time do not use this poetical name but refer to firelocks, flintlock, muskets or by the weapon's model designations.
Popular explanations of the use of the word "Brown" include that it was a reference to either the color of the walnut stocks, or to the characteristic brown color that was produced by russeting, an early form of metal treatment. Others argue that mass-produced weapons of the time were coated in brown varnish on metal parts as a rust preventative and on wood as a sealer (or in the case of unscrupulous contractors, to disguise inferior or non-regulation types of wood). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that "browning" was only introduced in the early 19th century, well after the term had come into general use.
Similarly, the word "Bess" is commonly held to either derive from the word arquebus or blunderbuss (predecessors of the musket) or to be a reference to Elizabeth I of England, possibly given to commemorate her death. More plausible is that the term Brown Bess could have been derived from the German words "brawn buss" or "braun buss", meaning "strong gun" or "brown gun"; King George I who commissioned its use was from Germany. The Oxford English Dictionary refers to "brown musket" dating back to the early 18th century to refer to the same weapon. Another suggestion is that the name is simple the counterpart to the earlier Brown Bill.
The Land Pattern Muskets
From the 17th to the early years of the 18th century, most nations did not specify standards for military firearms. Firearms were individually procured by officers or regiments as late as the 1740s, and were often custom made to the tastes of the purchaser. As the firearm gained ascendancy on the battlefield, this lack of standardization led to increasing difficulties in the supply of ammunition and repair materials. To address these difficulties, the standardization of "patterns" began. Stored by the military in a "pattern room," A pattern musket served as a reference by which arms maker could make comparisons and take measurements to ensure that they could produce firearms that would achieve some level of standardization.
Stress-bearing parts of the Brown Bess, such as the barrel, lockwork, and sling-swivels, were customarily made of iron; while other furniture pieces such as the butt plate, trigger guard and ramrod pipe were found in both iron and brass. It weighed around and it could be fitted with a triangular cross-section bayonet. The weapon had no sights, although the bayonet lug on the barrel may have been used in that manner, similar to the bead on a shotgun.
The earliest models had iron fittings but these were replaced by brass in models built after 1736. Wooden ramrods were used with the first guns but were replaced by iron ones, although guns with wooden ramrods were still issued to troops on American service until 1765 and later to loyalist units in the American Revolution. Wooden ramrods were also used in the Dragoon version produced from 1744 to 1771 and for Navy and Marine use.
Accuracy of the Brown Bess was, as with most other muskets, poor, primarily due to the lack of sights and the use of undersized military ammunition for ease of loading. The effective range is often quoted as but was often fired en masse at to inflict the greatest damage upon the enemy. The combination of large caliber of the projectile, the heavy weight of its lead construction contributed to its low effective range. Military tactics of the period stressed mass volleys and massed bayonet charges, instead of individual marksmanship. The large soft projectile could inflict a great deal of damage when accurate and the great length of the weapon allowed longer reach in bayonet engagements.
Field tests
Field tests of smoothbore muskets in the late 18th and early 19th centuries reported widely variable expectations of accuracy and speed of fire. Estimations of rate of fire ranged from "one shot every fifteen seconds" (4 shots per minute), to "two to two and a half shots per minute" (one shot every 24 seconds). This was with the standard military loading procedure from prepared paper cartridges containing ball and gun powder in an elongated envelope:
- Tear cartridge with teeth and prime the pan directly from the cartridge;
- Stand the musket and pour the bulk of the powder down the barrel;
- Reverse the cartridge and use the ramrod to seat the ball and paper envelop onto the powder charge
Standard European targets included strips of cloth 50 yards long to represent an opposing line of infantry, with the target height being six feet for infantry and eight feet, three inches for cavalry. Estimations of hit probability at 100 yards ranged from just over 50 to 75 percent, and over 80 percent for the shorter and taller targets. No allowances were made for overly tall targets, gaps in an opposing line or the realities of the battlefield. Modern testers shooting from rigid rests, using optimum loads and fast priming powder, report groups of circa five inches at 50 yards (Cumpston 2008).
Variations
Many variations and modifications of the standard pattern musket were created over its long history. The earliest version was the Long Land Pattern of 1722, a long (without bayonet) and with a barrel. It was later found that shortening the barrel did not detract from its accuracy but made handling the musket easier. This resulted in the Militia (or Marine) Pattern of 1756 and the Short Land Pattern of 1768, which both had a barrel. Another version with a barrel was manufactured for the British East India Company, and was eventually adopted by the British Army in 1790 as the India Pattern.
Towards the end of the life of the weapon, there was a change in the system of ignition. The flintlock mechanism, which was prone to misfiring, especially in wet weather, was replaced by the more reliable percussion cap. The last flintlock pattern manufactured was selected for conversion to the new system as the Pattern 1839. A fire at the Royal Arsenal destroyed large stocks of these in 1841, so a new Pattern 1842 musket was manufactured. These remained in service until the outbreak of the Crimean War when they were replaced by the Minie and the P53 Enfield rifled musket.
Long Land Pattern
In Service; 1722-1793, standard Infantry Musket 1722-1768 (supplemented by Short Land Pattern from 1768).
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
Short Land Pattern
In service; 1740-1797; 1740 (Dragoons), 1768 (Infantry); standard Infantry Musket 1793-1797.
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
India Pattern
In service; 1797-1854; standard Infantry Musket 1797-1854. (Some in use pre-1797 purchased from the Honourable East India Company for use in Egypt).
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
New Land Pattern
In service; 1802-1854; Issued only to the Footguards and 4th Regiment of Foot.
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
New Light Infantry Land Pattern
In service; 1811-1854; Issued only to the 43rd, 52nd, 68th, 71st and 85th Light Infantry and the Battalions of the 60th Foot not armed with rifles.
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
The detail differences between this musket and the standard New Land Pattern were a scrolled trigger guard similar to that of the Baker Rifle except more rounded, a browned barrel and a notch back-sight, the bayonet lug being used as the fore-sight.
Cavalry Carbine
In service; 1796-1838; Issued to British cavalry units.
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
Sea Service Pattern
In service; 1778-1854; Issued to Royal Navy ships, drawn by men as required, Marines used sea Service weapons when deployed as part of a ships company but were issued India Pattern weapons when serving ashore.
Barrel length;
Overall length;
Weight;
See also
Other references
- Cumpston, Mike, The Guns of Empire,18th Century Martial Muskets, Guns Magazine, August 2008 p60. San Diego, CA FMG Publications
- Reid, Stuart, British Redcoat (2) 1793-1815, Warrior Series, Osprey Publishing
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