WEAPONS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

MUSKETS Principal weapon was the musket. 1 st musket developed 400 years before the Revolutionary War had no trigger mechanism.

MATCHLOCK MUSKET By 1500, the matchlock musket was developed. It had a trigger and hammer to force the musket ball out. The problem was with the timing because it took so long to burn the wick and it was affected by the weather.

MATCHLOCK MUSKET

WHEEL LOCK MUSKET By 1530, the Wheel Lock was invented. The Wheel Lock had no wick, but It was expensive It broke down easily.

WHEEL LOCK MUSKET

FLINT LOCK MUSKET By 1550, the Flint Lock musket was developed. The hammer broke flint forward which led to discharge of the musket ball. Less expensive, and had not wick to light. It was the dominate weapon for the next 2 hundred years including infantry in the Revolutionary War.

FLINT LOCK MUSKET

MUSKETS Americans largely used French Charleville muskets, which were more accurate than the British “Brown Bess” muskets.

RIFLES Rifles were more expensive and more fragile, but had batter accuracy. As the rifle is used, it becomes less and less accurate. There were no bayonets for rifles, only for muskets. Rifle had better accuracy at a greater distance. The majority used muskets, not rifles.

AMMUNITION During the War, solid shot balls were shot out of cannons. Some were hollowed out and filled with gun powder and a wick, and then shot out of the cannon. Range was yards with good accuracy.

AMMUNITION During the War a British officer came up with the idea of filling the ball with gunpowder and musket balls. His name was Henry Shrapnel.

GENERAL Even though the British had more resources, it did not translate into more firepower because guns and cannons were cheap to make. The Americans began to make their own weapons in Maryland where there was no military operations. Springfield, MA was the main rebel armory. The Revolutionary War did not bring any advancements in weaponry while it was going on.