Posted on 01/03/2017 12:27:14 PM PST by w1n1
It all started with the Baker Rifle and the British 95th Rifle Regiment
The defining moment for rifles in the western world was when Rifleman Thomas Plunkett serving with the British 95th Rifle regiment took a shot with his Baker rifle towards the end of the Battle of Cacabelos in 1809.
Rifleman Plunket laid flat on his back in the snow took a shot at the French General Auguste-Marie-François Colbert.
While he lay on the ground, Plunket inserted his foot into the sling of his Baker .705-caliber rifle to stabilize the weapon, the butt of his rifle flushed into his shoulder and took aim using only his marksmanship skills and iron sights.
Plunkett squeezed the trigger, and a moment later the general fell dead at 600 yards away. Then Plunkett reloaded and ran back to cover and took another shot that killed a second French officer who rode to Colbert’s aid.
This feat catapulted the capability of the basic firearm used by a soldier, led by the Baker rifle. The Baker rifle was not the first rifle invented, as there were other muskets used in the previous century with less accuracy. The Americans and Germans learned ways to use it with deadly effectiveness. Read the rest of the story here.
Yikes! Great post...
T Y for posting...
.705 caliber....my, My, MY!
Great Post!
That’ll leave a mark.....
American long rifles were used decades before in this manner. We changed the way rifles were used.
The American rifled Musket, used in the war between the states, was .68 or .69 caliber.
Some rifles were small caliber, say, .45. Now that is considered “large caliber”!
'This proved to be an embuggerance of the highest degree,.........'
Basically 12 gauge(a little less) or more correctly 12 bore. It was the size of the smooth bore muskets of the day. Using a round ball that size is not as impressive as it sounds. But It it still is quite impressive.
With the same bore smooth bore you like the Brown Bess one could launch 4 rounds per minute. The Baker? 2 rounds per minute. It is a specialty weapon used for sniping. We did the same thing with the Kentucky (or more correctly Pennsylvania ) Rifles.
A better British rifle of the era was the Ferguson breech loaded rifle.
A private picks off a general. Too much power in the hands of a common soldier! Unseemly!
(That was the prevailing view in those days.)
I'm stealing it. If it wasn't a real word before, it is now.
I just finished watching the Sharpe’s Rifles series. Good stuff. A sergeant of the 95th Rifles rises through the ranks to Colonel with lots of adventure along the way.
If you study history you will find that after the rifle can along and American revolutionaries begin the practice of shooting generals and other officers without regard to their status in society that the wealthy and privileged gradually withdrew from leading troops directly in the field.
Although the musket had a higher rate of fire, how many accurate shots could a rifle shoot before the other side got within effective musket range? And how many musket shots would actually get fired before the other side either charged to bayonet range, or ran out of musket range?
Ya think? In addition to the Battle of Saratoga being won by a rifleman killing British Gen. Fraser, so too, the Battle of Kings Mountain (1780)--which turned the tide of the war--was won by riflemen (plural) vs. muskets. The loyalist with muskets atop the knoll were no match for the patriots below, in the trees with long range rifles. (The irony is their commander, one Fergusson, had actually invented a practical breechloader....but it was ignored by the British high command.)
Use of a patched ball easily pushed in by a ramrod (vs. one hammered in, like the German Jaeger rifle was), was an American innovation--first allowing fast reloading for rifles. Before this, with slow reloading, rifles were impractical to use in warfare.
It was the Baker rifle which copied the American Pennsylvania Long Rifle--especially in using the patched ball, which revolutionized warfare first in the American Revolution--which continued the evolution to rifles, not the Baker Rifle itself.
The fact that the Baker Rifle was mass-produced...was all that was revolutionary about it--not that it was a rifle--as rifles were first proven in warfare right here in America.
“What are ye doing there Rifleman Plunkett?”
“Why, I yam pickin’ off French Generals at 600 yards, Sergeant.”
“Wid yer eyes closed, you lazy sod? Get up off your arse and reload.”
Ralph, you’ll shoot your toe off.
The true power of the British army was the ability to fire three rounds a minute, in ranks of 2 or 3 (something that could only be done with muskets, as rifles took much longer to load). They were the only army of the time to practice with live ammunition, instead of just going through the motions. The effective range of those muskets was only about 40 yards. That devastating volume of fire broke the backs of the French columns, and eventually won the Napoleonic Wars for Britain and her allies.
The Richard (Dick) Sharpe series are wonderful books for getting a solid understanding of the tactics, equipment, training and overall strategies of the time.
"Son, they couldn't hit an elephant in ass at that range" - Last words of Union General John Sedgwick, battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.
I also didn’t think they were supposed to shoot at officers either.
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