Musket: ‘Brown Bess’

This musket, commonly known as the ‘Brown Bess’, was the standard weapon used by British infantrymen between 1722 and 1838. It was the most common weapon that the British Army used in its 20 years of war against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France.

Although it could fire up to 1,100 metres, the Brown Bess was not very accurate. This was because the ball had to be quite loose for ease of loading. It would be very hard to hit another soldier by deliberately aiming at them at ranges greater than 100m. This inherent lack off accuracy was compensated for by having a large number of soldiers fire their muskets at the same time at very short range (sometimes less than 25m).

A trained British soldier was expected to fire three shots a minute. When the musket was empty, a soldier then relied on the bayonet, which had a sharp blade about 44cm long. British bayonet charges against enemy troops were known as ‘giving them Brummagen’ (Brummagen was a slang name for Birmingham where many bayonets were made) and were greatly feared.

Did you know..?

When the bayonet was fixed, this musket would have been taller than most Age of Revolution soldiers.