POTD: A Revolutionary Icon – The British Brown Bess
Sam.S 12.26.23
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The Brown Bess was the standard musket used by British infantry from 1722 to 1838. This smoothbore, flintlock musket had an effective range of only about 100 meters due to its loose-fitting ball, but made up for accuracy issues by firing massed volleys at short range. A trained soldier could fire three shots per minute. After firing, bayonets with 17-inch triangular blades turned the Brown Bess into a lethal close combat weapon – British bayonet charges were greatly feared. The Brown Bess saw extensive action in Britain’s wars against Napoleonic France, with superiority in musketry volleys and bayonet fighting key to British victories. Though inaccurate by modern standards, the Brown Bess was easy to produce and reliable enough to serve the British Empire for over a century. Its simplicity and rate of fire delivered battlefield results, cementing its legacy in the hands of British redcoats.
“This c. 1780s “Short Land, New Pattern” musket has a smoothbore barrel with a bayonet stud/front sight, Ordnance proofs, and a faint regimental marking. The lock has “TOWER/GILL” at the tail and the Georgian cipher at the center. The musket has the flat side plate and buttplate of the Short Land, New Pattern muskets and the second type second ramrod ferrule without the collar. Sling swivels are fitted to the forend and front of the trigger guard. The wrist escutcheon is inscribed “H/47.” The stock has “6-A” in red paint on the right, a crude cross carved on the left, and Ordnance marks that appear to include “WI” on the bottom. Includes a socket bayonet marked “9” and “N” near the base of the blade and a steel ramrod with button head tip. Thomas Gill was an Ordnance contractor in the last two decades of the 18th century.”
Lot 272: British Short Land Pattern “Brown Bess” Flintlock Musket – Revolutionary War Era British Short Land Pattern “Brown Bess” Flintlock Musket with Bayonet. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved December 25, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/272/british-short-land-pattern-brown-bess-flintlock-musket.
