Existing comment:
Musket
This is a reproduction of British infantry's weapon in 1775, the Short Land Musket, sometimes called "Brown Bess." Less accurate than a rifle, it fired a large lead ball. Volley fire and the bayonet charge had made the British soldier master of Europe's battlefields, but these tactics sometimes proved unsuitable for fighting in America. In June 1775, colonists carried a variety of similar weapons -- smoothbore flintlocks of limited range of accuracy.
Bayonet
"We having very few bayonets, could make no resistance," declared Colonel Prescott after the battle. British musket volleys did little damage to the patriots fighting from cover. However, the British used bayonets like this reproduction to deadly effect when they entered the redoubt during their final assault. British troops were all equipped with bayonets and well-trained in their use. |