A Rare Napoleonic War Regimentally marked British Military Pattern 1800/1810 Flintlock "Baker" Infantry Rifle
A Rare Antique Napoleonic War Regimentally marked British Military Pattern 1800/1810 Flintlock "Baker" Infantry Rifle, circa. 1800-1815. 30.25", .70 caliber rifled browned twist-iron barrel with patent breech is marked on the left side of the breech with remnants of a TOWER proof. The barrel originally was made with a bayonet bar which was later intentionally removed to accept a socket bayonet. The rifle is in flintlock configuration (see notes below). The flat lock is marked on the inside "GILL" (contractor to the Tower ordnance) and has the small "CROWN" over the "BROAD ARROW" mark on the outside under the pan (government ownership), a "CROWN" over "GR" (King George III), and "TOWER" on the tail. Standard all brass pattern furniture including the butt plate with regimental markings of "B / 52". The rifle retains the original steel ram rod that is also regimentally marked "B / 52". The stock has several military markings which include; the British "BROAD ARROW" over "BO" (Board Ordnance) on the right side in front of the brass patch box, (2) inspector marks at the tail of the trigger guard, a "CROWN" over "P" and an "L" on the left side of the stock just behind the side plate. Sling swivels are missing and most likely intentionally removed. The middle barrel key/wedge that secures the barrel to the stock is missing. Overall the stock is solid with a stress crack along the fore-end at the muzzle on the right side, scratches and dings from years of service. A seldom encountered rifle in good mechanical working order !
Overall length: 46"
Note: It is my opinion that this rifle has had the bayonet bar removed during the period of use. Now, the barrel: a. RESTORATION or... the barrel touch-hole has been re-bushed with a brass insert (brass does not deteriorate as fast as iron) and who ever/whenever this was done, the gunsmith marked the work with the letter "G" (possibly GILL). I have seen (3) other examples of this work (2) with the letter "G" and the other the letter "W" (possibly WHEELER). b. RESTORATION, the rifle was converted to percussion in its working life and later re-converted back to flintlock utilizing a correct replacement lock in its original flintlock configuration. What makes this interesting is that most re-conversions hide the work to make less obvious but this example is very clear and unhidden. The lock: the lock exhibits evidence of heavy cleaning and rust removal resulting in some loses of detail and leaving striations on the metal surfaces as if draw-filed. The exterior of the lock has a thick varnish coat to prevent further rusting (which was a common practice performed by collectors and some museums in the later part of the 20th century especially in the 1950's - 1980's).
Ref. pp. 105-120, British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840 by, De Witt Bailey Ph. D., c. 2002.
TTI-575922
CONSIGNMENT, F. B. #2
According to Wikipedia:
The Baker rifle (officially known as the Pattern 1800 Infantry Rifle) was a flintlock rifle used by the rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was the first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces.
The Baker rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel. The British Army was still issuing the infantry rifle in the 1830s.
History and design
The British Army had learnt the value of rifles from their experience in the American Revolutionary War. However, existing rifle designs were considered too cumbersome, slow-firing, fragile or expensive to be put to use on any scale beyond irregular companies. Rifles had been issued on a limited basis and consisted of parts made to no precise pattern, often brought in from Prussia. The war against Revolutionary France resulted in the employment of new tactics, and the British Army responded, albeit with some delay. Prior to the formation of an Experimental Rifle Corps in 1800, a trial was held at Woolwich by the British Board of Ordnance on 22 February 1800 in order to select a standard rifle pattern; the rifle designed by Ezekiel Baker was chosen.[3] During the trial, of the twelve shots fired, eleven were placed in a 6-foot (1.8 m) circular target at a distance of 300 yards (270 m).[4]
Colonel Coote Manningham, responsible for establishing the Rifle Corps, influenced the initial designs of the Baker. The first model resembled the British infantry musket ("Brown Bess"), but was rejected as too heavy. Baker was provided with a German Jäger rifle as an example of what was needed. The second model he made had a .75 caliber bore, the same caliber as the infantry musket. It had a 32-inch barrel, with eight rectangular rifling grooves; this model was accepted as the Infantry Rifle, but more changes were made until it was finally placed into production. The third and final model had the barrel shortened from 32 to 30 inches, and the caliber reduced to .653, which allowed the rifle to fire a .625 caliber carbine bullet, with a greased patch to grip the now-seven rectangular grooves in the barrel.
The rifle had a simple folding rear sight with the standard large lock mechanism (initially marked "Tower" and "G.R." under a crown; later ones after the battle of Waterloo had "Enfield"), with a swan-neck cock as fitted to the "Brown Bess". Like the German Jäger rifles, it had a scrolled brass trigger guard to help ensure a firm grip and a raised cheek-piece on the left-hand side of the butt. The stocks were made of walnut and held the barrel with three flat captive wedges. The rifle also had a metal locking bar to accommodate a 24-inch sword bayonet, similar to that of the Jäger rifle. The Baker was 45 inches from muzzle to butt, 12 inches shorter than the infantry musket, and weighed almost nine pounds. Although Infantry Muskets were not issued with cleaning kits, the Baker rifle had a cleaning kit, greased linen patches and tools, stored in the "butt-trap" or patch box; the lid of this was brass, and hinged at the rear so it could be flipped up. It was needed because, without regular cleaning, gunpowder fouling built up in the rifling grooves, and the weapon became much slower to load and less accurate.
After the Baker entered service, more modifications were made to the rifle and several different variations were produced. A lighter and shorter carbine version for the cavalry was introduced, and a number of volunteer associations procured their own models, including the Duke of Cumberland's Corps of Sharpshooters, which ordered models with a 33-inch barrel, in August 1803. A second pattern of Baker Rifle was fitted with a "Newland" lock that had a flat-faced ring neck cock. In 1806, a third pattern was produced that included a "pistol grip" style trigger guard and a smaller patch box with a plain rounded front. The lock plate was smaller, flat, and had a steeped-down tail, a raised semi-waterproof pan, a flat ring neck cock, and a sliding safety bolt. With the introduction of a new pattern Short Land Pattern Flintlock Musket ('Brown Bess') in 1810, with its flat lock and ring-necked cock, the Baker's lock followed suit for what became the fourth pattern. It also featured a "slit stock"—the stock had a slot cut in its underpart just over a quarter-inch wide. This was done after Ezekiel Baker had seen reports of the ramrod jamming in the stock after the build-up of residue in the ramrod channel, and when the wood warped after getting wet.
The rifle is referred to almost exclusively as the "Baker Rifle", but it was produced by a variety of manufacturers and sub-contractors from 1800 to 1837. Most of the rifles produced between 1800 and 1815 were not made by Ezekiel Baker, but under the Tower of London system, and he sub-contracted the manufacture of parts of the rifle to over 20 British gunsmiths. It was reported that many rifles sent to the British Army inspectors were not complete, to the extent of even having no barrel, since the rifle was sent on to another contractor for finishing. Ezekiel Baker's production during the period 1805–1815 was 712 rifles, not even enough to be in the "top ten".
The Board of Ordnance, both of its own volition and at the behest of Infantry Staff Officers, ordered production modifications during the rifle's service life. Variations included a carbine with a safety catch and swivel-mounted ramrod, the 1801 pattern West India Rifle (a simplified version lacking a patch box), the 1809 pattern, which was .75 (musket) caliber, and the 1800/15, which was modified from existing stocks to use a socket bayonet. The most common field modification was the bent stock: riflemen in the field found that the stock was not bent sufficiently at the wrist to allow accurate firing, so stocks were bent by steaming. As this technique produces temporary results (lasting approximately five years), no examples found today exhibit this bend.
During the Napoleonic Wars the Baker was reported to be effective at long range due to its accuracy and dependability under battlefield conditions. In spite of its advantages, the rifle did not replace the standard British musket of the day, the Brown Bess, but was issued officially only to rifle regiments. In practice, however, many regiments, such as the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers), and others, acquired rifles for use by some in their light companies during the time of the Peninsular War. These units were employed as an addition to the common practice of fielding skirmishers in advance of the main column, who were used to weaken and disrupt the waiting enemy lines (the French also had a light company in each battalion that was trained and employed as skirmishers but these were only issued with muskets). With the advantage of the greater range and accuracy provided by the Baker rifle, the highly trained British skirmishers were able to defeat their French counterparts routinely and in turn disrupt the main French force by sniping at officers and NCOs.
The rifle was used by what were considered elite units, such as the 5th battalion and rifle companies of the 6th and 7th Battalions of the 60th Regiment of Foot, deployed around the world, and the three battalions of the 95th Regiment of Foot that served under the Duke of Wellington between 1808 and 1814 in the Peninsular War, the War of 1812 (3rd Batt./95th (Rifles), at Battle of New Orleans), and again in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. The two light infantry Battalions of the King's German Legion as well as sharpshooter platoons within the Light Companies of the KGL Line Bns also used the Baker. Each of the Portuguese Caçadores battalions included an Atiradores (sharpshooters) company equipped with the Baker rifle. The rifle was also supplied to or privately purchased by numerous volunteer and militia units; these examples often differ from the regular issue pattern. Some variants were used by cavalry, including the 10th Hussars. The Baker was also used in Canada in the War of 1812. It is recorded that the British Army still issued Baker rifles in 1841, three years after its production had ceased.
The rifle was used in several countries during the first half of the 19th century; indeed, Mexican forces at the Battle of the Alamo are known to have been carrying Baker rifles, as well as Brown Bess muskets. They were also supplied to the government of Nepal; some of these rifles were released from the stores of the Nepali Army in 2004, but many had deteriorated beyond recovery.[citation needed]
Performance
Rate of fire
For accurate firing, a Baker rifle could not usually be reloaded as fast as a musket, as the slightly undersized lead balls had to be wrapped in patches of greased leather or linen so that they would more closely fit the lands of the rifling. The tight-fitting patched ball took considerable force and hence more time to seat properly inside a rifle's barrel, especially after repeated firing had fouled the barrel, compared to a loose fitting musket ball which could easily roll down. Early on each rifleman was even provided with a small mallet to help seat the ball inside the muzzle, but this later was abandoned as unnecessary.
Thus a rifleman was expected to be able to fire two aimed shots a minute, compared to the four shots a minute for the Brown Bess musket in the hands of a trained infantryman. However, the average time to reload a rifle is dependent on the level of training and experience of the user; twenty seconds (or three shots a minute) is possible for a highly proficient rifleman. Using a hand-measured powder charge for accurate long-range shots could increase the load time to as much as a minute.
Accuracy was of more importance than the rate of fire when skirmishing. The rifleman's primary battlefield role was to utilize cover and skirmish (frequently against enemy skirmishers), whereas his musket-armed counterparts in the line infantry fired in volley or mass-fire. This could further reduce the firing rate of the rifle compared to musket during battle.
Troops issued with the Baker rifle were also occasionally required to "stand in the line" and serve as regular infantry if the situation called for it. The higher rate of fire (and therefore the volume of fire) of the musket was required when deployed as line infantry, even if this came with a significant loss in accuracy. For this reason, ammunition was issued in two forms: one, loose balls, in standard carbine caliber with greased patches for accurate shooting, with loose powder inside a flask equipped with a spring-loaded charger to automatically measure out the correct amount of powder; and two, paper cartridges similar to regular musket ammunition. The requirement for the Baker armed troops to be able to perform regular infantry tasks, such as form square against cavalry, or resist a bayonet attack, led to the rather cumbersome 23½-inch-long sword-bayonet which, when fitted, made the rifle-bayonet length some 65 inches, nearly the same as a bayonet-fitted musket. There were even talks early in the rifle's adoption of additionally equipping the riflemen with short pikes instead of bayonets; however, this impractical idea was never put into actual use.
Accuracy and range
The rifle as originally manufactured was expected to be capable of firing at a range of up to 200 yards (183 meters) with a high hit rate. The Baker rifle was used by skirmishers facing their opponents in pairs, sniping at the enemy either from positions in front of the main lines or from hidden positions in heights overlooking battlefields.
The accuracy of the rifle in capable hands is most famously demonstrated at the Battle of Cacabelos (during Moore's retreat to Corunna in 1809) by the action of Rifleman Thomas Plunkett (or Plunket) of the 1st Battalion, 95th Rifles, who shot French General Colbert at an unknown but long range (as much as 600 yards (550 m) according to some sources). He then shot Colbert's aide-de-camp, Latour-Maubourg, who went to the aid of his general, suggesting that the success of the first shot was not due to luck.[3][5]
That rifleman Plunkett and others were able to regularly hit targets at ranges considered to be beyond the rifle's effective range speaks for both their marksmanship and the capabilities of the rifle.
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought by Spain and Portugal, assisted by the United Kingdom, against the invading and occupying forces of France for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence.[d] The war began when the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807 by transiting through Spain, and it escalated in 1808 after Napoleonic France had occupied Spain, which had been its ally. Napoleon Bonaparte forced the abdications of Ferdinand VII and his father Charles IV and then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne and promulgated the Bayonne Constitution. Most Spaniards rejected French rule and fought a bloody war to oust them. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and it is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation and is significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare.
The war began in Spain with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814 with the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the monarchy. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas. The episode remains as the bloodiest event in Spain's modern history, doubling in relative terms the Spanish Civil War.[10]
A reconstituted national government, the Cortes of Cádiz—in effect a government-in-exile—fortified itself in the secure port of Cádiz in 1810, but could not raise effective armies because it was besieged by 70,000 French troops. British and Portuguese forces eventually secured Portugal, using it as a safe position from which to launch campaigns against the French army and provide whatever supplies they could get to the Spanish, while the Spanish armies and guerrillas tied down vast numbers of Napoleon's troops.[e] These combined regular and irregular allied forces, by restricting French control of territory, prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces, and the war continued through years of stalemate.[11]
The British Army, under then Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the 1st Duke of Wellington, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralized Portuguese army was reorganized and refitted under the command of Gen. William Beresford,[12] who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Portuguese forces by the exiled Portuguese royal family, and fought as part of the combined Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellesley.
In 1812, when Napoleon set out with a massive army on what proved to be a disastrous French invasion of Russia, a combined allied army under Wellesley pushed into Spain, defeating the French at Salamanca and taking the capital Madrid. In the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Joseph Bonaparte's army in the Battle of Vitoria. Pursued by the armies of Britain, Spain and Portugal, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, no longer getting sufficient support from a depleted France, led the exhausted and demoralized French forces in a fighting withdrawal across the Pyrenees during the winter of 1813–1814.
The years of fighting in Spain were a heavy burden on France's Grande Armée. While the French were victorious in battle, they were eventually defeated, as their communications and supplies were severely tested and their units were frequently isolated, harassed or overwhelmed by partisans fighting an intense guerrilla war of raids and ambushes. The Spanish armies were repeatedly beaten and driven to the peripheries, but they would regroup and relentlessly hound and demoralize the French troops. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had unwittingly provoked a total war, to call the conflict the "Spanish Ulcer".[13][14]
War and revolution against Napoleon's occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, promulgated by the Cortes of Cádiz, later a cornerstone of European liberalism.[15] The burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, increased political instability, and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spain's American colonies and the independence of Brazil, which remained a monarchy, after severing ties with Portugal.
TTI-544221
