List of infantry weapons in the American Revolution

This is a list of infantry weapons used in the American Revolutionary War.

American weapons

Brown Bess

Long Land Pattern "Brown Bess" musket and bayonet, used by both sides in the American Revolutionary War

The Brown Bess muzzle-loading smoothbore musket was one of the most commonly used weapons in the American Revolution. While this was a British weapon, it was used heavily by the American Colonists. This musket was used to fire a single shot ball, or a cluster style shot which fired multiple projectiles giving the weapon a “shotgun” effect. There were two variations of the Brown Bess: the Short Land Pattern and the Long Land Pattern. The Short Land was shorter, less bulky, less heavy than the Long Land. Most American fighters implemented the Long Land Pattern.

Long rifles

Long rifles were an American design of the 18th century, produced by individual German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania. Based on the Jäger rifle, long rifles known as "Pennsylvania Rifles" were used by snipers and light infantry throughout the Revolutionary War. The grooved barrel increased the range and accuracy by spinning a snugly fitted ball, giving an accurate range of 300 yards compared to 100 yards for smoothbore muskets. Drawbacks included the low rate of fire due to the complicated reloading process, the impossibility to fit it with a bayonet, the high cost, and lack of standardization that required extensive training with a particular rifle for a soldier to realize the weapon's full potential. Due to the drawbacks, George Washington argued for a limited role of rifles in the Colonial military, while Congress was more enthusiastic and authorized the raising of several companies of riflemen. Long rifles played a significant parts in the battles of Saratoga and New Orleans, where rifleman units picked off officers to disrupt British command and control, but required support by units armed with smoothbore muskets or by artillery to prevent the riflemen from being overrun.

Bayonet

The bayonet was a crucial weapon because of the ineffectiveness and low accuracy of the muskets. The weapon downfalls were made up by large infantry charges, in which bayonets were fixed on the ends of the guns. Both sides charged at one another in a large hand-to-hand conflict, with the bayonet leading the charge. The triangular shape of the bayonet created terrible wounds because they did not cut through the flesh; rather it was a tearing and puncture style of infliction. This was often worse than getting shot.

British Infantry Weapons

Rifles/Muskets

Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle

The Pattern 1776 Rifle was built by William Grice, and was based on German rifles in use by the British Army during its time. About 1,000 of these were built and used by the British Army. The rifle was given to light companies of regiments in the British Army during the American Revolution. The Gun is .62 Calibre with a 30.5 inch barrel

Ferguson rifle

The Ferguson rifle is the first breech-loading rifle to be adopted by the military. It had a much faster fire rate than muskets, and was one of the only rifles that could be reloaded while in the prone position. The cost was much higher than any other rifle used by the British military. It had an accurate range of approximately 100 yards with a 3–4 inch inaccuracy. The creator of this rifle, Major Patrick Ferguson, used approximately 100 of them with his men of 30,000; however when the Major was wounded, the rifles no longer were used and Ferguson’s unit was disbanded. It is known that only two of these rifles exist today.

Brown Bess Musket

The Brown Bess musket was the gun used by the British military from 1722 until about 1838. It was used throughout the Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. It was capable of firing approximately three to four shots per minute. The Brown Bess Musket was a flint-lock musket, meaning it would use flint in order to spark the gunpowder loaded into the gun to eventually cause the metal ball/bullet to leave the barrel. The Musket weighed in at about 10.5 pounds with a total length of 43.31 inches. Its accurate range was approximately 50 yards, with the total range being approximately 175 yards. The Brown Bess Musket was considerably less accurate than the Ferguson Rifle, and the Pattern 1776 rifle, but was more widely used due to its cheaper and more readily available parts.

French Weapons

Charleville musket

The Charleville musket was the primary musket used by French infantry during the American Revolution. Getting its name from the principal French arsenal located in Charleville, France in the Champagne-Ardenne province, this weapon had a general affective range of 50 yards and fired a .69-cal round. A typical Charleville musket is 60.00 inches in length, weighs an average of 10.06lb (loaded), and is capable of firing two rounds per minute. These single-shot-muzzle-loaded rifles contained iron sights and are notorious for being the superior weapon to the British ‘Brown Bess’ due to its lighter weight and (relatively) higher accuracy.

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Charleville

Numerous models of the Charleville musket were utilized in the American Revolution. The French shipped 11,000 muskets to Philadelphia, PA and 37,000 to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; both of these shipments contained model ‘1760’s’ muskets. The model 1777 was not shipped to American troops, however they were used as the primary armament for General Rochambeau’s regiments that departed for America in 1780. Many infantrymen utilized a 15-inch bayonet; according to many reports, bayonets may have accounted for over 1/3 of all kills.

Native American weapons

Tomahawk

A tomahawk, or war club, was the favorite weapon of the Native Americans during the revolutionary war. These traditional hatchets were often made of stone and wood and could be used for a variety of purposes. They were useful in hand-to-hand combat, could be thrown short distances, and were often used as tools. Tomahawks usually consisted of a light wooden handle and a thin square blade. More often than not, they would have one thick spike protruding from one end of the blade. These spikes could be used as tools or weapons. Finally, contrary to popular belief, Tomahawks very rarely had any decorative markings. Instead, they were simple and functional.