By George C. Neumann
Used in large numbers by American
Colonists and French troops fighting against the British, the
“Charleville” muskets are the French arms that saved the American
Revolution.
The 18th century was a
period of incredible change that reshaped the political map of
Europe and the Western world—and that reshaping included the birth of our own
nation. Much of that change began with new arms and military tactics
that evolved in the late 1600s when military firearms were improved
by the addition of a bayonet that combined both the musket of the
musketeer and the traditional long pike of the foot
soldier. The French military was
the leader in these major innovations, and it was the most
progressive developer of firearms during the 17th and 18th
centuries. The French introduced the plug bayonet for military use
during the 1640s and the socket bayonet in the 1670s. Other advances
included the final practical flintlock mechanism before 1700 and the
creation of the first standard military musket in Europe in 1717.
The French also added bands—to facilitate removing the barrel for
cleaning—in 1728 and designed lighter firearm patterns. A smaller
bore size (.69 cal. vs. Britain’s .75 cal.) was chosen to reduce
weight in the field, and, in 1741, the steel ramrod was adopted. In
1754, a smaller officer’s shoulder arm was introduced, and the
French military installed the first non-corroding brass flashpan in
1777, which was the same year it produced the important center-ring
bayonet pattern. France also perfected the superior flake-type gun
flint. Those cumulative steps led to a series of tactical
innovations on the battlefields, spawning new wars and world
alliances—from which America would not be
excluded. The loss of Canada to
Britain during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) motivated
France to provide its innovative arms to the rebelling American
Colonists and, by supplying as many as 200,000 muskets for
Washington’s troops, saved our War for Independence. At least 90
percent of the small arms or their components used by the American
Colonists came from Europe, and the majority were French. This
article is intended to identify the most typical French arms that
made our final victory possible. To
understand the basic French firearms available in North America and
those used in the Revolutionary War, they have been combined into
three chronological periods:
Group I: The Compagnies
Franches de la Marine (circa 1730-1755)
While the British
settlers created farms and towns in the European tradition
(including a preference for heavy muskets and fowlers), settlers in
New France focused on exporting furs and fish, which, in turn,
required preservation of the existing forests. Thus, their early
longarms were usually lighter, of smaller bore and better balanced
for traveling in rough terrain. Captured examples were, in fact,
preferred by a number of Britain’s new light infantry companies
learning to fight in thick woodlands during the French and Indian
War. From 1683 to 1755, the only
professional troops defending French Canada were the Compagnies
Franches. These units were under the naval ministry and differed
from the regular army in uniforms, arms and accouterments. Two basic
firearms patterns predominated from 1730 to 1755: the civilian
hunting gun, or fusil de chasse, and the military muskets, fusils
ordinaire and grenadier. (Most collectors use the term “fusil” in
the British manner to identify a lighter and smaller bore musket. In
France, the word referred to any smoothbore shoulder arm.) Most were
supplied under navy contracts from the independent gunmaker at
Tulle, but they were supplemented by others from St.
Etienne. The designs were very
similar, having pinned smoothbore barrels on slim, graceful walnut
stocks ending in a distinctive Roman-nose butt with a high sloping
comb. The locks included a flat/beveled edge plate, a swansneck cock
and a faceted flashpan. Their Tulle-style barrels were octagonal at
the breech for about 9 1/2" below a 2" section of 16 flats and an
incised ring before becoming round for the rest of their length.
Iron pipes secured a wooden ramrod. The civilian hunting pattern
averaged 60" in length, mounted a 44 1/2", .62-cal. barrel and was
stocked to the muzzle. It served as the typical longarm of Canada’s
trappers, hunters, militia and Indian allies in the Colonial wars.
Longer variations, fusil fin de chasse, having finer details and
often brass furniture, were available for the more affluent hunters
and as presentation pieces to Indian leaders. These civilian arms
had no sling swivels but did include raised carvings around the
lock, sideplate and barrel tang.
The common military musket was very similar but had the
upper stock cut back to accept a socket bayonet, a longer 46 1/2"
barrel with a larger .66-cal. bore, and averaged around 7 to 8 lbs.
in weight. An alternate form, originally developed for the
grenadiers, added a center barrel band to secure a round, shoulder
sling swivel on the inboard side (the second ring was attached
behind the lower lock screw). Both of these military patterns
included swivels after 1729. Most grenadier examples had shorter 44
1/2" barrels. The muskets from St. Etienne followed the Tulle form,
but they often included iron furniture that copied the Army Model
1728 sideplate, trigger guard and buttplate. In 1744, three barrel
bands were added to create Tulle’s “fusil domino” pattern, which saw
little service in Canada. Although
not officially part of France’s military aid during the
Revolutionary War, many captured Tulle arms were already in American
hands from earlier encounters, and their parts are often found
remounted on Colonial guns.
Group II: The Regular
French Army in North America (1755-1763)
At the outbreak of the
French and Indian War, France sent regular army regiments (troupes
de terre) to defend New France beginning in 1755. They brought the
heavier, standard muskets designed for open-field fighting in
Europe. Most were produced under the supervision of artillery
officers at the three royal manufactories: Charleville, St. Etienne
and Maubeuge. Tulle became the fourth in 1777—primarily for naval
arms. This period is best typified by two patterns, each identified
by its original date of issue: the Model 1717 and the Model
1728. Both were approximately 62"
in length and mounted a 46 3/4" barrel having a .69-cal. bore. The
military walnut stocks omitted raised border carvings, but kept the
Roman-nose butt with a high sloping comb. The flat/beveled lock held
a swansneck cock plus a faceted flashpan and outside bridle. Total
weight was 8 to 9 lbs. The iron
furniture included a long, thin, worm-like pinned butt tang, a
double-pointed trigger guard (with two screws), a flat “L” form
sideplate and two round sling swivels on the inboard side. The round
barrel’s breech was octagonal. The original wooden rammers were
replaced by steel rods beginning in 1741.
The Model 1717 was the first European standard-issue
military arm. It had a pinned barrel, plus a center band to secure
the forward side sling swivel. The distinctive lock is identified by
a vertical exterior bridle between the frizzen and frizzen spring
screws. Some 48,000 were manufactured.
Although resembling the Model 1717, the Model 1728 had a
horizontal exterior bridle and added three barrel bands. In 1754,
the round sling swivels moved underneath the stock, but few of that
pattern reached Canada. The Model 1728 was used in North America by
the 1730s, and it became France’s workhorse musket until 1763. A
total of 375,000 were produced.
Group III: France’s Aid
to the American Revolution (1777-1783)
Following the momentous
loss of New France to Britain in the French and Indian War, a new
musket design, the Model 1763, eliminated the familiar Roman-nose
profile and established a basic form that would endure through the
Napoleonic years. To provide the
embattled American rebels with aid before openly declaring war on
Great Britain, the French first set up a dummy trading company,
Rodrique Hortalez & Cie, operated by Caron de Beaumarchais.
Working with American agents, primarily Franklin, Deane and Lee,
they then condemned most of the muskets in their arsenals that had
been produced prior to the new Model 1777 to make them available for
shipment. The first of many Beaumarchais deliveries began in the
spring of 1777 when three of his ships arrived in Portsmouth, N.H.,
carrying 37,000 stands of arms. At the same time, another vessel was
sent to Philadelphia bearing 11,000 arms and parts. The New
Hampshire shipments equipped much of the Patriot army at Saratoga in
October 1777, and, by 1778, the majority of Washington’s regiments
had replaced their earlier disparate mix of arms with French
ones. After France officially
entered the war early in 1778, it continued to send vast amounts of
war materials. In addition to the early patterns already described,
four models developed after the French and Indian War comprised most
of the French arms supplied for use in American during the
Revolution—the Model 1763, Model 1766, Model 1774 and Model
1777. The Model 1763 retained the
three-band design and eliminated the traditional Roman-nose
buttstock for a straight lower profile. The barrel was shortened to
44 3/4"; but it still kept a .69-cal. bore. The old octagonal breech
was replaced with a round form with flat sides. A flat/beveled lock
remained, but a new ring-supported cock was added. Moreover, an
unusual, tunnel-like ramrod spring covered the channel between the
two upper barrel bands. Its iron furniture, in turn, adopted a
simple lobed butt tang (with a top screw), as well as bell-shaped
sling swivels underneath the stock. Total production reached
88,000. The army quickly found the
Model 1763 too heavy, which led to the lighter Model 1766 pattern.
The 1766 reduced weight by shortening the lock, replacing the long,
iron rammer cover with a spring under the breech and thinning the
barrel walls. The steel ramrod also changed from a trumpet shape to
a buttonhead. Today’s collectors commonly refer to these
1760s-period muskets as “Charlevilles,” although they were produced
at all three royal manufacturers. Production reached 140,000
muskets. From 1768 to 1773,
numerous earlier models were renovated in France. This included
adding a third retaining spring behind the lowest barrel band on the
Model 1766. Beginning in 1770, a rounded lock was introduced, as
well as a lower, less-defined stock comb. The Model 1774 then
shortened the trigger guard’s forward end and added a clip
projecting out under the muzzle to snap over the bayonet’s new rear
socket ring. The 1774 was the latest model supplied to the American
rebels, and 70,000 were produced.
The innovative Model 1777 became the standard issue for the
French army through the Napoleonic Wars, and it was not included in
shipments to the rebels. The model did, however, equip General
Rochambeau’s regiments landing in Newport, R.I., in 1780 and others
among the 16,000 French troops that served on American soil during
the war. The new musket retained the three barrel bands and a 44
3/4" barrel, yet introduced a new sloping brass flashpan, cut a
cheek rest out of the stock’s comb, installed two finger ridges on a
shortened trigger guard and adopted a new, center-ring bayonet. Few
of the early versions of this Model 1777 used here in America
survived. They had a unique visible retaining screw on the outboard
side of the top barrel band and lacked a rear spring for the center
band. The avalanche of arms and
their components, ammunition, accouterments, naval vessels,
clothing, loans, technical advisors, volunteer officers and regular
army regiments that France poured into America from 1777 until 1783
played a key role in the success of the Revolution. Our incredible
victory resulted from the dreams, courage and brutal suffering of
the colonists and their leaders; but without the aid from France,
supplemented by efforts of Spain and the Low Countries, they could
not have prevailed. As historical
collectors, these surviving French arms speak to us of the
significant price paid to win our freedom and the help that finally
made it possible. Special
appreciation is due to Joseph C. Devine and Lance Rickenberg for the
photography for this article done at J.C. Devine’s facilities.
Charleville
Fore-Ends/Muzzles
This fore-end is typical of the
Tulle-type musket issued to the Compagnies Franches (1.). Its stock
was cut back for a socket bayonet (top stud) and the single center
barrel band held an inboard shoulder sling swivel that identifies it
as a grenadier pattern. Rolled sheet iron thimbles secured a wooden
ramrod. The Model 1717 (2.) had a pinned barrel, wooden rammer, a
single center band, and mounted a 3/4" iron strip below the stock’s
tip. The three barrel bands on the Model 1728 (3.) have a rear
spring only for the square-backed top band. After the French and
Indian War, this revised Model 1763 (4.) lengthened the top
double-strap barrel band and added a middle band spring. A
tunnel-like iron ramrod cover reached between the two upper bands.
The earlier wooden ramrods changed to steel beginning in 1741. A
lighter 1766 pattern (5.) added a sloping tail to the top band,
dropped the long rammer cover and altered its metal rod to a button
head. The French bayonet stud position was changed frequently. The
innovative Model 1777 (6.) introduced a wavy edge between the top
band’s straps, dropped the two upper band springs and added a screw
head to the lower outboard side of the top band. Its steel ramrod,
in turn, had reverted to a trumpet head in 1774.
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