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Weapons of the French and Indian War
18th century drill manual
The main firearm of both the French, English and Indians was the flintlock, smoothbore musket. The English used the 'Brown Bess' so called for its brown color. Accuracy of the Brown Bess was fair, as with most other muskets. The flintlocks replaced the heavier matchlocks and arquebuses by about 1670.The effective range is often quoted as 175 yards (160 m). The common French issue was the Charleville musket was a .69 caliber French musket used in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rifles were issued to the best marksmen in a regiment .
The introduction of the bayonet turned all musketeers into pikemen. Generally, in battles, two sides lined up and fired a few volleys at each other before one side charged with bayonets fixed.. For the Indians, bows and arrows stopped being battlefield weapons by 1700. The British met with disaster when trying to employ European strategy in the New World. Braddock's replacement, the earl of Loundon realized this and encouraged scouts and raiders who fought Indian style such as Major Robert Rogers and had him train English officers in these frontier tactics.
How to fire a musket
The rate of fire depended on the skill of the soldier, which was typically about 2-3 shots per minute. Smooth bore muskets in general have an accuracy of only about 50 to 100 meters. Military tactics of the period stressed mass volleys and massed bayonet charges, instead of individual marksmanship. Weapons were usually fired en masse at 50 yards (46 m) to inflict the greatest damage upon the enemy. Tomahawks
An axe used as a hand to hand weapon or a thrown weapon. Pipe tomahawks were trade items and often used to conclide a treaty or agreements. The word tomahawk comes from the Powhatan tribe.
Gorget
(left) Washington wearing a gorget, a vestigal piece of armor worn to protect the neck from sword blows. Often used to symbolize a commission. (right) An English officers gorget from the time of the French and Indian War.
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