The War of 1812 (20 page)

Musket:
The smooth-bore, muzzle-loaded flintlock musket was the basic infantry weapon of both armies. Rate of fire by trained infantry was optimum 4–5 rounds per minute, but in battle conditions 2–3 rounds per minute.

AMERICAN Model 1795 Musket: was 5 feet long, weighed 11 pounds, fired a soft lead ball of .65 in. weighing under 1 ounce or “buck and ball” combination of one musket ball and three buckshot. Range: theoretically less than 250 yards, effective range 100–150 yards. Bayonet was usually 15 inches. These muskets were made in the US, but American forces also used French and British weapons.

BRITISH, The India Pattern had a 39 inch barrel, weighed 9 pounds and 11 ounces, fired a ball of .71 calibre weighing just over 1 ounce. Range: theoretically 250 yards but effective range
100–150 yards. Bayonet 17 inches. There was also the Short Land pattern which had a 42-inch barrel.

Rifle:
Instead of a smooth-bore a rifle had a spiral-grooved barrel that gave the projectile greater range and accuracy than a musket ball. Loading the tight-fitting bullet required a minute and the barrel fouled from gunpowder residue so quickly that after firing only a few shots the weapon became unserviceable until the barrel was cleaned.

AMERICAN: Rifles were Model 1803 or 1807 which were very similar to each other, both .54 calibre, 33 inches long, and not designed to carry a bayonet.

BRITISH: The Baker rifle was most common. Its barrel was 30–30 1/2 inches long and had seven grooves. Calibre was .62. Its sword bayonet was 23 inches long.

Sword:
AMERICAN: Swords were issued to all commissioned and non-commissioned officers and to infantry musicians and to all ranks of mounted units. Swords had straight blades while sabres had curved ones and were carried by all ranks of light artillery and light dragoons, and by non-commissioned officers of rifle regiments. There was little standardization of type of sword, length of blade, design and decoration. Medical staff usually wore a light, short, straight blade sword.

BRITISH: Officers were required to carry swords, and there were specific patterns for different regiments and ranks. Occasionally, officers purchased more serviceable dirks and sabres for campaign use. Artillery gunners were issued short swords called “hangers.” Bandsmen might carry a curved blade, light weight sword.

Pike:
AMERICAN: A few militia companies carried pikes, but the only regular unit to use them was the 15th Infantry, commanded by Colonel Zebulon M. Pike. One-third of this regiment used them at the battle at York on April 27, 1813, but after Pike's death their use ceased. The pike had a handle of ash wood 10 or 11 feet long with a one or two-foot blade. Pikemen carried a short musket slung on their backs.

BRITISH: Pikes were carried by sergeants of battalion and grenadier companies. The ash handle was 9 feet long with a 123/4-inch blade.

Cavalry was used more for scouting, carrying messages, and any other tasks where a horse was useful than for fighting. US cavalry carried a sabre and pistol that might be a Model 1805 of .54 calibre or a Model 1811 of .69 calibre.

British cavalry carried either the Eliott carbine: 28-inch barrel, calibre .66, or the Paget carbine: 16-inch barrel, calibre .66. The government-issue sword for light cavalry units was the 1796 Light Cavalry sabre with a curved blade of about 33 inches length. No British heavy cavalry served in North America. Militia cavalry units might carry weapons of any type.

The two main types of field weapons were guns (sometimes called cannons) and howitzers. Other weapons used were carronades, mortars and rockets. All but rockets were smooth-bore and muzzle-loaders.

An artillery weapon was loaded with a cartridge (a flannel or paper and flannel bag filled with gunpowder), followed by a wad, and then a ball with a round piece of wood (a sabot) attached, all of these rammed down the barrel. The cartridge was pricked through the vent (the hole on top of the gun's breech) and a hollow tube filled with powder was then inserted. This powder was lighted, it burned down and ignited the powder in the cartridge. Each gun crew had a gun layer who would aim by looking down the length of the barrel at the target.

Gun (long gun):
Fired on flat trajectory and long range. Calibre denominated by weight of its roundshot — e.g. a 6-pounder fired a 6-pound roundshot (or cannon ball). The 6-pounder was the most common artillery piece used by both armies.

Howitzer:
A shorter and stubbier weapon than the gun with a shorter range. It fired an exploding shell on a curved trajectory over the heads of friendly troops or over obstacles.

Mortar:
Very short barrel, angled upward and used for high-angle fire. Its function was to drop an explosive shell behind earthworks or other defences as in siege work. Sea mortars (used on ships) were
heavier and longer than land mortars. Extreme effective range for 8–13 inch mortars was 2,000 to 2,900 yards.

Carronade:
A short barrel and light weight weapon. Most effective up to 500 yards. Used more on ships than on land. Required a smaller gun crew than a long gun.

Projectiles:
Roundshot was a solid sphere of cast iron. Ranges for a 6-pounder gun were 1000 yards theoretically, and 800 effectively.

Canister (U.S.) or case shot (British):
Fired by both guns and howitzers. A tin filled with small lead bullets and intended for anti-personnel use. Range 200–500 yards.

Grapeshot:
A canvas bag with wood or metal bottom holding iron balls of various sizes. When fired, the sack burst or burned releasing the balls. It was used more on ships than on land.

Shell:
Hollow sphere filled with powder designed to explode by means of a fuse at a predetermined range. It was fired by guns, howitzers, and mortars.

Shrapnel (spherical case shot):
Used only by Royal Artillery. A shell loaded with lead bullets as well as powder fired from both guns and howitzers against enemy personnel. Range 800–1000 yards.

Rate of fire:
1 to 2 rounds per minute. Faster for smaller guns. All guns had to be re-aimed for each shot because no artillery was recoilless.

Ships carried long guns and carronades. Crewmen and marines might be armed with muskets, pistols, cutlasses, axes, and pikes.

As well as solid shot, a ship's gun might fire chain shot, consisting of two balls joined by a chain, or bar shot, consisting of two balls joined by a bar. They were fired against ships in order to destroy rigging, sails, and wooden bulwarks. This ammunition could also devastate large bodies of men.

Naval firepower was measured both by the number of guns that could fire from the side of a ship (the broadside), whether through
gun ports or from the deck, and by the size of the shot. It ranged from 4 pounds up to 68 pounds. If two fleets had the same number of guns but those of one fleet were heavier, its broadside weight would be greater and that could mean it would do more damage than the other fleet's broadside.

Bailey, D.W.
British Military Longarms 1715–1865
. New York: Arms and Armour Press, 1986.

Chartrand, R.
Uniforms and Equipment of the United States Forces in the War of 1812
. Youngstown, NY: Old Fort Niagara Association, 1992.

Gooding, S. James.
An Introduction to British Artillery in North America
. Ottawa: Museum Restoration Service, 1972

D.E. Graves' books are useful sources. See
Field of Glory. The Battle of Crysler's Farm, 1813
. Appendix A and titles listed in Selected Further Reading.

Malcomson, R.
Lords of the Lake. The Naval War on Lake Ontario, 1812–1814
, 17–18, 32, 46, 169–70. See Appendices for number and weight of guns of the British and American squadrons at different times.

McConnell,David.
British Smooth-Bore Artillery: A Technological Study
. Ottawa: Environment Canada, 1988.

1
J.C.A Stagg,
Mr. Madison's War. Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983), p. 162.

1
20 April, 1812, cited in N.K Risjord, “1812: Conservatives, War Hawks and the Nation's Honor.”
William and Mary Quarterly
, 3rd Series, XVIII (April, 1961), 205.

2
Cited in Stagg, pp. 228–29. Benjamin F. Stickney, the American agent sent to Canada to examine its defences, presented his report in February 1812.

3
Public Archives of Canada, C676, pp. 217–18.

4
C. Benn,
The Iroquois in the War of 1812
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998), p. 26.

5
R.S. Allen,
His Majesty's Indian Allies: British Indian Policy in the Defence of Canada, 1774–1815 (
Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1992), pp. 121–22.

6
William S. Dudley, ed.,
The Naval War of 1812, A Documentary
History
(Washington, D.C: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, 1985), vol. I, 270.

7
Cited in B. Perkins, ed.,
The Causes of the War of 1812. National Honor or National Interest?
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963), pp. 116, 117.

1
War on the Detroit.—the Chronicles of Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville and the Capitulation by an Ohio Volunteer
. M.M. Quaife, ed. (Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1940), p. 81.

2
Public Archives of Canada, C676, pp. 168–7.

3
Brock to Col. Baynes, York, 29 July 1812.
Documentary History of the Campaigns upon the Niagara Frontier 1812–1814
. E.A. Cruikshank, ed. (9 vols. Welland, Ont.: Lundy's Lane Historical Society, 1893–1906), vol.3, 153.

4
In F.B. Tupper,
The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B
. (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1847), p. 262.

5
Brock to Lord Liverpool, 29 August.
Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812
. William Wood, ed. (3 vols. Toronto: Champlain Society, 1920–1928), I, 508.

6
Report of the Trial of Brigadier General Hull
(New York: Eastburn Kirk, 1814), p. 40. Evidence of Major Snelling. Stagg, p. 205 and n.133.

7
M. Smith, A
Geographical View of the Province of Upper Canada
. (Philadelphia: J. Bioren, 1813), p. 89. On Smith himself, see
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
. Frances G. Halpenny, gen. ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983), vol. 5, 765–66.

8
Porter to Eustis, 30 August 1812 in
Documentary History of the Campaigns upon the Niagara Frontier
, vol.3, 225.

9
The Naval War of 1812
, vol. I, 166–70. The figures come from A.L. Burt,
The United States, Great Britain and British North America from the Revolution to the Establishment of Peace after the War of 1812
(New York: Russell and Russell, 1961), pp. 317–18 and George E.E. Nichols, “Notes on Nova Scotia Privateers,”
Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society
, XIII (1908), 111–12, 131–52.

10
Cited in C. P. Stacey, “The War of 1812 in Canadian History,” In
The Defended Border, Upper Canada and the War of 1812
. M.
Zaslow, ed. (Toronto: Macmillan, 1964), p. 334. Stacey assumed the speaker was Rev. John Strachan.

1
Cited in J.M. Hitsman,
The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History
(Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1965), p. 142.

2
W.S. MacNutt,
The Atlantic Provinces: The Emergence of a Colonial Society,1712–1857
(Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1965), p. 150;
Dictionary of Canadian Bi
o
graphy
(Toronto, 1990), vol. 12, 1081–83.

3
D.E. Graves,
Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler's Farm
(Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 1999), p. 303.

4
Cited by Charles Humphries in
The Defended Border
, p. 258.

5
D.E. Graves, ed.,
Merry Hearts Make Light Days: The War of 1812 Journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur
(Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1993), p. 117.

6
Daniel A. Nelson, “Hamilton and Scourge: Ghost Ships of the War of 1812,”
National Geographic
, vol. 163 (March, 1983), 289–313; Emily Cain,
Ghost Ships. Hamilton and Scourge: Historical Treasures from the War of 1812
(Toronto: Musson, 1983).

7
G.T. Altoff, in W.J. Welsh and D.C. Skaggs, eds.,
War on the Great Lakes. Essays Commemorating the 175
^th
Anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie
(Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1991), p. 13.

8
Benn,
The Iroquois in the War of 1812
, pp. 114–21

9
Captain J. FitzGibbon to Captain William J. Kerr, 30 March 1818 in
Documentary History of the Campaigns upon the Niagara Frontier
, vol. 6, 1813 (part 2), 120–21.

10
Benn,
The Iroquois in the War of 1812
, pp. 145–47

11
Graves,
Field of Glory
, pp. 198, 360–64

12
Cited in
Defended Border
, p. 81.

13
Graves,
Field of Glory
, p. 299.

14
Merritt's journal in
Select Documents
, III, 607–08.

15
Major General Hall to Governor Tompkins, 30 December 1813 in
Documentary History of the Campaigns upon the Niagara Frontier
, vol.9, 68.