Minuteman/Fowler

[hanshi]

The thread concerning bayonets on fowlers sort of brings up a puzzling (to me) question. It also relates back to a thread on muskets vs fowlers.

I've always thought of "muskets" (the term) as relating to military use and "fowler" as a civilian arm. Is it heretical to call a fowler "a musket"? I often refer to mine as a "musket" as it's easier to say and more descriptive for those not into the hobby.

And what exactly was the minuteman's weapon? I always assumed it was his family smoothbore.

Anyone care to elaborate? This is a gray area for me.

 

[Jason Lewis]

fowlers were pressed into service from time to time and especially during the revolutionary war. gunsmiths would cut down the forestock and solder on a bayonet lug, and taa daa, military weapon. there are several surviving examples in the grinslad book.

 

[Stophel]

A musket is a "full length" military gun, made to take a bayonet (in 18th and 19th century usage).

Most people today will call ANY muzzleloading gun a "musket"....one of my MANY peeves... :nono:

:grin:

 

[Coot]

A minuteman was a civilian who belonged to the local militia and furnished his own weapon. Fowlers were common but depending on locale & financial means, rifles were also carried.

 

[spudnut]

A musket is a "full length" military gun, made to take a bayonet (in 18th and 19th century usage).

Most people today will call ANY muzzleloading gun a "musket"....one of my MANY peeves... :nono:

:grin:

Or worse yet "Musket Loaders" :youcrazy:

 

[Jason Lewis]

A musket is a "full length" military gun, made to take a bayonet (in 18th and 19th century usage).

Most people today will call ANY muzzleloading gun a "musket"....one of my MANY peeves... :nono:

:grin:

same here.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I guess that describes anyone who ever loaded a musket, no? :haha:

 

[Richard Allen]

...and that would make the guys that fired them Musketeers! :hmm:

 

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Were there not also "Commitees" in some local areas that group purchased muskets for the use of protecting the area if the malitia was called up ?

 

[dave_person]

Hi Hanshi,
It is confusing because it is a "grey" area. Civilian fowling guns came in all shapes and sizes. Some were sturdy guns that could be retrofitted with a bayonet and pressed into service and called a musket. Others were lighter and smaller caliber that could be used as a military gun in a pinch but were probably too fragile for long hard service. The term musket almost always refers to a gun built for military service and dates back to the Spanish during the late 16th century. In those early days, muskets were very large-bore, heavy weapons designed to kill soldiers encased in armor. They did not have bayonets. In practical terms, a musket is simply a very sturdy, large bore fowling gun built for military service, which includes regulars and militia. They also tend to have bores within set standards of caliber for obvious logistical and supply reasons.

dave

 

[dave_person]

Hi Hanshi,
I am sorry for the double post. I realized after posting above that I did not address your second question. Minutemen or militia were derived from the late 16th century "trained" or "trayned" bands of civilians organized in England. I believe they were the result of England's almost constant fear of invasion (mainly from France), a fear heightened by the Spanish Armada of 1588. In arming these civilian groups, the government specified certain requirements for firearms. In early colonial America, the English colonies kept up the trained band tradition and required citizens to keep guns of certain very broad specs or kept local arsenals available to be used by the militia. The watershed event of King Phillip's War exposed the incompetence of the trained bands and forced the colonies to re-evaluate their militia. Moreover, the crown re-asserted control over the colonies after the debacles of King Phillip's War in New England and Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. That control, the subsequent minor wars during the early 18th century, and the French and Indian war energized efforts to better organize militia units, which prompted many colonies to order quasi-military arms from England and store them in local arsenals. Therefore, by the time of the Revolution, most militia units from the more populated areas and towns either were armed with muskets from communal arsenals or private weapons ("muskets") that were within a broad range of government ordered specifications as to length, caliber, and mounts for bayonets. Certainly, many civilian soldiers not associated directly with the larger militia units or those from remote frontier and rural locations came armed early in the war with whatever they had, but the militias mostly had fairly standardized arms.

dave

 

[hanshi]

Thanks for the info. About all I knew for sure was that the smooth bore predominated.

 

[Tommy Bruce]

Hanshi, you are correct about the smoothbores. Rifle use was very regionalized. Those militia men likely had a combination of fowling pieces, first model (long land pattern) Brown bess's or any other type of military musket left over from the F & I war. You might use this as a chance to educate the public about personal ownership of firearms when you are at an event with the public around.