Class Book for the School of Musketry, Hythe: Prepared for the Use of OfficersWilford, Ernest Christian
History
Class Book for the School of Musketry, Hythe: Prepared for the Use of Officers
Wilford, Ernest Christian
Firearms; Gunpowder; Military education; Shooting, Military
The inconsiderable execution done by pieces of small calibre probably
caused the introduction of the muskets or mosquet, which originated in
Spain about the time of Francis I. They are said to have been first
employed extensively at the battle of Pavia, 1525; but, if we believe
Brantome, it was the Duke d’Alva who first brought them into use in the
armies, when during the reign of Philip II., he went to take upon him
the government of the Low Countries in the year 1567; but that only
means, he brought them more into fashion than they were till that time,
and that till then they were rarely used, at least in the field, on
account of their cumbrous nature. A Spanish army of 10,000 men sailed
from Carthagena, 27th April, 1567, _en route_ for the Netherlands, to do
which they had to cross the Alps. It was a picked body of troops, of
whom about 1,300 were cavalry. The Duke d’Alva formed them into three
divisions, and dispensed with artillery, not wishing to embarrass his
movements. Each company of foot was flanked by a body of soldiers,
carrying heavy muskets with rests attached to them.
~Lephanto, 1571.~
At the battle of Lephanto 1571, fought between the Venetians and Turks,
it is stated by the historian, that one chief reason why so few
Christians were killed in comparison, was because the Turks used for the
most part bows and arrows, whereas the former were supplied with
muskets.
~Caliver.~
A lighter kind of musket was called a caliver or calliver, which was
only a corruption of calibre, denoting that they were all of one guage,
as the original harquebuses were not of any particular length or bore;
the caliver was fired without a rest.
~Dimensions, 1621.~
Sir Thomas Kellie in his “Art Militaire,” published in 1621, says, “The
barrel of a musket should be four feet in length, the bore capable of
receiving bullets twelve whereof weigh a pound, previous to this some
had carried ten to the pound.”
~Hand-mortar, 1594.~
~From butt of musket.~
~By hand.~
~From muzzle.~
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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