Introduction:

The Revolutionary War would be the last of its kind in terms of the weapons that were used in battle. Muzzle loading rifles and pistols along with bayonets were the main weapons used in this war. Rifles had been invented at this point in history, but they were not used as much as other weapons in this war. Rifles were used in Saratoga in 1777 by the American frontiersmen and the British were slaughtered there mainly because they used smooth barreled muskets in the battle. Even though these weapons were the best of their time, they were still inefficient and ineffective for many reasons. Even the best soldiers during this war were limited to only 2 or 3 rounds a minute due to the fact that they had to load each and every bullet into the muzzle of their musket or pistol. Even when these soldiers had loaded their weapons, they would most often miss their target because the accuracy of these weapons was so terrible. Most muskets and pistols were only accurate for shots of up to fifteen feet or less. Cannons were also used widely in the American Rvolution, both on the battle field and at sea.
The technology involving cannons increased slightly during and shortly after the American Revolution, but not nearly as much as the technology for muskets and pistols did. The way in which weapons were produced at the time of the American Revolution greatly contributed to this problem of inefficiency. The technology was not yet available for weapons to be assembled in the same fashion over and over again. The idea of interchangeable parts and assembly lines would not come until the early 1800's. Even if someone had invented rifles before or during the American Revolution, they probably would not have been very efficient anyway. The invention of interchangeable parts before the war of 1812 would go on to show that it was very important for guns to be produced in the same fashion. This would lead to better accuracy and to the invention of the rifle later on. The invention of rifles at the beginning of the 19th century would also improve the number of rounds a soldier could get off dramatically.

Revolutionary War Weapons

There were four common weapons that were used in the American Revolution. They were musket, pistol, cannon, and saber. Each weapon has its individual outlook and used. Some of them are light and some of them are heavy; some of them were use to shot, and some of them were use to stab.
One of the most commonly used weapons in the Revolution was the Musket. The musket was a big rifle size weapon with a very large bullet and barrel. Because of this, the Musket was very clumsy. The bullet was sphere shaped,and is about 71 mm in size. Now that may seem small, but it’s really big compared to a modern pistol at about 22-mm. The musket’s bullets are very large and so is the gun compared to today’s weapons.
The Musket’s range and aim was very poor. The bullet was pushed out of the gun with great force, but not with much direction. In modern rifles, the sphere bullet is pushed and rolled out of the gun in a spiraling motion. This gives the rifle a strait shot hitting its target.
The Musket became a real pain on the battlefield. First off, it could barely hit anything, and second, it took a long time to reload. First, the soldier must remove the ramrod. Then he must insert the paper cartridge of gunpowder into the barrel. Then pack it in with the ramrod, insert the bullet, pack that in and put the ramrod back into it’s holder. The whole process took about a minute and a half, and that was a long time on a battlefield.
There were four different types before it stopped being used. The first type was the matchlock. It worked by a match cord being lit by the pull of the trigger to ignite gunpowder, which would blast the lead ball out of the barrel. The second type of musket that came out was the wheel lock type. The way that the wheel lock worked was a metal wheel ould spin against another piece of metal, which would set off a spark etc. The third type was the flintlock. The flintlock worked like this. The clamps above the trigger had two pieces of flint attached to them. Which would scrape against a piece of steel (with the pull of the trigger), which would ignite gunpowder, and shoot the lead ball out of the barrel. It only took a tenth of a second for this process to complete. The fourth type of musket was the cap lock. It was made in 1836. It worked by pulling the trigger and making the cap explode and igniting the gunpowder, etc.
Another frustration by the soldiers was fighting on rainy days. Often when the flint scrapes the metal and created a spark, the rain prevented the spark from burning the gunpowder. The Musket was very simple when it came to how it worked.
The musket is said to have been designed by the Duke of Alva to fight against the Dutch. The musket had a length of six to seven feet. It had a range of one hundred yards, that’s ninety meters long. Also the musket weighed forty pounds. It appeared some time in the 16th century in Spain and France. The invention of interchangeable parts and the assembly line later in the 19th century would greatly improve the reliability and accuracy of muskets. At the time of the American Revolution, grooved barrels had been invented, but very few weapons had this feature that improved accuracy and distance. The assembly line and other advances in technology later in the 19th century would make it possible for the mass production of groove barreled rifles. These rifles would become more and more reliable and accurate as technology improved. The invention of breech loading, which enabled soldiers to load rifles from the butt end, made it possible to get off 4 times as many shots in a minute in most cases. These innovations eliminated the need to use muskets in battle, and that is what makes the study of American Revolution weaponry so interesting and important.
Soldiers thought that the musket was better that the rifle, because it was easier to slide the lead ball down the smooth barrel than the rifle’s bullet being forced down into the grooves of the barrel. In 1600 the bayonet was made just for the musket in the city of Bayonne, France. In 1675 the ring bayonets were made. Now the bayonets were used as plugs for the musket’s barrel. The Americans used the Brown Bess (musket) in 1775. The Brown Bess was cheap and simple.
Another kind of weapon that they used in the war is the pistol. Pistols were mostly used as personal weapons. Many officers and other mmanding men would carry pistols. Pistols were very small, most about the size of a banana. Like the Musket, pistols have poor range and poor accuracy. The pistol was usually a .50 caliber gun. That was very big compared to modern guns, and it was much clumsier.
The pistol was probably the one gun with the least range. You would probably have to stand no farther that fifteen feet away to hit something. If you stood any farther than that, you probably wouldn’t hit your target. Like the musket, the pistol contained a sphere shaped bullet and is pushed out like that of a musket. That means that like the Musket, a pistols aim is very poor.
Probably the most powerful weapon used in the war, was the cannon. A cannon shot a solid iron projectile at very high speed. The cannon was about 2-3 meters long (variable size) and some weighed over a ton.
Cannons were used in many field battles during the Revolutionary war. A field piece cannon was usually used in an open field battle. A field piece had a built in carriage so the cannon could be easily moved with horses. Most field pieces used a six-pound cannon ball.
Cannons shot an iron ball. They were good at forts to kill the invaders. Most cannons used a six-pound cannonball. Every ship was equipped with at least two cannons. A field piece cannon was usually used in an open field battle.
Cannons were also used on ships of war. Every ship was equipped with at least two cannons. Many boats used the thirty-two-pound cannons like the one in the diagram. Others liked to have a farther range with lighter cannon balls. The cannons on ships varied from ship to ship.
Cannons also were used as defense in a fort. They were good at fending off invading troops and sometimes-even ships. The thirty-two-pound cannon was usually used to defend forts because it brought a big punch to soldiers.
The Swedish made the first cannon during the 17th and 18th century. But Encarta says something different. It says the maker of the cannon was a German monk.
Cannons can get up to two or three meters long. That is very long. A cannon snaps back to put it back together for another fire. Cannons were probably one of the strongest weapons in the Revolutionary War or almost. A modern cannon was fired from the breech.
The last kind of weapon used in the war was the saber. Officers and generals mostly used the saber. The saber’s main purpose was to basically direct troops in a land battle.
Sabers were made of steel, had 88 centimeter-long blades. Sabers were flexible and triangular, very long, and could even be deadly. They were sometimes used to stab enemies during a bayonet charge, but they were rarely used for that because that could lead to bad results on the user’s side. The ways that they used them for commanding troops was to point directions to them, or by stabbing people that did not do what they wanted them to do. The saber is made out of metal. Sometimes they were made out of silver. Occasionally they were made out of bronze. The rarest kind of saber was golden.
Sometimes they would use their sabers during a bayonet charge to stab enemy troops. Most generals didn’t do that because they were to be behind their attacking army directing it, not attacking with it. But officers sometimes do that, so it’s good that they carry a saber. The saber would be used to stab people. During the Revolutionary War was when sabers were used the most. They were used to make people charge. They were also used to block bullets.
Sabers were some of the most useful weapons in the war. They were mainly used for directing troops in battle.
Sabers were rarely used for combat. They had less range than guns and the other weapons, but were very shiny. That shininess was both a good and a bad thing. The other army could see the shiny blade of a saber from a while away, but so could your army, so you could still give them directions from far away.
A saber is a sword-like thing with a hand guard. It kind of looks like a ninja sword with a cup to keep the hand from being severed. The blade is curved. The hilt has a hand guard.
They used many types of swords in the Revolutionary War. One type they used frequently was a saber. Another sword they used was a hunting sword; they used it to get rabbits for dinner. The last kind they used was a charging sword.
Sometimes sabers were used to capture people. Sometimes generals hit people with the flat side of the blade to knock them out. The most common thing sabers were used to do was to execute traitors. The saber was not the best weapon in the war, but it was important for controlling troops.

Conclusion

In conclusion, weapons were very important to the Revolutionary War. Without weapons, there would be no war because no one is hurting the other one. You cannot fight in a battle without any weapons. Because of weapons can hurt people and cause them to die. Each weapon has different characteristics, so it is important that you have the proper weapon carried on you when you are in war. If you carry a cannon by yourself, you won’t be able to shot anyone immediately if you see an enemy, or you cannot protect yourself when you are in danger. You should used some lightweight weapon if you are by yourself or you might just follow other troops and follow what your captain said so.
Musket, pistols, cannons, and saber were the four basic weapons that troops and the generals used during the war. They were the most common weapons back than. However, there were some other weapons that were used there. Different people used different kind of weapons. Most soldiers owned themselves a musket, officers carried pistols, and generals kept a saber around them and a group of troops fired a cannon projectile. But these weapons are a lot different comparing the guns and missiles the world is having now.
No matter how modern the weapons are using now comparing to the old historical weapons, each one of them are very important in battles, and are important to modern wars. Weapons are the keys to winning wars.
After days of researching, besides turning in my report of weapons that had used during the American Revolution, I also learn a lot more about weapons in the Revolutionary War and in the past era. Although I didn’t know all of them yet, but I remember the most common musket, pistol, cannon, and saber.

Bibliography

Canby, Courtland. A History of weaponry (1st edition). New York: Hawthorne Books, 1963.

Halbritter, Kurt. Arms through the ages. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.

Moore, Warren. Weapons of the American Revolution and accoutrements. New York: Promontory Press, 1967.

Neumann, George C. The History of Weapons of the American Revolution. New York: Bonanza Books, 1967.

Morley, Tim. Revolutionary War Weapons. http://www.greeceny.com/arm/welch/weapons.htm