The Infantry Rifle, known since the Victorian era as the Baker rifle, was, in addition to the Hompesch rifle used by the 5th Battalion/60th Regiment of Foot, the flintlock rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. The Baker Rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel. The British Army was still issuing the Infantry Rifle even as late as the 1830s. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... Combatants Native Americans Colonial America/United States of America Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial and federal government and the indigenous peoples. ... Combatants Texas Mexico Commanders Stephen F. Austin Sam Houston Antonio López de Santa Anna Martin Perfecto de Cos Strength c. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Calibre redirects here. ... In firearms terminology, an action is the system of operation that the firearm employs to seal the breech (in a breech-loading firearm), and to load consecutive rounds. ... (for paintball markers also)Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. ... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ... Flintlock of an 18th Century hunting rifle, with piece of flint missing. ... For other uses, see Rifle (disambiguation). ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... Whitechapel is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. ...

History and Design

The Infantry Rifle, hereafter known by its modern name "Baker Rifle", was the first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces. Previously, rifles had been issued on a limited basis and consisted of parts made to no precise pattern, often brought in from Germany. The war against Revolutionary France had resulted in the employment of new tactics, and the British Army responded, albeit with some delay. Prior to the formation of an experimental Rifle Corps in 1800, a trial was held at Woolwich by the British Board of Ordnance on 14th. February 1800 in order to select a standard rifle pattern; the rifle designed by Ezekiel Baker was chosen. This is remarkable because he is not known to have produced military rifles before, being involved only in the repair and production of muskets. Indeed, it is not known how much of the rifle now commonly named after him was actually the result of his own work. Numerous parts used in the pattern existed before the rifle was submitted for trial.

Colonel Coote Manningham rejected the first two proposed designs; the third gained his approval and became the first Baker Rifle adopted by the British Army. The specification of the first service Baker rifled musket was .625-caliber, 30-inch barrel, fitted for a sword bayonet designed by the Birmingham sword cutler Henry Osborn, a standard 6-inch long lock mechanism and ring-neck cock, a folding-leaf rear sight, a scrolled brass trigger-guard and a raised cheek-rest on the left of the butt for additional support when aiming. The completed Baker was 45-inches in length and weighed almost nine pounds. Ingeniously, and unlike the smooth-bore musket, the cleaning equipment essential for the weapon's maintenance (and therefore crucial to its success) was stored in the patchbox in the butt of the rifle, ready for use at all times.

The rifle is now referred to, almost exclusively, as the "Baker Rifle", but it was produced by a variety of manufacturers and sub-contractors from 1800 to 1837. Most of the rifles produced between 1800 and 1815 were not made by Ezekiel Baker, but under the Tower of London system, and he sub-contracted the manufacture of parts of the rifle to over twenty British gunsmiths. It was reported that many rifles that made it to the British Army inspectors were not completed,to the extent of even having no barrel, since the rifle was sent on to another contractor for finishing. Baker's production during the period 1805-1815 was a mere 712 rifles, not even enough to be in the "top ten". For other uses, see Tower of London (disambiguation) Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is an historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ...

The Board of Ordnance, both of its own volition and at the behest of Infantry Staff Officers, ordered production modifications during the rifle's service life. Variations included a carbine with a safety catch and swivel-mounted ramrod, the 1801 pattern West India Rifle (a simplified version lacking a patchbox), the 1809 pattern, which was .75 (musket) caliber, and the 1800/15, which was modified from existing stocks to use a socket bayonet. The most common field modification was the bent stock. Riflemen in the field found that the stock was not bent sufficiently at the wrist to accommodate accurate shooting, so stocks were bent by steaming. As this technique produces temporary results (lasting approximately five years), no examples found today exhibit this bend.

Use

During the Napoleonic Wars the Baker was reported to be effective at long range due to its accuracy and dependability under battlefield conditions. In spite of its advantages, the rifle did not replace the standard British musket of the day, the venerable Brown Bess, but was instead issued officially only to rifle regiments. In practice, however, many regiments, such as the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers), and others, acquired rifles for use by some in their light companies during the time of the Peninsular War. These units were employed as an addition to the common practice of fielding skirmishers in advance of the main column, who were used to weaken and disrupt the waiting enemy lines (the British also had a light company in each battalion that was trained and employed as skirmishers but these were only issued with muskets). With the advantage of the greater range and accuracy provided by the Baker rifle, British skirmishers were able to defeat their French counterparts routinely and in turn disrupt the main French force by sniping at non-commissioned and commissioned officers. Combatants Austria[a] Portugal Prussia[a] Russia[b] Sicily[c] Sardinia  Spain[d]  Sweden[e] United Kingdom French Empire Holland[f] Italy Etruria[g] Naples[h] Duchy of Warsaw[i] Confederation of the Rhine[j] Bavaria Saxony Westphalia Württemberg Denmark-Norway[k] Commanders Archduke Charles Prince Schwarzenberg Karl Mack... Short Land Service musket Brown Bess is a nickname of unknown origin for the British Armys Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. ... The Royal Welch Fusiliers was a regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales Division. ...

The rifle was used by what were considered elite units, such as the 5th battalion, and rifle companies of the 6th and 7th Battalions, of the 60th Regiment of Foot, that were deployed around the world, the three battalions of the 95th Regiment of Foot that served under the Duke of Wellington between 1808 and 1814 in the Peninsular War, the War of 1812 (3rd Batt./95th (Rifles), at Battle of New Orleans), and again in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, and the light infantry of the King's German Legion. The rifle was also supplied or privately purchased by numerous volunteer and militia units; these examples often differ from the regular issue pattern. Some variants were even used by cavalry, including the 10th Hussars. It is recorded that the British Army still issued Baker rifles in 1841, three years after its production had ceased. Italic text His Grace Field Marshal the Most Noble Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ... For the 1862 American Civil War campaign, see Peninsula Campaign. ... Combatants French Empire Seventh Coalition: United Kingdom Prussia United Netherlands Hanover Nassau Brunswick Commanders Napoleon Bonaparte, Michel Ney Duke of Wellington, Gebhard von Blücher Strength 73,000 67,000 Anglo-Allies 60,000 Prussian (48,000 engaged by about 18:00) Casualties 25,000 killed or wounded 7,000... When Napoleon imposed the Convention of Artlenburg (Convention of the Elbe) on July 5, 1803 the Kurfürstentum Hannover (Electorate of Hannover) was disbanded and its army dissolved. ...

The rifle was used in a variety of countries during the first half of the nineteenth century; indeed, Mexican forces at the Battle of the Alamo are known to have been carrying Baker rifles, as well as Brown Bess muskets. They were also supplied to the government of Nepal; some of these rifles were released from the stores of the Royal Nepalese Army in 2004. Unfortunately many had deteriorated beyond recovery^{[citation needed]}. Combatants Republic of Mexico Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas Commanders Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón William Travis† Jim Bowie† Davy Crockett† Strength 6,000 in attack (1,800 in assault-see below) 183 to 250 Casualties 650 killed 974 injured 180 killed The...

Performance

The musket was fairly accurate at medium distances, although the chance of hitting anything at longer range would be a matter of sheer luck as opposed to skill. To increase the odds of a hit, massed ranks of 60-80 muskets were fired in a volley which increased the chances of some musket balls hitting the intended target, whereas the Baker rifle was used by skirmishers facing their opponents in pairs, sniping at the enemy from positions either in front of the main lines, or from behind hidden positions in heights overlooking battlefields.

The accuracy of the rifle in capable hands is most famously demonstrated by the action of Rifleman Thomas Plunkett (or Plunket) of the 1st Battalion, 95th Rifles, wherein he shot the French General Colbert at an indeterminate, but substantial range (as much as 800 yds according to some sources) during the retreat to Corunna during the Peninsular War. He then shot one of the General's aides, thus proving that the success of the first round was not due to pure luck. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In 1800 an Experimental Corps of Rifllemen were raised by Colonel Coote-Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon William Stewart, drawn from officers and other ranks from drafts of a variety of British regiments. ... Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name A Coruña (Galician) Spanish name La Coruña Postal code 15xxx Area code 34 (Spain) + 981 (A Coruña) Website http://www. ...

The rifle as originally manufactured was not actually expected to be accurate much beyond 200 yards; that Rifleman Plunkett and others were able to regularly hit targets at ranges considered outside the rifle's effective range speaks for both their markmanship and the capabillities of the rifle.

The Baker rifle could not usually be reloaded as fast as a musket, as the slightly undersized lead balls had to be wrapped in patches of greased leather, or more commonly greased linen, so that they would more closely fit the lands of the rifling. The average time to reload is dependent on the level of training and experience of the user; twenty to thirty seconds is often given as normal for a proficient rifleman. Using a hand-measured powder charge for long range shots could increase the load time to as much as a minute. In the course of the Napoleonic Wars, riflemen used paper patched and even bare rifle balls when shooting in a hurry in battle, with an increase in speed of loading, but with diminishing accuracy. (see Bailey, below)

References

• Military Heritage did a feature on the Baker Rifle (Kenneth Cline, Military Heritage, December 2005, Volume 7, No. 3, p. 10, p. 12, and p. 13); ISSN 1524-8666.
• Bailey, D. W. British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840. Andrew Mowbray Publishers, 2002. ISBN 1-931464-03-0.
• Blackmore, Howard L. British Military Firearms, 1650-1850. Greenhill Books, 1994. ISBN 1-85367-172-X.

Military Heritage is a glossy, bi-monthly history magazine published by Sovereign Media. ...

External links

• How to Load and Fire a Baker Rifle
• The Baker Rifle
• Development & Description of the Baker Rifle
• Rifleman Thomas Plunkett: 'A Pattern for the Battalion.'
• British army during the Napoleonic Wars

See also

• British military rifles
• Richard Sharpe (fictional character)