Americanized French Weaponry?

[Greg Carter]

"...and every person so enrolled and notified shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket and bayonet, fuzee or rifle, knapsack, blanket, canteen, two spare flints, a cartridge box, to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or fuzee, each cartridge to contain the proper amount of powder and ball, or pouch and powder horn, with twenty-four balls, suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder;..."


This is an excerpt from the Illinois Militia Law of 1819.

The question is this- When is specifies "Fuzee" is this law referring to a version of the "Fusil", a French weapon issued to militia that resembled a "Kentucky Rifle" only in a smoothbore construction? Would a more correct description would be that of a "Fowler" or "Fowling Piece", the equivalent to a modern shotgun or birdgun?

Opinions?

GMC

[Robert Braun]

I think what the lawmakers were trying to get at was that the "Fusil"-- a light, smoothbore flintlock musket, often of smaller caliber than so-called "U. S. Muskets"-- was an acceptable arm for militia use.

Lighter, smaller caliber guns suited for hunting certainly appear to fall into the "fusil" category.

r.

[Robert Braun]

While we're on the subject of French weapons, please see the following posting from the Texas War for Independence discussion board, posted October 17 by mu chum Mark Hubbs:

I'll have to jump in here. The current Rev War firearms scholars can
find no evidence that any Model 1777s were provided to the US during
the Revolutionary War. They were the most current French musket at
the time of the war and thier availibility was limited. Any that
were used in North American would have been in the hands of French
troops. Any that got into the hands of colonials was purely by
accident.

Arcady Gluckman made that claim back in the 1950s before much reseach
was done on the subject. He assumed that the French gave us the most
current model. Not even the French had 80,000 Model 1777s on hand
during the war. It is now accepted that the majority of the muskets
given to the US were Model 1754s. Also in those shipments were Model
1763s and Model 1768s. The model 1768s was actually the gun that was
copied for the US Model 1795. The French M1763 had a larger lock
than the 1768 and had an unusual rammer pipe/spring that extended
about 8 inches below the top barrel band. The Repro Model 1763 that
has been sold for years is actually a copy of the M 1768.

The Model 1777 is not close to any musket that would have been
avilible without extensive reworking. Even with the changes that can
be made, it still can't be "converted" fully to any US musket. You
can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear!

Mark Hubbs