Brown Bess Musket

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[Kay Coates, Collections Coordinator State Historical Society of Iowa] This artifact is a British land pattern musket.

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[Coates] This type of musket would have been used for well over 100 years in the British military. It was also used by the American militia during the Revolutionary War.

[Narrator] Nicknamed Brown Bess, this weapon is widely regarded as one of the longest serving military firearms in history. At distances beyond 100 yards, which is about the length of a football field, hitting an individual target in battle was largely a matter of luck. By today's standards, this musket wasn't especially accurate, but it was reliable, durable and effective when used strategically.

[Coates] Well trained, efficient soldiers could typically fire between two and three shots per minute with a musket like this. Lines of soldiers would have fired in volleys to make the targeting of the muskets more efficient.

[Narrator] Volley fire involved a line of soldiers all discharging their weapons at the same time. Then that line would move to the back to reload and the next line of soldiers would fire their muskets. From the chaos of battle to the grind of marching, managing a Brown Bess tested a soldier's strength and coordination.

[Coates] This Musket is about 60 inches long or 5ft and I stand about 5ft tall. It's also heavy, weighs approximately 10 pounds. So, you can imagine how difficult it was to carry during battle.

The musket is as long as it is for the power needed to fire a large caliber almost a 3/4-inch round projectile or musket ball.

Muskets like this would have been loaded using black powder, which would have been stored in powder horns or in paper cases. The powder would have been poured down the barrel of the gun and then a ball would have been rammed into the barrel using a ramrod. And from there the firing mechanism would spark the black powder in the gun, which would shoot the ball from the barrel.

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[Narrator] When we take a close up look at this particular musket, which is currently part of the State Historical Museum of Iowa's collection, we can learn more about its past.

[Coates] This part of the gun is called the lock plate and that's where the firing mechanism sits. And on the lock plate we can see the maker's information for the gun. It was made by a British company and you have the crown, and under the crown there are the letters GB indicating it was made in Great Britain. And on the rear part of the lock plate, we see a date of 1761. At one point in the history of the musket, it was changed from a flintlock style firing mechanism to a more efficient percussion cap.

[Narrator] Style change has been part of this musket story from the start, passing through wars, leaders, locations and missions. And according to family histories, it was present at a pivotal moment that could have changed the formation of the United States.

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[Coates] On September 23, 1780, David Williams and two other American militiamen used this captured Brown Bess musket to stop Major John Andre as he rode toward the British lines in New York. The men's search of Andre's papers revealed General Benedict Arnold's plan to surrender the American fortifications at West Point, New York to the British. David Williams was a hired hand on the farm of Joseph Benedict. He borrowed the musket from Louis Benedict, Joseph's son, and was on the road in the vicinity of Tarrytown, New York, when they confronted Andre. The information found was turned over to the army, resulting in Major Andre's conviction as a spy. He was hanged on October 2, 1780. David Williams and the others received a cash pension and the first congressional award, now known as the Andre Medal or the Fidelity Medal. It was never awarded again. The musket was bequeathed to the State Historical Museum of Iowa in about 1949 by Winifred Smith, who lived in Fredericksburg. And she is a descendant of Hiram Benedict, who came to Iowa in 1856 from New York. And we believe that Hiram Benedict is related to the family of Joseph Benedict, the farmer who David Williams worked for.

[Narrator] Had the owner of this musket not allowed it to be borrowed that day, events might have unfolded very differently. Major John Andre may never have been stopped with Benedict Arnold's treasonous plans. A key military fort could have fallen to the British. George Washington, who was at West Point in that time frame, might have been captured. Independence itself could have hung in the balance. It's remarkable what history can be revealed through the objects left behind.

[Coates] This artifact tells the story of how soldiers would have participated in the American Revolution and how families preserved the legacy of the war throughout the years.

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