Baker rifle

The Baker rifle (officially known as the Infantry Rifle) was a flintlock rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was the first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces.

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 in the 1830s.

History and design

The British army had learned the value of rifles from their experience in the American rebellion. However, existing rifle designs were considered too cumbersome, slow-firing, fragile or expensive to be put to use on any scale beyond irregular companies. Rifles had been issued on a limited basis and consisted of parts made to no precise pattern, often brought in from Prussia. The war against Revolutionary France 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 22 February 1800 in order to select a standard rifle pattern; the rifle designed by Ezekiel Baker was chosen.

Colonel Coote Manningham, responsible for establishing the Rifle Corps, influenced the initial designs of the Baker. The first model resembled the British Infantry Musket, but was rejected for being too heavy. Baker was provided with a German Jager rifle as an example of what was needed. The second model he made had a .75 calibre bore, the same calibre as the Infantry Musket. It had a 32-inch barrel, with eight rectangular rifling grooves; this model was accepted as the Infantry Rifle, but more changes were made until it was finally placed into production. The third and final model had the barrel shortened from 32 to 30 inches, and the calibre reduced to .653, which allowed the rifle to fire a .625 calibre carbine bullet, with a greased patch to grip the now-seven rectangular grooves in the barrel. The rifle had a simple folding backsight with the standard large lock mechanism (marked 'Tower' and 'G.R.' under a Crown, although later ones had 'Enfield,' but these only saw service after Waterloo), with a swan-neck cock as fitted to the 'Brown Bess.' Like the German Jager rifles, it had a scrolled brass trigger guard to help ensure a firm grip and a raised cheek piece on the left-hand side of the butt. Like many rifles, it had a 'butt-trap' or patchbox where greased linen patches and tools could be stored. The lid of the patchbox was brass, and hinged at the rear so it could be flipped up. The stocks were made of walnut and held the barrel with three flat captive wedges. The rifle also had a metal locking bar to accommodate a 24-inch sword bayonet, similar to that of the Jager rifle. The Baker was 45 inches from muzzle to butt, 12 inches shorter than the Infantry Musket, and weighed almost nine pounds. Gunpowder fouling in the grooves made the weapon much slower to load and affected its accuracy, so a cleaning kit was stored in the patch box of the Baker; the Infantry Muskets were not issued with cleaning kits.

After the Baker entered service, more modifications were made to the rifle and several different variations were produced. A lighter and shorter carbine version for the cavalry was introduced, and a number of volunteer associations procured their own models, including the Duke of Cumberland's Corps of Sharpshooters, which ordered models with a 33-inch barrel, in August 1803. A second pattern of Baker Rifle was fitted with a 'Newland' lock that had a flat-faced ring neck cock. In 1806, a third pattern was produced that included a 'pistol grip' style trigger guard and a smaller patchbox with a plain rounded front. The lock plate was smaller, flat, and had a steeped-down tail, a raised semi-waterproof pan, a flat ring neck cock, and even had a sliding safety bolt. With the introduction of a new pattern Short Land Pattern Flintlock Musket ('Brown Bess') in 1810, with its flat lock and ring-necked cock, the Baker's lock followed suit for what became the fourth pattern. It also featured a 'slit stock' - the stock had a slot cut in the underpart of the stock just over a quarter-inch wide. This was done after Ezekiel Baker had seen reports of the ramrod jamming in the stock after the build-up of residue in the ramrod channel, and when the wood warped after getting wet.

The rifle is 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 20 British gunsmiths. It was reported that many rifles sent to the British Army inspectors were not complete, 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."

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) calibre, 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 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, the highly trained 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.

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. The two light infantry Battalions of the King's German Legion as well as sharpshooter platoons within the Light Companies of the KGL Line Bns also used the Baker. 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. The Baker was also used in Canada in the War of 1812. It is recorded that the British Army still issued Baker rifles in 1841, three years after its production had ceased.

The rifle was used in a variety of countries during the first half of the 19th 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.

Performance

Rate of Fire

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. A rifleman was expected to be able to fire two aimed shots a minute, compared to the four shots a minute of the Brown Bess musket in the hands of a trained infantryman. However, the average time to reload a rifle is dependent on the level of training and experience of the user; twenty seconds (or three shots a minute) is possible for a highly proficient rifleman. Using a hand-measured powder charge for accurate long range shots could increase the load time to as much as just one a minute. In the course of the Napoleonic Wars, riflemen used paper patches and even bare rifle balls when shooting in a hurry in battle, with an increase in speed of loading, but with diminishing accuracy.

Accuracy was of more importance than rate of fire when skirmishing. The rifleman's main battlefield role was to utilise cover and skirmish (frequently against enemy skirmishers), whereas his musket armed counterparts in the line infantry fired in volley or mass-fire. This could further reduce the firing rate of the rifle compared to musket during battle.

Accuracy and Range

The rifle as originally manufactured was expected to be capable of targeting, with a high hit rate, up to 200 yards; The musket was fairly accurate at medium distances, with a one in three chance of hitting a man sized target at 100 yards, but this accuracy diminished hugely at longer ranges. To increase the odds of a hit, massed ranks of 60-80 muskets were usually fired in a volley which increased the chances of some musket ball hitting the intended targets. 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 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, who shot French General Colbert at an unknown but long range (as much as 600 yards according to some sources) during the retreat to La Coruña during the Peninsular War. He then shot one of the General's aides, suggesting that the success of the first shot was not due to luck.

That Rifleman Plunkett and others were able to regularly hit targets at ranges considered to be beyond the rifle's effective range speaks for both their marksmanship and the capabilities of the rifle.

See also

• British military rifles
• Richard Sharpe (fictional character)

Further reading

• Kenneth Cline. The Baker Rifle. 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.
• Antill, P (3 February 2006) Baker Rifle, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapon_baker_rifle.html

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