fire power

[George]

How did the old boys cope with the problem of the single-shot flintlock pistol when one shot wouldn’t do the job? At least sometimes, they took the obvious solution and came prepared with a whole batch of them.

"Norwich, Oct . 21, 1774
On Tuesday the 10th Instant as Mr. Reynolds ... was riding from Hadiscoe to Yarmouth, he was attacked on Belton Heath by a single Highwayman, .... He said to Mr. Reynolds, d”” you, have I staid for you all this Morning? Unmount, or I will shoot you this Minute: Upon which Mr. Reynolds asked him, what he would have? He replied, I'll have your Mare and your Bags; and upon that fired a Pistol at him, the Ball of which he heard whiz in the Furrs; whereupon Mr. Reynolds clapt Spurs to his Mare, and rode off as fast as he could; but the Highwayman rode after him, and fired a second Pistol at him, the Bullet of which graz'd on the Sleeve of his Great Coat; but being better mounted than the Highwayman, he out rode him, and got clear off: The Highwayman, he saw, had more Pistols in a Belt under his Great Coat;"

Fired two pistols, had at least two more in his belt.

"LONDON,
September 16.
Last Night, about eight o'Clock, as Mr. Smith was returning to Town from Clapham to his Post Chaise, he was shot at by a Highwayman, who happily missed him. His Servant learning the Report of a Pistol, immediately came forward, and being armed with two Brace of Pistols and a Blunderbuss, shot the Man dead."

Four pistols and a blunderbuss.

Both those incidents were from England, but there is an interesting parallel form Spain at the same time period. Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter who did several scenes concerning guns and/or hunting, and a close look at them is educational and fascinating. Follow this link to an online gallery of his paintings at the Prado museum, Madrid:
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/r/prado_goya_francisco_de.html

In that table of contents, scroll way down to The Tobacco Guards 1779-80 and select it. Under the thumbnail are two icons, one square, one a circular magnifying glass. If you select the square you get an enlarged picture. Click on it again and get a huge picture. Navigate to look at the waist of the standing guard and see the 3-4 pistols fastened to his breast piece over his left hip. Or, select the glass and then move the slider to maximize the picture, grab and move it to see the pistols.

There is a moral to all this... if you are a reenactor and want to be truly HC/PC you must have as an absolute minimum two brace of pistols. Tell your wife I said so. :grin:

Spence

 

[reddog97]

I'm not a re-enactor but I am PC in that I carry 1 pistol on me and have another in the truck close by. Who needs a thirty rd. mag when you got 2 fifteen rounders?

 

[CaptainKirk]

One Dragoon will do the trick! :wink:

 

[himem777]

Thanks Spence I will tell her. :grin:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I seem to recall hearing that Billy Quantrill of Civil War infamy carried a couple of dozen pistols on his person and horse. At that time the cavalry issue was intended to be four revolvers, two on the belt and two on the horse, but they never got enough revolvers to do that. Still, for those who could get hands on revolvers it was common practice, so carry of multiple pistols did not end with the advent of the revolver.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I seem to recall hearing that Billy Quantrill of Civil War infamy carried a couple of dozen pistols on his person and horse. At that time the cavalry issue was intended to be four revolvers, two on the belt and two on the horse, but they never got enough revolvers to do that. Still, for those who could get hands on revolvers it was common practice, so carry of multiple pistols did not end with the advent of the revolver.

And cleaning them all after a battle created what we all know today as "Campfire Guns", where parts of one revolver would wind-up on another as they were cleaned around the camp fire. Owning such a gun is almost proof of it being in some sort of "action", especially if you can trace the serial number on the frame back to a specific soldier or officer who was attached to a company that fought at a specific battle. Collectors still like all of the numbers to be matching, but I think that the Campfire Guns could tell a tale .

My Dad used to collect Dragoons before I was born. Some of them had a provenance back to captured Union officers who escaped and were repatriated back into their companies. He sold them all to help pay for his wedding.

Dave