46. AN EARLY BREECH-LOADING MUSKET. Captain Robert Hinde, in The Discipline of the Light-Horse, published in London in 1778, wrote thus (PP. 44-7): 66 But as light troops are more intended to act loose than in bodies, their principal practice should be to acquire personal address, viz., to manage the horse well, to use the sword with dexterity, and fire the carbine with great justness. The proposal of Monsieur de Saxe, for loading at the breach of the carbine, seems well calculated for the fire arms of cavalry, if it will not make them too complicated (the author once saw a carbine belong to a brother officer, made according to this proposal of Monsieur de Saxe; to be loaded, it was held firmly in the left hand, as when it was presented to be fired, and about the same place; then with the right hand the guard over the trigger was pulled back, on which the but of the carbine dropped down, hanging by a pin, and discovered the breach of it quite open; in a cartridge box he carried nine iron tubes loaded, one of which he thrust into the barrel, and directly with his right hand pushed up the butt, which made a click, and securely shut up the breach. On striking the lock with his hand the piece primed it self, and he fired without missing fire at any time. He loaded his iron tube or cartridges without any rammer, with his finger shoving down powder, ball, and paper. I think he told me Mr. Griffin, gunsmith, in Old Bond-street, was the maker of it, and the officer had himself invented it, as he was a very mechanical ingenious gentleman, and an horse officer) the ramrod is apt to be lost, and at any rate is very difficult to manage well on horseback, whereas a chamber with a fresh charge, could easily be introduced; but of this, Mr. Barbor, or any other gunsmith, can give the best account." J.H.L. 47. INVENTIONS OF MILITARY USE. The following "advertisement " appears at the end of a book entitled A System of Camp Discipline, collected by a Gentleman of the Army, etc., and published-2nd edition-in 1757 In the PRESS, and speedily will be Published, Schemes for Improving Brass and Iron Ordnance, and Reducing their preposterous Weights; by which they'll prove more serviceable than the present unweildy ones; the Nation save above 500,000l. in Brass and Iron Metal, over the Charges of Recasting; Great Sums by Carriage in times of Marches; and our Ships, that now mount only 24 Pounders, be enabled to carry double the Nature. N.B. The Powder for Service, Salutes, and Scaling, at present, is about half more than should, with Prudence, be suffered to be used. All which, it is hoped, will be rectified. I was at a Proof of Ordnance when 2 curious new-invented Cannon and Carriages were exhibited, tried, and approved, by the Duke of M--gue, General Honywood, &c. The too affable Duke referred them to one of the Ordnance-Office, and desired his Opinion; he replied, he did not like them. Your Objection, said the Duke. I like no new-fangled Inventions, said he. Here, by the Stupidity of a Person, who from his Post, must be deemed a Judge, dropt an Invention perhaps worth 100,000 such Lives; too many of whom are paid large Saleries, or Pensions, only to be idle Spectators or marplot Actors of their Country's Ruin. It is amazing so many ingenious great Officers, Engineers, &c. of all Ages and Nations, who have experienced these useful Instruments of Destruction, that no Improvements of Consequence have been made since 1335, when Cannon were first invented and cast in England, and used in the Battle of Cressy; and in 1535, Mortars, Brass Cannon, &c., were first cast by Owen, at Bucksted in Sussex. 1 A small charge of powder used with M.L. guns, before commencing practice, for the purpose of clearing any dirt, deposit, or scale (hence the word), which might be lying in the bore. It is hoped this period will exert itself in giving proper Encouragement to Bravery, and Improvements that tend to national Utility, either By Sea or Land, void of sinister Views, which ever prove the most effective Instructions. It has been cruelly hinted, I hope without Foundation, that some ingenious Inventions have been stifled by Pretenders, who, in vain, have attempted by Deviations, &c. to pass for their own, what with great Labour, Expence, and Disgrace they never could accomplish. Gun-powder invented about 1200 by Roger Bacon's Experiments, whom Death did not permit to know its pernicious Efforts only in Amusements, tho' it proved his most rapid Messenger. Guns of 9 or 6 Feet, with Ball from 6 to 18, carry 400 Yards point-blank, and 4,000 random.1 It has not been ascertained whether the so-called “Schemes for improving Brass and Iron Ordnance" was ever published, or who the author was. J.H.L. "In." It is obvious that there are some misprints in the first table. The heading of the 4th column should certainly be "ft." and not the 4th and 5th figures in column 2 should read " 18" instead of "8," and the 6th and 7th 12 instead of "2." In the second table the 1st column should be headed " weight of shot," and the remaining columns" lbs. oz." The proposed improvements as forecasted by the tables appear to have been that a gun of the same weight, but slightly shorter, would be able to fire a much heavier shot, e.g., the old 24 Pr. 10 feet long, would in future be 8 feet long_and fire a 42 lb. shot. S. B. von D. 48. THE 71ST REGIMENT OF FOOT, BUENOS AIRES, 1806-7. A clock [see illustration on the next page] was presented by the 71st Regiment of Foot, now the 1st Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry, to the Hospital of the Bethlehemites2 at Buenos Aires in 1809.3 Records of the Regiment say nothing as to how or why the presentation was made, but the legends on the panels of the stand, of which a transcription is given below, lead to the certain conclusion that it was given by the Regiment in recognition of kindness shown to its wounded soldiers, when lying in hospital at Buenos Aires in 1806-7. This regiment formed part of General Beresford's Force which captured Buenos Aires in 1806, and which, in August, was compelled to surrender to the Spanish forces, the whole of the Officers and Men remaining prisoners in the country until September, 1807. The clock is now kept in the National History Museum, in Parque Lezama, Buenos Aires. It is in excellent condition, is wound up once a week, and has been going regularly, as far back as the present staff of the Museum can recollect. The measurements of the clock and stand are: The stand is made of white marble, the two supporting sphinxes being of black enamelled bronze. The plates on which the inscriptions are engraved are of gilt bronze. The upper inscription on the front of the stand is : Fugit Irrevocabile Tempus. 1 Extreme range. 2 A Religious Order of Hospitallers founded in Guatemala, about 1655, by Pedro de Betancourt and placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Bethlehem. It was suppressed in 1820. 3 Tribuna Libre of 13 July, 1921. No. 98. p. 13. Published in Buenos Aires, |