Long Land Pattern 1742:
As the fighting expanded into the War of the Austrian Succession (ending in 1748), this updated version added an exterior bridle joining the lock’s flashpan and frizzen screw, introduced a new trigger guard, reduced the raised stock carving, and defined the final beavertail shape carved around the barrel tang. Its basic form remained unchanged. These 1730 and 1742 Patterns were the primary British infantry firearms used in America during the French and Indian War (1754-1763).

Long Land Pattern 1756:
In the late 1740s, further improvements were initiated based upon wartime experience. They were incorporated into this last of the three Long Land Brown Besses and included: a steel button-head ramrod now accompanied by a lengthened 4-inch upper rammer pipe having a flared front opening; the former banana-shaped lock was straightened along its bottom edge; and the raised stock carvings (including the forward hand hold) were further reduced. A cast brass nose cap at the end of the fore-end was also adopted. The 1756 Long Land musket experienced most of its North American usage in the Revolutionary War.

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Short Land Brown Bess (“Second Pattern”):
This second and shorter of the two Land Pattern categories is best defined in three stages: The Marine or Militia, 1768 and 1777 patterns.

Marine or Militia Pat-tern 1756 and 1759:
The need for a lower cost musket to arm the Marines and English militia led to the adoption of this arm in 1756. It retained the Brown Bess form, but reduced the barrel to 42 inches (still in .75 cal.), used a wooden ramrod and economized further by omitting the nose cap, tail pipe and escutcheon. Moreover, the rounded sideplate shape of the Long Land design was now flattened while the prior 6-inch long brass butt tang was shortened to 3 3/4 inches and included a distinctive upper screw head. In 1759, it was upgraded by replacing the earlier version’s wooden ramrod with a steel button-head form and adding a tailpipe, nose cap and lengthened upper pipe.

Short Land Pattern 1768:
The British infantry was already leaning toward a shorter arm. (Many 4-inch sections of sawed-off Long Land barrels have been excavated from French and Indian War sites.) Impressed with the success of the Marine or Militia musket, they adopted the 42-inch barrel to create a new Short Land standard infantry Brown Bess in 1768. This configuration retained many features of the previous Long Land Pattern 1756 design, but with the reduced 42-inch barrel length, flattened side plate, shortened butt tang (no top screw) and reduced stock carving.

Short Land Pattern 1777:
As an adjustment to wartime demands, two changes were authorized for the Short Land Brown Bess in 1777. A less expensive lock then specified for the private East India Co. was adopted and the second ramrod pipe was changed from the previous barrel shape to a straight sloping profile with an expanded front opening (“Pratt’s Improvement”) already in use.

The Brown Bess’s Role in the American Revolution:
As with any country suddenly involved in a war, the American Colonies in 1775 had to acquire a great number of arms quickly. Their immediate supply was already in the militia system of each state that required men from 16 to 60 years of age to own a longarm plus a bladed secondary arm such as a sword, bayonet or belt axe. Those and other flintlocks they pressed into service included a broad mixture of various locally made hunting and military designs using assorted old and new parts, commercial arms contracted from private makers, inventories of provincial arsenals, confiscated Loyalist arms, state purchases of spare guns from civilians, surplus supplies from European dealers and muskets issued here by the British during prior wars. These latter arms were largely obsolete and repaired arms, and in many cases were vintage Dutch, Liege and other European cast-offs. Thus, the few Brown Besses initially in American hands were usually worn versions of the early Long Land 1730 and 1742 designs, which were later supplemented by at least 17,000 more recent patterns captured during the conflict (Moller, Ref. 5).

The majority of locally manufactured rebel arms followed the English pinned barrel format prior to the heavy import of French and other European military aid beginning in 1777, which supplied most of the Continental Line for the remainder of the war. Yet the Brown Bess remained a major share of the arms carried by provincial forces through 1783—both as complete muskets and as surviving components remounted on the large number of locally assembled American arms.

At the beginning of hostilities, the Royal forces had at least 5,200 muskets in storage mostly in New York and Quebec (Bailey, Ref. 1,2). They were primarily wooden ramrod Long Land 1730s and 1742s. Most active British regiments here were equipped with the later 1756 version having the steel ramrod. Through the war’s first two years, the Long Land remained the primary British arm in America, and earlier wooden ramrod patterns were normally given to Loyalist units or as replacements to Hessian troops. Some Short Land muskets arrived early with a few of the new regiments from Britain, and they became the British army’s principal arm after 1777. The English carbines and fusils, although not covered in this article, usually adopted the Brown Bess configuration in reduced dimensions.

During the American Revolution’s eight years, England produced more than 218,000 Land Service longarms and contracted for another 100,000 of the Short Land Pattern 1777 from Liege and German sources after France entered the hostilities in 1778 (Bailey, Ref, 1,2). Created as the beginning of a new system for standardization and quality control, these venerable Brown Bess muskets became the workhorse that was instrumental in determining the future of North America and much of the world. Today, they remain as icons reminding us as collectors and historians of the courage and sacrifices during those formative years of our heritage.

Special appreciation is extended to Joseph C. Devine for his generosity in photographing the arms for this article at his J.C. Devine, Inc., facilities.

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