something that was pointed out to me by Wallace Gussler is that the English didn't use powder horns. Their military used cartridges and a cartridge box. The only English who owned rifles were landed Gentry. The English Gentry tended towards flasks. Lots of Horn workers in England but not many making powder horns. The powder horn is pretty much American. Kind of like the long rifle.
Steve
Steve,
Thank you for replying.
I may struggle a bit here and do most earnestly hope and endeavor NOT in any way to criticize Wallace Gusler, nor am I arguing with him. I am also not trying to nitpick what has been reported he said. Mssr. Wallace is absolutely correct that British Line Infantry Regiments in the French and Indian War and Rev War and Royal Marines in the Rev War carried Cartridge Boxes with prepared cartridges and not powder horns and pouches. So generally speaking, saying the British did not use Powder Horns is correct. (I am sort of discounting Ranger Units in the French and Indian Wars who though “Officially British,” were made up mostly of British Americans and were not considered “British Regular Line Units.”)
However, I don’t believe Mssr. Gusler meant ALL of the British Infantry did not carry powder horns, though, as it was common for British Light Infantry Companies to carry powder horns and ball bags or pouches in the Revolutionary War from “lessons learned’ in the French and Indian War. By the Revolutionary War, there was one Light Infantry Company out of the 10 Infantry Companies in each British Line or “Regular Regiment.” One out of ten companies is not a large percentage of British Forces to be sure, but that still accounts for a good number of Regular British Soldiers using powder horns.
For anyone interested, this link shows an original drawing of the back of a British Light Infantryman showing the ball pouch on the left and a powder horn on the right. (If the drawing is to scale and it looks like it may be from the details of the coat, that is a good sized powder horn.) The drawing caption is : “Detail of a sketch of the back of a light infantry private in the 69th Regiment, 1778
by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, R.A. (1740-1812)
© Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library”
http://www.62ndregiment.org/soldier_arms.htmSteve, I appreciate your comment that “though there were lots of Horners in England at the time, not many making powder horns.” That makes sense as the market for powder horns was mostly in British America (including what is now Canada after the French and Indian War). Inventories in American shops and trading posts list inexpensive commercially produced horns for sale during the period, besides raw or cleaned horns from which poorer people could have made their own powder horns.
What I don’t know for certain is if the commercially produced plain powder horns came mostly from England or were made here in America? Perhaps the closer it got to the Revolutionary War, the more American made commercial horns with the expanding numbers of Horners here?
Remember too that screw tip horn manufacture is basically American, not Colonial. Some disagreement on exact time and development.
Steve
Thank you. So generally speaking, it was not meant as a way to compete with horns produced by cheaper labor in England up until the Rev War? Perhaps it was meant as a way to keep up with demand for powder horns here after the Rev War when British Imports fell off drastically?
Thanks again for replying and the information you presented,
Gus
