Hello Folks,
I know many of you have been looking forward to updates about my work in the shop and I am now home on winter break and in between semesters! I have spent a lot of time working in the shop during my break and I have gotten a lot of work done in the process. I am currently working on two projects: a 1756 Long Land Pattern King's Musket and a 1770s English Officer's Fusil which is the focus of this thread. As Dave's (smartdog) apprentice I will be following in his footsteps and this thread will be about the building process of this fusil.
I am a history major so of course this thread will come with a history lesson. I apologize for those who wish to just see my work and where I'm at but you are all going to have to deal with and read through it.
Now an English Officer's fusil was a longarm privately purchased by a British officer. It was not something that was government issued such as the King's muskets were. They first became popular in F&I in warfare in the colonies for officers to protect themselves in the wooded terrain by carrying a longarm. They might also use it to hunt for themselves and the company. Sometimes regimental colonels would purchase a batch of them for the officers in the regiment via a private contractor. The alternative was the officer would independently go out and find a private maker and commission a fusil from them. There were makers who were popular with officers because their prices were modest which was reflected in the quality of the work. A few of these makers include Jover, Wilson and Richards. These makers made many officers fusils and an officer might have commissioned them or they might have bought examples off the rack. The fusil that an officer owned might not have always been carried by that officer. For example while in the West Indies or while serving in Europe the officer might not have carried the fusil despite having carried it in service in North America.
It was not universally excepted for officers to carry a longarm. For example, George Augustus and his younger brother, William Howe promoted officers carrying longarms. In contrast, Lord Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton did not promote or believe in officers carrying longarms. They believed it was an Officer's duty to lead the men and not be shooting.
What constitutes an officers fusil is somewhat ambiguous. That is partly because there was no standard issued pattern. It ran the gamut from a civilian Fowler or sporting gun cut back for a bayonet and mounted with sling swivels to a much more robust gun such as a scaled down version of the King's Musket. The universal feature would have likely been mounting for a full size bayonet, sling swivels and a bore corresponding to a full size musket (.75 caliber) or a smaller carbine bore (.66 caliber). There are surviving examples of officer's fusils that were rifled. Often there is misidentifying of guns as officers fusils that are likely sporting guns brought by an officer. There is also mislabeling that happens when a piece is found with martial motif engraving and the assumption is made it was an officers fusil.
This fusil I am building is an example of a finely made Officer's Fusil. It would not have been a cheap purchase and would have been purchased by an officer with means. The lock is a Griffin lock I am building with parts cast from Kevin Blackley. It will be stocked in English walnut and mounted in brass with civilian (hunting) motif engraving. The barrel will be of spanish form (octagon to round, 2/5 octagon, 3/5 round), 39" and rifled.
I hope you will all enjoy following along with this project as much as I enjoy working on it. I will shortly get to updates on the work I am doing so those of you who wish to not suffer through a history lesson can skip to the pictures.
Happy New Year!
-Maria
