Settlers arrived at Jamestown in 1607 - the first, permanent English colony in the Americas -- fully armed. Today's travelers to Virginia can explore the important story of guns during Virginia's first 175 years at many historical sites. Visitors can tour colonial towns, settlements and re-created forts; talk with military interpreters at historic parks; view museum exhibits; and watch as gunsmiths make muskets using traditional tools and techniques.
 
Settlers' early 17th-century weapons were not primarily for use against North American natives. In fact, the early English colonists came prepared to fight Spaniards. In 1607, England and Spain were rivals. The two countries had fought each other for years. This conflict stemmed from religious animosities and a desire to dominate Europe and the New World. The men who came to Jamestown believed that a Spanish attack would come. It never did. However, fearing the worst, the settlers built a triangular wooden fort. Besides relying on its sturdy walls and cannon, the colonists also defended themselves with longarms.

 

 For about the first 15 years, the matchlock musket was the basic arm of the Jamestown colony. European armies adopted the weapon because it was cheap, tough and easily made and repaired. Matchlocks varied in size, style and quality. They tended to be unwieldy and heavy, weighing about 16 pounds, so musketeers often steadied the gun using a stand. Matchlocks had smooth bores and thus lacked long-range accuracy.

 

Matchlocks were named for their ignition system, a burning cord treated with saltpeter. Firing the gun was simple. The gunner pushed a bar or pulled a trigger. This caused the match, held in place by an arm called a serpentine, to fall into a pan of powder. The powder caught fire, burned through a hole in the barrel and ignited the main charge, which fired the bullet.

 

Like all muzzleloaders, the matchlock required a soldier to load blackpowder and a projectile separately. The powder came in wooden cylinders. Each contained a measured amount for one shot. Soldiers wore these cylinders on a bandolier and carried bullets in a pouch. A rammer was used to seat the bullet atop the powder after it was poured down the barrel. A wad of paper came last to hold the load in place.

 

The matchlock's burning cord was a hazard to the gunner. The cord burned at both ends. During loading, the musketeer removed it from the serpentine. He then folded the cord in half. He gingerly gripped the cord underneath the weapon and steadied the gun with his left hand. Soldiers had to load while keeping the burning cord and powder separated. Accidents happened. Veteran warrior John Smith, for example, was injured when a lit match ignited his powder bag.

 

Matchlocks worked well on Jamestown's ramparts, but the weapon had many shortcomings elsewhere. The gun was heavy, big and bulky. Its match had to be lit and kept burning. Wet weather made firing difficult, if not impossible. The rate of fire was low, about two rounds a minute. Range was limited to roughly 30 yards. As a result, matchlocks were not ideal firearms in Virginia's fields and forests.

 

Accordingly, colonist eagerly turned to weapons with the snaphaunce ignition system. This used a piece of flint in a movable arm. When the arm fell, the flint struck a piece of steel, creating sparks. These ignited powder in an exterior pan that set off the main charge in the barrel.

 

Compared to the matchlock, the snaphaunce was a more portable, practical firearm in the wilderness. Snaphaunce firearms, like the matchlock, came in a variety of sizes, weights and calibers. They typically weighed between 10 and 15 pounds. Barrel diameters ranged from 45 caliber to more than 60.

 

While muskets prevailed, some settlers, like Smith, did carry pistols. These tended to have either a snaphaunce ignition system or were wheel locks, which appeared in the 1500s. The latter worked much like a modern cigarette lighter. Pulling the trigger released a steel wheel, which had a rough rim. The rim struck a piece of pyrite held in a metal arm. This action created the sparks that fired the weapon.

 

WEAPONS IN THE 1700s

 

Weapons technology advanced significantly in the 1700s. Eighteenth-century gunmakers refined the flintlock ignition system. With it, they developed reliable, rugged weapons. In Virginia, flintlocks appeared on military muskets, which were smoothbores, and on civilian arms, which included fowling pieces and rifles.

 

Many Virginians owned a fowling piece. In fact, it probably was the most popular civilian arm of the day. Fowling pieces were versatile. Hunters could load them with little lead balls for birds and other small game. Or the weapon could fire a single large ball or several smaller ones -- buckshot -- for large game like deer. The long fowler was a variation of this weapon. Big and heavy, it was designed for hunting waterfowl.

 

During the colonial period, gunmakers developed the long rifle for use in America. Compared to fowling pieces and smoothbore muskets, rifles were accurate at long distance. They apparently evolved from German hunting rifles. Research now shows that rifles were made in Kentucky and Pennsylvania and also in Virginia shops near Shepherdstown, Winchester and Augusta County, as well as in the central Shenandoah Valley.

 

Probably, no colonial weapon is more closely associated with the frontier as the long rifle. Movies, novels and television shows have popularized the image of the lone scout armed with a rifle as he moves cautiously in the wilderness. This impression is rooted in fact. Frontiersmen did like and carry rifles. They became adept at its use and could hit targets at roughly 200 yards. These weapons also were light and robust with a pleasing and deceptively delicate appearance. In short, the long rifle can rightfully be called the highest expression of the American gunmaker's art.

 

But one popular idea about the rifle is wrong. Many believe that American riflemen hiding in the brush and sniping at British troops won the Revolutionary War. It didn't happen this way. In fact, the war primarily was fought -- and won -- with smoothbore muskets.

 

American victory came after the Continental Army became adept at conventional 18th-century European tactics. This warfare depended on well-drilled, highly-disciplined units that could march and fire like machines. Generals, including Washington, had troops fight close to the enemy and then use overwhelming firepower to smother, weaken and demoralize it. Once this occurred, a bayonet charge broke the enemies' ranks, leaving the victors holding the battlefield.

 

The British Army had mastered this type of fighting. British soldiers could fire 15 rounds in 3 3/4 minutes. Given 18th-century weapons technology, the only gun that allowed high rates of fire was the smoothbore muzzleloader. Rifles took too long to load and did not take a bayonet. The Americans formed rifle companies early in the war, but the experiment didn't work. The British simply accepted a few longrange casualties from these troops while they rushed their men to close range:  High rates of fire and the bayonet counted for more than accuracy. Riflemen were valuable on a skirmish line, along a flank and for long-range battlefield sniping. Many British officers learned this fact to their dismay, but on a typical Revolutionary War battlefield the smoothbore was king.

 

The basic British infantry weapon was the Brown Bess. However, it often found its way into Continental hands during the conflict. The gun was known formally as the Long Land Service musket. Adopted about 1720, the musket was big and heavy. Like all military weapons of the period, the Brown Bess was a flintlock. This gun fired a 753-caliber, 490-grain bullet from a 46-inch barrel using 124 grains of powder. The Brown Bess weighed about 11 pounds.

 

Besides carrying captured British guns, the Continental Army also had some made domestically as well as imports. French Army muskets were particularly prevalent. The French sent a variety of such weapons to America. However, all were called Charlevilles, a name taken from a French arsenal. The typical French military musket was 69-caliber, fired a 450-grain bullet and weighed about 10 pounds.

 

COLONIAL FIREARMS TODAY

 

Modern visitors to Virginia can visit a wide variety of attractions across the Commonwealth to experience the important roles played by Colonial firearms. The National Firearms Museum, www.nra.org, is a good place to learn broadly about weapons history and technology. Located on the first floor of the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, this modern educational institution displays more than 2,000 guns by historic period in 14 galleries.

 

At Jamestown Settlement, www.historyisfun.org, the large educational complex that tells the story of the first permanent English settlement in the New World, costumed interpreters discuss and demonstrate period weapons. The annual "Military Through the Ages" event brings dozens of military re-enactors to Jamestown to give visitors a look at the weapons and equipment used by soldiers during the past 400 years.

 

Just a few miles from Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, www.history.org, offers a comprehensive view of guns in Virginia during the 1700s. Visitors can watch gunsmiths work, see militia drills and tour the Powder Magazine, the armory for the 18th-century capital of Virginia. The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum features an excellent exhibit, "Lock, Stock and Barrel," which shows the evolution of civilian and military muzzleloading weapons. A variety of special programs throughout the year explores military life, weapons and tactics.

 

Nearby, visitors learn more about 18th-century soldiering at the Yorktown Victory Center, www.historyisfun.org, and Yorktown Battlefield, www.nps.gov/yonb. The center provides an overview of the American Revolution and the people who participated in it. Yorktown Battlefield is administered by the National Park Service. This site focuses mainly on the revolution's climactic battle. Both locations feature living-history interpreters who re-create military life in the 1700s.

 

Individuals interested in frontier life can experience it at several outstanding attractions in western Virginia. Explore Virginia, www.explorepark.org, a historical park near Roanoke, for example, provides an opportunity to learn about Colonial life on the frontier. The site features recreations of a 1600s Virginia Indian village, a 1700s fort and an 1850 Valley of Virginia community. The fort area has a wide range of historical programs, some of which explore military topics.

 

Further west, Wilderness Road State Park, www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/wildroad.htm, commemorates the trail blazed west by Daniel Boone in 1775. This path opened Kentucky and the Midwest to expansion. The park features Martin's Station, an outdoor living-history museum where costumed interpreters depict life on the Virginia frontier in the 1770s. The site hosts a wide range of events. Past presentations have included gunsmithing demonstrations, mock battles between American Indians and pioneers, and militia camps and drills.

 

Virginia's sites are gearing up for the Jamestown 2007 commemoration of the 400th anniversary of America's first, permanent English settlement.  Many new exhibits are already in place, making 2005 and 2006 great times for a visit to the state.  For further information, go to www.Virginia.org, or for a free travel guide and highway map, call 1-800-932-5827.