historicalfirearms:Rifles of the Crimean WarHostilities between Great Britain, France and Russia wer

historicalfirearms:Rifles of the Crimean WarHostilities between Great Britain, France and Russia were declared 169 years ago today.  The Crimean War marked a crossroads in military history as one of the first major European wars in which the combatants used both percussion caps but also rifles. In 1849 the Minié was developed, this new conical bullet with a hollow base which expanded to grip a rifling twists.  The French quickly developed a new rifle to utilise the new projectile, the Pattern Minié 1851 (see image five) was in widespread use with French troops during the Crimean campaign.   Similarly the British Army during the early 1850s was embarking on an ambitious update of their service long arm.  With the introduction of the percussion cap smoothbore musket in 1842, some of which were re-barrelled with rifling, and the heavy Pattern 1851 Minié rifle (see image three) was also issued.  By 1854 however the majority of British troops were armed with the Enfield Pattern Model 1853 (see image two).  This meant 3 of the 4 British divisions which arrived in the Crimea in 1854 were armed with percussion locked rifles.The Russian army however were less well armed.  Although they too had begun to rearm with Minié rifles their standard issue long arm was still the M1845 percussion musket (see image four).  There were 3 other smootbore models including M1844, M1845 and the M1852 in use.   While some units were issued with the new 1854 Rifles Percussion Musket many of the Russian reserve units were still issued with flintlock muskets.These new rifles and their revolutionary round proved extremely effective.  Accurate well beyond the older smoothbore musket’s range and the large conical Minié bullet caused devastating wounds, the likes of which contemporary surgeons were not prepared for.  The Russians were left at a tactical disadvantage by the extended range of their opponent’s rifles.  However, the real disadvantage was the average Russian infantryman’s lack of training with his weapon.  The majority of Russian infantry were issued with no more than 10 practice rounds a year and it was reported that some men with as many as 25 years of service did not know how to properly use their muskets.  These tactical and logistical disadvantages lead to the Russian army suffering heavily during the war’s first major land engagement at the the Battle of Alma.  Sources:Image One SourceImage Two SourceImage Three SourceImage Four SourceImage Five SourceThe Russian Army of the Crimean War 1854-56 By R. H. G. Thomas (x) -- source link
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