British Brown Bess with Regimental MakingsBrown Bess

The Short Land Pattern Brown Bess was developed shortly after the Long Land Pattern, from 1740, and was in use during the Revolutionary War in America, The Revolutionary War in France and the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. This slightly shorter version of Bess was the preferred weapon of much of the British Army. They discovered that by shortening the barrel, it did not affect the weapon’s accuracy and made it easier to handle. The barrel was 42 inches (four smaller than the Long Land Pattern) with an overall length of 58.5 inches. The weight was slightly heavier than the Long Land, 10.5 pounds. The caliber of barrel and shot remained the same, .75 and .69 respectively.The musket was most effective when fired in a massed volley against a tightly lined opponent. The sheer volume of metal unleashed would no doubt result in some of the shot hitting a target. The Bess had no sights. Soldiers were seldom trained to aim, but to load quickly to respond in time to the next order to fire in volley. They were instructed to aim for the horizon since the shot would begin to drop as soon as it left the muzzle. However, size of charge and weight of metal varied as did the yardage of their target and therefore much of the time British infantry’s shot went high. During the Revolution, Americans would commonly claim that British soldiers always fired too high. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, few Americans were casualties during the first two initial British assaults. The rail fence that ran to the beach behind which many of the defenders were positioned was hardly touched by shot. However, the upper branches of the trees just behind the line were riddled with lead. Most of the Americans fell after the British swarmed over the redoubt and routed them.