From Matchlocks to Wheel-Locks in Early America -- 1500 to 1740

[Music] as the 14th century advanced so did the technology of the gun key advances included adding a wooden stock so that the gunner could brace the weapon on his shoulder even more important was the change in the ignition process the goal was to allow the gunner to sight down the barrel of the gun while applying the igniting spark to the gunpowder gun makers conceived of a kind of locking system in which a lever think trigger was used to move the igniter to the powder the match lock was the first truly effective lock systems and worked by lowering a slow-burning match to the ignition powder the first firearm produced in large numbers was the Aquabus and was put to furious use in the Italian Wars of the 16th century the aqua-blue shares soldiers wielding these cutting-edge weapons could have a tremendous impact upon opposing armies though the loading and firing of these old firearms can seem ponderous in comparison to modern guns it had a faster rate of fire than the crossbow meanwhile the Aquabus could be mastered more quickly and in larger numbers in the longbow and was more powerful than either bow at first the Opera bus was particularly useful against cavalry especially when partnered with pikemen this Pike and shot formation revolutionized the Spanish army which used it to defeat the French in the Battle of Cerro Ola in 1503 the Aquabus could fire a heavy lead ball but it could also fire small shot which would scatter into the face of a charging foe in his commentaries captain blaze Dumont look of France described some battles involving aquaboy chairs fighting alongside soldiers with more traditional weapons the company I commanded was no other than crossbows for at this time the use of the octopus had not as yet been introduced among us then six Gasko akribos came through us from the enemy which I had received into my company it wasn't long before the amount Luke had squadrons of our cabooses under his command but he himself would fall victim to a shot from an enemy Aquabus he survived the wound but his face was shattered would to heaven that this accursed engine had never been invented I had not then received these wounds which I now languish under neither had so many valiant men been slain for the most part by the most pitiful fellows and the greatest cowards that had not dared to look at those men in the face which a distance they'd laid dead with all their confounded bullets what made these arms particularly deadly was a development of volley fire again the Spanish were using a version of volley fire in the early 16th century the German count Vilhelm Lord Vic wrote at the end of that century I have discovered a method of getting the Musketeers food soldiers armed with aqua buses not only to keep firing very well but to do it effectively in battle order that is to say they do not skirmish or use the cover of hedges in the following manner as soon as the first rank has fired together then by the drill they will march to the back the second rank either marching forward or standing still will fire together and then march to the back after that the third and following ranks will do the same thus before the a strike has fired Z first will every load it include is the advancement that the match lock was it still had drawbacks it was difficult to keep the slow match lit in wet weather and in dry weather failure to keep the glitter way from stored powder could have disastrous results unintended explosions aside the burning match created both a glow that could be seen by an enemy at night and an odor that could be smelled giving away the Gunners position but this was the Renaissance period and advances were taking place in all disciplines the new art of gun making was not an exception the wheel lock applied the engineering of clockwork to the problem of igniting gunpowder the wheel lock was a spring-loaded steel wheel wound tight like a watch until it caught or snapped against the trigger when the trigger was pulled the wheel would spin against a piece of pyrite generating sparks which would then ignite the gunpowder in the priming pan the wheel lock allowed cavalry to take greater advantage of firearms it was difficult to keep the slow match of a matchlock gun lit while riding horseback a problem eliminated by the wheel lock it was also easier for cavalry to fire smaller one-handed guns beginning in the 16th century it was customary for cavalry men in Europe to carry a brace of pistols into battle in saddle holsters these were after all still single-shot weapons but the complex design of the wheel locks meant that they were expensive to produce the common soldier was not afforded such arms they were more commonly used in hunting while matchlocks were predominant in the militaries of Europe of course what truly made the guns effective was the incredible destruction they wrought upon the human body even armored Knights could be taken down at close range for a time Armorer's tried to compensate by building and designing heavier body protection when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the new world it was that body armor in fact rather than the firearms they carried that was of greater military use in their assaults on the native populations the Aquabus was effective of course both in terms of physical destruction and as a source of terror for the natives but they liked the crossbows were slow to load but the crossbow and aqua puss alike had developed in large part as a response to the heavy armor of the Spanish Knights the Aztecs Incas and other native populations had nothing that could pierce Spanish armor of course the absolute deadliest weapon that Europeans brought to the new world was smaller than the eye could see the germ smallpox and other maladies wreaked havoc among the natives of South and North America while Europeans on the other side of the world continued to perfect the art and science of guns the complexity and cost of the wheel lock was sufficient incentive for brave and industrious Smithy's to experiment with other means of igniting the black powder it had long been known that you could start a fire by striking Flint against steel producing sparks in the mid 16th century someone applied this principle to firearms the first example was known as a snap lock a piece of Flint was held by a set of jaws in the guns [ __ ] when the [ __ ] was pulled back it would catch against a small lever when the trigger was pulled the lever pulled back and the [ __ ] snapped forward striking the Flint against a steel plate the force of the strike would push the plate back exposing the Gunpowder in the pan at the same time that the Flint drew sparks from the steal some gunsmiths in England and later in America included a safety catch called a dog lock although the snap-loc system used flint against steel it is not considered a true flintlock these weapons were valued by militaries but also by other less reputable groups the late 16th and early 17th centuries were the glory days for the infamous pirates of the carribean these outlaw sailors terrorized ships and towns among Caribbean islands during colder months and then struck out for New England during the heat of summer wielding cutlasses and flintlocks the Pirates were a fearsome threat to the unwary many New England pirates actually began as privateers hired and commissioned by the colonies to strike at ships owned by England's enemies but when England was no longer at war with those nations the privateers could turn to piracy [Music] if you're eager to see more of our historical documentaries please like share and subscribe

Channel: LionHeart FilmWorks

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Keywords: snaphance, matchlock, wheel-lock, wheelock, flintlock, musket, early america, colonial, colony, british colony, jamestown, plymouth, militia, minuteman, wheel lock, wheel locks, snaphaunce musket, snaphaunce flintlock, snaphaunce pistol, matchlocks in early america 1500 1740, matchlock musket, matchlock musket firing, matchlock vs flintlock, flintlock muzzleloader, musket volley, doglock, golden age of piracy, pirates, 17th century, 17th century musket, guns, 2nd ammendment, black powder

Id: IBak7kgevaw

Length: 11min 14sec (674 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 08 2019