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GERMAN STATES' MUSKETS 092. Limited information has been obtained from authoritative European and American sources about the muskets used by the soldiers of the six German states who served in North America during the Revolution. Research in public and private collections in America has yielded a number of Germanic, or German-Dutch, muskets. Most appear to have been made in the Netherlands. Many of these Dutch musketswereprobablyimported into the United States in 1799 and 1800. Research in German public collections and archival sources has yielded some information that is presented later in this section. Thousands of muskets were captured from German states' forces at Trenton, Bennington, Saratoga, and Yorktown. The inventory of 1797 was the first post—Revolutionary War inventory of U.S. arms sufficiently detailed to indicate the countries of origin for the tens of thousands of muskets that remained from the war in the various U.S. repositories. Interestingly, this inventory included only "498 Hessian Muskets" located at West Point. No other German muskets captured during the Revolution were identified. Research in several German states' archives and public collections has resulted in a fairly clear understanding of the general configuration of infantry muskets used by at least the majority ofGerman soldiers. Because they aresimilar to the Prussian regulation infantry muskets of the period, they are described in this text as Prussian-style muskets. Less than a dozen are known to have survived in the United States, and even fewer in Germany. GERMAN STATES' MILITARY SMALL ARMS MANUFACTORIES 092.1 At the time of the American Revolution there were many large and small musket manufactories in the several German states. Some wereprivately owned; others were state owned. A few of the larger manufactories were: Fortchau Manufactory in Bavaria; Vienna Arsenal in Austria; Potsdam-Spandau Arsenal in Prussia; the Pistor Manufactory in Herzberg; the private and state manufactories in Thuringen (Schmalkalden, Zella-Mehlis, and Suhl); and the private manufactories in Essen and Soligen. In addition, there were numerous small manufactories throughout the German states. Many of these consisted of one gunmaker and his assistants. Many manufactories primarily produced sporting arms, but some also contracted to fabricate military muskets, rifles, and carbines. GERMAN STATES'MUSKETS Bavarian and other German arms authorities have stated that the Fortchau Manufactory made arms only for the Bavarian Army. Austrian arms authorities in Vienna state that the Vienna Arsenal made arms only forthe Austrian Army. The Vienna Arsenal was additionally described as being unable to produce enough muskets to satisfy the Austrian military requirements during the second half of the 18th century. Virtually nothing isknown of the armsmanufactoriesofObernau in southern Saxony, near the present border of Germany and Czechoslovakia. Obernau is about 140 kilometers from Bayreuth, but the Thuringen manufactories are somewhat closer. Geographically, Bayreuth could have procured arms from either arms production center. It has been ascertained only that some armswere procured by Bayreuth from Potsdam-Spandau. The iron and steel production region around Essen and Soligen in western Germany has long been associated with the manufacture of arms. However, except for some arms procurement from Soligen during the Seven Years' War, there is no information relative to the procurement of arms by any of the six German states from either town. A leading German arms authority, Heinrich Muller, believes that Essen and Soligen did supply arms to one or more of the six German states that sent troops to North America. The strongest existing evidence indicates that the majority of the muskets used by German states' soldiers in North America came from one or more of the following sources:Schmalkalden; Potsdam-Spandau, and other Berlin area makers ; and possibly Herzburg. It is also possible that some muskets were procured from the Netherlands and Liege. The use of Dutch arms by the German states' forces is speculative. No archival information has been located to support their procurement or use. The case for the German states' procurement ofmusketsin the Netherlands and Liege is almost wholly circumstantial. It isbased upon: (1) the fact that the gunmaking cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Maastricht, and Liege sold military arms throughout Europeforcenturies;and (2) knowledge that Prussia contracted with at least one Maastricht musket maker during the early 18th century. This maker, Jean Krans, supplied Prussian Model 1723 infantry muskets. HERZBERG MANUFACTORY 092.13 The Herzberg Manufactory waslocated only about sixty-five kilometers south of Brunswick's capital, Wolfenbuttel. This manufactorywas established in 1738 under the direction of Inspector Johan Casimir Tanner. Between the beginning of arms fabrication there in 1739...

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