Description:
French Charleville Model 1766 or 1768 flintlock musket with the initials "D W" carved on the walnut stock, and a French acceptor's mark and "Charleville" engraved in script on the lock plate. The early eighteenth century brought a flurry of developments in French musketry. The first really regulation French musket was the Model 1717, which based on specifications issued on January 4, 1717 for a new infantry musket. These were to be manufactured at one of the Royal Manufacturies at Nozon near Charleville, St. Etienne, and Mauberge under the control of inspectors of the Royal Artillary Corps, which resulted in the first standard French musket. "Charleville musket" has become a generic term often used to describe eighteenth-century Franch military muskets and pistols. In 1763, France adopted this new model infantry weapon, much stronger than the previous models, to answer the accelerated fighting during the Seven Year War or French and Indian War (1756-1763). The new musket however appeared soon to be too heavy and was replaced by its modified version, known as Model 1766, projected by M. de Montbeillard, Inspector of Saint Etienne Manufacture. The new model appeared to be very strong and reliable in spite it was remarkably lightened. The Model 1766 was manufactured in more than 150,000 pieces until 1770 when it was progressively replaced by the Model 1770 and 1777. When the American War of Independence started in 1776, France happened to have many Model 1766 muskets and supplied large quantities to the colonial army. The Marquis de Lafayette personally delivered a gift of 25,000 of these muskets from the French Government to General Washington. This helped turn the tide of the American Revolution. The Charleville musket was also used (but with some modifications) by parts of Upper Canada's militia at the beginning of the War of 1812. The 1766 musket served as the model for the first musket, the 1795 Springfield, made under contract to the new US government after the Revolution. The iron hardware is complete and original; there is a chip out of the top of the frizzen.
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