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generated when a flint struck the steel and landed on the small charge of powder in the priming pan. This form of ignition had been used on firearms from the first half of the sixteenth century, and by the nineteenth it had developed into an efficient mechanism. However, it had a number of faults, one being its susceptibility to dampness, so that in wet weather it was very unreliable.
The effect of rain on the flintlock is illustrated by the account of an action before Canton given by Ouchterlony: "..., the General, finding the rain descending in torrents, and every appearance of a tempestuous night, directed a retreat towards the heights occupied by the main body of the army. The muskets of the troops being all furnished with flintlocks, had, of course, by this time, become utterly useless.
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The action came to a successful conclusion, however, as after a while help arrived: "In another minute the marines had formed: and a destructive volley, poured into the crowded ranks of the Chinese, at a distance of a few paces, speedily swept away the astonished pursuers, and taught our own people, in a manner the most impressive, the value of the admirable weapons, the percussion muskets, with which the marines were armed."28
The percussion form of ignition was invented by a Scottish minister, the Reverend Forsyth in 1805. It had been known for some considerable time that certain chemicals, such as fulminate of mercury, explode when struck with a hammer. They were too strong an explosive to use as a substitute for gunpowder, but Forsyth had the idea of using them as a means of ignition. It took a little while for the standard percussion mechanism to develop, but by the 1820s most sporting guns were using it. The military, however, were, as usual, slow to respond and were even about to issue a new flintlock arm, when in 1834, comparative trials were held to assess the performance of the percussion musket. The new system proved its worth, and there was then the problem of reequipping the army. This was a lengthy process, and hence, it is not surprising that the main troops assembled for the Eastern Expedition in 1840 still carried flintlock muskets.
The action described above, which took place on 30th May 1841 was the first use of percussion muskets in war. The honour fell to the
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