Very Fine Napoleonic Wars 1777 Model French Charleville Musket, Made at St Etienne, Napoleonic Wars Period Manufacture Royale in 1814. During Napoleon's Exile at Elba, Used For the War of 100 Days, Quatre Bras & Waterloo, For The Emperor

This flintlock musket was made at the French Royal Arsenal at St Etienne {formerly the Imperial Arsenal} in 1814, during the period during Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and exile to Elba, and his return in 1815. Thus this fine musket was made in 1814, whereupon it was issued to the infantry, that then, very soon, transferred their loyalty back to their old emperor, Napoleon, upon his return from exile in Elba.

It was used by the Napoleonic army in the 100 Days War, culminating in Napoleon's final defeat at Quatre Bras and Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington, and this musket being taken as war booty.

Used as a regimental issue arm, by and the very best French Napoleonic frontline regiments, serving in Napoleon Bonaparte's army during the Napoleonic Wars. This is the pattern called the 1777, this is the pattern of musket that would have first seen service in the royal era, before the revolution, during the revolution, then in the early days of the Anglo French war and during Napoleon’s rise to power to finally declaring himself Emperor of France.
The French frontline infantry regiments fought with distinction throughout the entire Hundred Days War, culminating at their last great magnificent engagements at Quatre Brad and at the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, Most of the muskets now surviving in the Tower Collection in England very likely came from that field of conflict. Collected after the battle by the British Army and representatives of the Tower, as trophies of war. This long gun may very likely have been taken from the combat field following the battle.

One can imagine this musket lying freely, or, maybe, even still clasped in his cold desperate hand, or even under the fallen infantryman’s body, at the field of conflict at Waterloo. Every warrior that has ever entered service for his country sought trophies. The Mycenae from a fallen Trojan, the Roman from a fallen Gaul, the GI from a fallen Japanese, the tradition stretches back thousands of years, and will continue as long as man serves his country in battle. In the 1st century AD the Roman Poet Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis Juvenal
wrote; "Man thirsts more for glory than virtue. The armour of an enemy, his broken helmet, the flag ripped from a conquered trireme, are treasures valued beyond all human riches. It is to obtain these tokens of glory that Generals, be they Roman, Greek or barbarian, brave a thousand perils and endure a thousand exertions".

This is truly a superb Napoleonic musket, very good condition for age, with overall, as expected, signs of service use.

Supporting the infantry were such as the cuirassiers, that were the greatest of all France's cavalry, allowing only the strongest men of over 6 feet in height into it's ranks. The French Cuirassiers were at their very peak in 1815, and never again regained the wonder and glory that they truly deserved at that time. To face a regiment of, say, 600 charging steeds bearing down upon you mounted with armoured giants, brandishing the mightiest of swords that could pierce the strongest breast armour, much have been, quite simply, terrifying.
Made in the period that Napoleon was first defeated as Emperor, while ruling most of Europe, it was used through the Royal restoration period, when Napoleon was imprisoned at Elba, and then during the War of the 100 days, culminating at Waterloo .

All Napoleon's principle forces fought at Waterloo, and all the infantry, hussars, lancer and Cuirassier etc., without exception, fought with their extraordinary resolve, bravery and determination.

The Hundred Days started after Napoleon, separated from his wife and son, who had come under Austrian control, was cut off from the allowance guaranteed to him by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, and aware of rumours he was about to be banished to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, Napoleon escaped from Elba on 26 February 1815. He landed at Golfe-Juan on the French mainland, two days later. The French 5th Regiment was sent to intercept him and made contact just south of Grenoble on 7 March 1815. Napoleon approached the regiment alone, dismounted his horse and, when he was within gunshot range, shouted,

"Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish."

The soldiers responded with,
"Vive L'Empereur!"
and marched with Napoleon to Paris; Louis XVIII unsurprisingly fled.
On 13 March, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared Napoleon an outlaw and four days later Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria and Prussia bound themselves to put 150,000 men into the field to end his rule once more. Napoleon arrived in Paris on 20 March and governed for a period now called the Hundred Days.
By the start of June the armed forces available to him had reached 200,000 and he decided to go on the offensive to attempt to drive a wedge between the oncoming British and Prussian armies. The French Army of the North crossed the frontier into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, in modern-day Belgium. Napoleon's forces fought the allies, led by Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Wellington's army withstood repeated attacks by the French and drove them from the field while the Prussians arrived in force and broke through Napoleon's right flank. The French army left the battlefield in disorder, which allowed Coalition forces to enter France and restore Louis XVIII to the French throne. Off the port of Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, after consideration of an escape to the United States, Napoleon formally demanded political asylum from the British Captain Frederick Maitland on HMS Bellerophon on 15 July 1815.

This super musket is in very nice condition overall. With all its original parts intact and the action beautifully tight and crisp. With both original sling swivels intact and present. It is as good as any example you may see in the Tower collection of arms taken from the field of Waterloo. Mark was accompanied by our old family retainer and The Lanes Armoury company gunsmith, Dennis Ottrey, for several personal guided tours of the Tower collection by Howard ‘Blackie’ Blackmore, Deputy Master of the Tower of London, founder of the Arms and Armour Society, and renown gun author, in the 1970’s, and was shown many examples exactly as this fine musket, and he recalls that none were better than this one. It bears poincon stamps for the official Napoleonic arms Inspectors, including, the inspector {from 1813} Barthelemy Compas, based at St Etienne for the inspection of gun mount garnitures, and the lock inspector, {from 1811} Monsieur Stelen at St Etienne. Also, Antoine Blachon, the regulation barrel inspector {from 1798 till 1812}

Howard Blackmore was esteemed in the USA and Canada where he lectured frequently; he was made an honorary vice-president of the Arms and Armour Society on retirement in 1972 from twenty years as president and in 1984 was one of the first recipients of its medal. He was elected a Liveryman of the London Gunmakers Company in 1991. As a researcher Blackmore had few equals, even among his academic colleagues, and was never content with second-best. He retained his boyish enthusiasms to the end and was writing articles until a week before his death on 24 November 1999

As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables
Overall 55.75 inches, 141.5 cm long

Code: 25619