Asking them to bite these cartridges was tantamount to asking them to give up their faith!While the textbooks say that the sepoys had to ‘bite the bullet’, none of them explains why. Post Oct 07, 2014 #38 2014-10-07T11:48. The role of the Enfield "greased cartridge" in the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1858 is carefully handled. To work around this, a pre-measured amount of powder with a musket ball was rolled in paper and turned into a cylindrical cartridge. The age of the rifle had begun. The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket(also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a.577 calibre Minié-typemuzzle-loading rifled musket, used by the British Empirefrom 1853 to 1867; after which many were replaced in service by the cartridge-loaded Snider–Enfieldrifle. The Snider was a type of breech loading rifle. Its use during the Crimean War and later the Indian Mutiny would vindicate this policy when it became clear that the infantry were now capable of outgunning artillery. (Other than the two recent BBC series covering the overall history of the British Empire, which I have already seen). Enfield Cartridges and tallow grease A consignment of [the Enfield cartridges] was sent out to India in 1853 to test its keeping qualities (not for firing purposes): the grease made at Enfield was composed of tallow from beef and pork fat. The story has been told countless times; the Indian Munity began as Sepoys—the Indian soldiers serving in the Honourable East India Company—were issued with cartridges that were greased with beef tallow or lard and revolted. Each of the weapon’s paper cartridges contained a precise amount of powder and a .577- caliber Minié ball. This, in turn, was followed by the greased paper and then rammed in. Sir, we hear that the cartridge of the new rifle is greased ... comparing the issue of the rifle grease to the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. It was later adopted by British Army. I submit that the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket is the first infantry weapon of our current modern era, having more in common with the M í ò’s and M’s of today’s U.S. military than the smooth-bore muskets that came before it. During 1857, rumours began to circulate among the Bengal Army's sepoys that the cartridges were deliberately greased with pig and cow fat, offensive to … The rifle featured cartridges that contained 68 grains of black powder and had a ball that was typically 530-grain Pritchett or Burton-Minié. I submit that the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket is the first infantry weapon of our current modern era, having more in common with the M í ò’s and M’s of today’s U.S. military than the smooth-bore muskets that came before it. $899.00 . $899.00 . For more than 150 years historians have maintained that India’s first revolt against British rule broke out at least in part over a gun—to be precise, the muzzle-loading Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket. The “Greased Cartridge Affair:” Re-Examining the Pattern 1853 Enfield Cartridge and Its Role in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 Contemporary studies indicated that at the Battle of Salamanca some 8,000 enemy soldiers were wounded or killed—yet some three and a half a million cartridges had been fired. Just one shot in 437 had any effect; clearly, there was room for improvement. The new Pattern 1858 gun with a different bore (0.656) was introduced to quell any uneasiness among the Indian sepoys and assurances were given that the cartridges were not dipped in beef or pork fat. British soldiers of the era were trained to hit a target six feet by two feet with a two feet diameter bull's eye from ranges of 600 yards. Justify the statement. This is the story of a rifle that changed the destiny of an entire subcontinent, the story of a weapon that triggered one of the greatest revolts of the 19th century, and a weapon that led to the winding up of the world’s first great multinational company. This is the full rifle, for those interested. Although it was the immediate cause that triggered the first war of independence, long term factors also played an important role, such as military, social, religious, economic and political causes. And its end could be traced to a rifle that was technologically superior but that had misfired spectacularly. - 26695726 The Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle was developed in time for use by the British Army in its first great war in decades and was arguably the catalyst of another conflict that nearly destroyed its colonial empire. The era of the smoothbore musket—which had been "good enough" at Waterloo—was truly a weapon whose time had passed. Even the long-used Brown Bess, which served British “Red Coats” around the globe for more than 100 years were smoothbore. Der Namensbestandteil Enfield rührt daher, dass die Royal Small Arms Factory nach einem Brand ihre Fertigungsstätten vom Tower of London nach Enfield verlagerte. Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team. The Lee-Enfield rifles were the mainstay of the British and their Commonwealth partners through both World Wars. The grease used on these cartridges was rumoured to be made of beef and pork which angered the Hindu and the Muslims in the army ... Mangal Pandey was the first sepoy of 5th Company of the 34th Native Infantry Regiment. Its cartridges were covered with a greased paper cover. And from the cool, damp British Isles was built the largest empire by landmass the world had ever known. One other observation. Enfield Pattern 1853 Percussion Rifle Musket cartridges, 1857 (c) Cartridges for most muzzle-loading firearms of the period took the form of a paper tube containing a ball and powder. When the rumour of the grease used on the cartridges spread, the sepoys were furious. The 1854 Infantry Manual specified that to load, the soldier should bite the end off … The immediate cause of the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857 was the belief that the Lee-Enfield rifle's cartridges were greased with cow and/or pig … Enfield Cartridges and tallow grease A consignment of [the Enfield cartridges] was sent out to India in 1853 to test its keeping qualities (not for firing purposes): the grease made at Enfield was composed of tallow from beef and pork fat. Area Code: 859 . At this time, the Enfield rifle was introduced in the army. After the Revolt, the British Crown took over the Company with all its assets and all its armed forces, and by 1874, the Company was dead. Many of these older flintlocks were converted for use with the new percussion system that became known as the Pattern 1839 Musket. 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