THE MUSKET THEN

Muskets were muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore guns, up to 48 inches in length. They fired a ball and as the barrel was not rifled, they were not especially accurate. However, they would usually fire by ranks from a distance, giving a much better chance of hitting the target. Most English Civil War muskets were matchlock, although there were some doglocks—an early form of flintlock—and these became more common over time. Matchlock muskets are fired using a slow burning match cord doused in saltpetre to keep it lit. Flintlock muskets instead use a piece of flint to produce sparks to ignite the powder.

Early muskets were long and heavy and a rest was commonly used when firing. However, as the war progressed, muskets became shorter and lighter, and so rests were largely discarded.

Musketeers could be trained much more quickly than pikeman, and pike increasingly fell out of use in favour of musket as the wars progress. It is thought that at the start of the wars pike outnumbered musket, but by the end there more than double the number of musket than pike.