Arquebuses and Muskets


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Champlain used firearms to impress his allies and to surprise his enemies.
Arquebusier, 1610
Detail of the engraving
Yroquois’ Fort
Champlain, The Voyages, 1613
National Library of Canada

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Matchlock musket and wheel-lock carbine, 1630
Musée de l’Armée, Paris, France
Photo: Steven Darby, Canadian Museum of Civilization
CMC S2004-646

1609 . . . [their chiefs] asked me as a token of great friendship and rejoicing to have muskets and arquebuses fired off, whereat they would be much pleased. I did so, and they uttered loud cries of astonishment, especially those who had never heard or seen the like.

Champlain, The Voyages, 1632


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Matchlock musket mechanism, 1630
Musée de l’Armée, Paris, France
Photo: Steven Darby, Canadian Museum of Civilization
CMC S2004-648

Towards the end of the sixteenth century, portable firearms were becoming more common. The crossbow was replaced by the musket and the arquebus, heavy, solid firearms that were charged with round stone or lead bullets. A match or, later, a flint, activated by a wheel mechanism, ignited the powder.

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Wheel-lock carbine mechanism, 1630
Musée de l’Armée, Paris, France
Photo: Steven Darby, Canadian Museum of Civilization
CMC S2004-647


Warfare
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    Last Updated: September 1, 2009