Baker Rifle and Bayonet

During the retreat to Corunna in 1809, Thomas Plunkett of the 95th Rifle Regiment picked off French General Colbert and his aide-de-camps, an example of the accuracy of the Baker rifle and its tactical employment. The slower, deliberate loading with a patch meant that the ball engaged the rifling and was spun from the barrel. Omitting the patch enabled faster though less accurate firing. Patches were carried in a box on the right side of the buttstock. The brass lid of our example is engraved with a prone Rifleman using his hat as a rest.