Hessian Re-enactors demonstrate how to use an amusette. |
For some reason today, there seems to be a lot of interest on TMP in a specialty firearm called an Amusette. I copied this picture of some Hessian Jagers deploying such a piece from the Flint & Tomahawk blog. I have to say, that they kind of cool.
Also, this link takes you to a site that discusses the Hessian amusettes in great detail (well worth the look):
http://www.jaegerkorps.org/amusette.html
However, this is not the only amusette that I have found during the course of my net surfing. There is another version that the British Royal Artillery used in conjunction with their 3-pound artillery pieces. They would deploy a wooden mantlet on each side of the cannon for protection of the crew. The mantlet had a trap door in the middle, from which out poked one of these large firearms shown in the picture above.
To make a long story short, I have plans to add some of these "funnies", as Winston Churchill would call them, to the Fife & Drum range of AWI artillery equipment. It should prove to be, ahem, amusing, don't you think?
This is very interesting - you will have some (more) unique figures to add to your splendid collection! I'd be more than interested in obtaining a couple of such models. Judging from the Hessian link you give, they would be a really useful part of a petite guerre/skirmish scenario.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Jim
Very interesting!! Can't wait to see what you come up with!!
ReplyDeleteI can also see these being used for earlier 18th Century Imgi-nation armies as well!
ReplyDeleteMay have to get one or two for my Carpanian jager battalion.
Jim
Perry sell a set of Hessian jaegers with 2 amusettes and 2 mantlets. They also have a set of Queens rangers with an amusette, butterfly gun and mantlets.
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