Introduced in the British Army by the War Department during 1854 in the Crimean War, they proved very effective at a range of 50 to 300 yards (270 m). The rest of the cartridge, including the ball, was then forced down with a ramrod. Enfield cartridges and Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 Were the cartridges for the Enfield rifle really greased in pig and cow fat, or was that just a rumor? In the illustration, a mutineer was depicted chained to the front of a British cannon, awaiting his imminent execution, as others were gathered to watch the grisly spectacle. His unit in the Bengal Army, which had refused to use the new rifle cartridges, was about to be disarmed and punished. Britain, of course, would rule India well into the 20th century. This paper had to be bitten off before the cartridge was loaded into the rifle -The grease used in the paper was made of beef and pig fat. The uprising was put down, but the methods employed by the British were so harsh that many in the western world were offended. Clubs & Grounds . Sepoys throughout India were issued with a new, more powerful and more accurate gun, the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket. A New Type of Rifle Cartridge Caused Problems, The Indian Revolt of 1857 Brought the End of the East India Company, Indian Rebellion of 1857: Siege of Lucknow, Seven Years' War: Major General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, Biography of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, Industry and Agriculture History in Europe, independence movement against British rule. The cartridges to be used for the Enfield Rifles were greased with the fat of cows and pigs. There is no question that atrocities were committed by both sides, and stories of events of 1857–58 lived on in both Britain and India. Does anybody know if the cartridges were actually greased with fat, or if it was a plain rumor? As mutineers were captured, they were often killed on the spot, and many were executed in dramatic fashion. The cartridge … The spark that led to a mutiny in several sepoy companies was the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle in February, 1857. Historians like J.A.B. Eley Cartridges . A New Type of Rifle Cartridge Caused Problems . £20.00 £16.67. Believe it or not, it was the ‘Enfield Rifle’. Decoying . Later in April sepoy troopers at Meerut refused the Enfield cartridges, and, as punishment, they were given long prison terms, fettered, and put in jail. Gun Maintenance . It was introduced in the Bengal Army by the British East India Company in early-1857. The new ‘Enfield Rifle’ introduced by the British in the army needed a special type of cartridge which had a greased paper cover. Unlike existing percussion muskets, the Enfield's grooved bore required the cartridge to be greased to allow loading. Fiocchi Cartridges . As the East India Company annexed Indian states in the 1840s and 1850s, the Indian soldiers in the company's employ began to feel offended. The system was subject to abuse, and the company used it to annex territories in a questionable manner. Any British plans to reform Indian society, which had been one of the underlying causes of the revolt, were essentially set aside, and religious conversion of the Indian population was no longer viewed as a practical goal. 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. The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle-musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867, after which many Enfield 1853 rifle-muskets were converted to (and replaced in service by) the cartridge-loaded Snider-Enfield rifle. But the 1853 Enfield Musket had found its mark. 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 Moslems and Hindus, in order to defile them. The Lee-Enfield rifles were the mainstay of the British and their Commonwealth partners through both World Wars. In Britain and in the West, it was almost always portrayed as a series of unreasonable and bloodthirsty uprisings spurred by falsehoods about religious insensitivity. Also, does anyone know of any good documentaries on the British in India? The rest of the cartridge, including the ball, was then forced down with a ramrod. The cartridges were wrapped in paper, which had been coated in grease which made the cartridges easier to load in rifle barrels. This presented a problem for native soldiers, as pig fat is a haraam, or forbidden, substance to Muslims, and beef fat is, likewise, deemed inauspicious for certain … Fighting in some places continued well into 1858, but the British were ultimately able to establish control. Q. Loading involved biting the end of the cartridge, which was greased in pig fat and beef tallow. The traditional story of the Sepoy Mutiny is that the introduction of a new cartridge for the Enfield rifle provoked much of the trouble. 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. It is also known by other names: the Indian Mutiny, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, or the Indian Revolt of 1857. On March 29, 1857, on the parade ground at Barrackpore, a sepoy named Mangal Pandey fired the first shot of the uprising. Large numbers of native soldiers, known as sepoys, were employed by the company to maintain order and defend trading centers. Pandey, it should be noted, is considered a hero in India, and has been portrayed as a freedom fighter in films and even on an Indian postage stamp. Robert J. McNamara is a history expert and former magazine journalist. To what extent was the issue of the greased cartridge from the Enfield rifle the key reason for the Revolt of 1857? The events of 1857 have been considered the first outbreak of an independence movement against British rule. CentreFire Rimfire 17HMR . Both Muslim and Hindu soldiers refused to use these cartridges and staged an uprising when they were forced to use them. The cartridges were wrapped in paper, which had been coated in grease which made the cartridges easier to load in rifle barrels. Following the fighting of 1857–58, India was legally considered a colony of Britain, ruled by a viceroy. I have read both. Origin of the Mutiny . In the altercation, Pandey was surrounded by British troops and shot himself in the chest. The traditional story of the Sepoy Mutiny is that the introduction of a new cartridge for the Enfield rifle provoked much of the trouble. In some cases, they used an execution method of lashing a mutineer to the mouth of a cannon, and then firing the cannon and literally blasting the man to pieces. In India, it has been viewed quite differently. The British based their experimental rifle on the Mauser action, just as the Americans had, and developed a high-velocity, high-pressure .276-caliber rimless cartridge for the weapon. Add to Cart. https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1972-03-37-1, National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HTRegistered Charity Number: 237902. And the uprising became extremely violent. There is no doubt that conflict over the new rifle cartridges sparked the uprising in 1857, but the reality is that social, political, and even technological reforms had set the stage for what happened. He survived and was put on trial and hanged on April 8, 1857. When in March 1857, Sepoy Mangal Pandey attacked British officers at the military garrison in Barrackpore, he was arrested and then executed on 8 April. Express Cartridges . In the late 1700s and early 1800s, sepoys tended to take great pride in their military prowess, and they exhibited enormous loyalty to their British officers. A spark ignited the resentment when it was rumoured that the pre-packaged cartridges for the newly introduced Enfield rifles were coated with tallow from beef and pig fat. Add to Wish List Add to Compare. Each area had a leader. Books and articles about the bloody fighting and heroic deeds by British officers and men were published for decades in London. There was also a general feeling that English officers were losing touch with the Indian troops under them. - 26695726 The sepoys were generally under the command of British officers. Loading and firing a .577 cal 1853 Enfield rifle-musket using a paper cartridge containing 60 grains of black powder and a 460 grain lead minie ball pre-lubricated with Bore Butter and beeswax. The rifle featured cartridges that contained 68 grains of black powder and had a ball that was typically 530-grain Pritchett or Burton-Minié. 17th-19th century only, not 20th. £50.00 £41.67. The grotesque executions by cannon became even became widely known in America. The immediate cause of the Indian Revolt of 1857, or Sepoy Mutiny, was a seemingly minor change in the weapons used by the British East India Company's troops.The Company had upgraded to the new Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle, which used greased paper cartridges. The uprising was officially declared over on July 8, 1859. Most famously, the introduction of the Enfield rifle to Indian troops (sepoys) in 1857, issued with cartridges lubricated with mutton tallow, provided one of the catalysts to the Great Mutiny of 1857. ... Lee Enfield SMLE Air Rifle Sling . The Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops under British rule in 1856. 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. And when the Indian independence movement gained momentum in the 20th century, events of the Revolt of 1857 were viewed as having been an early battle for independence, while individuals such as Mangal Pandey were hailed as early national heroes. January 1857 : Enfield rifle and cartridges The British authorities officially adopted the Enfield rifle, but in the first place it was issued to the rifle regiments. Victoria added the title "Empress of India" to her royal title. Controversy of the Enfield Rifle. The P-53 Enfield rifle made use of a Metford-Pritchitt cartridge that necessitated the use of a heavy paper tube containing 2½ drams (68 grains) of musket powder and a 530-grain (34 g), pure lead bullet. Outraged by events such as the massacre of women and children at Cawnpore, some British officers believed that hanging mutineers was too humane. Queen Victoria, at the prompting of Benjamin Disraeli, announced to Parliament that her Indian subjects were "happy under My rule and loyal to My throne.". A rumour spread that the lubricant used was either cow or pig lard, which was repugnant to Hindus or Muslims, respectively.… Hull Cartridges . It is a watershed in the history of pre-independent and early colonial India. The standard method of loading was to bite the top off the cartridge and then pour the powder down the barrel. The soldiers' fears were one of the main factors in causing the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). Lee Enfield SMLE Spare Magazine . This punishment incensed their comrades, who rose on May 10, shot their British officers, and marched to Delhi, where there were no European troops. He was Amazon.com's first-ever history editor and has bylines in New York, the Chicago Tribune, and other national outlets. Pattern 1853 Enfield Ammunition A history of the development of the ammunition used in the first successful general-issue military rifle 1st Lieutenant Brett Gibbons, Ordnance Corps, USAR December, 2016 Foreword A great deal has been written about the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket by … A popular American illustrated magazine, "Ballou's Pictorial", published a full-page woodcut illustration showing the preparations for such an execution in its issue of October 3, 1857. In Mangal Pandey … in the mid-1850s, a new Enfield rifle was introduced into India that required a soldier to bite off the ends of greased cartridges in order to load the weapon. Sepoys in the British East India Company's armies in India were issued with the new rifle in 1857, and rumours were spread that the cartridges (referring here to paper-wrapped powder and projectile, not to metallic cartridges) were greased with beef tallow, pig fat, or a combination of the two – a situation abhorrent to Hindu and Muslim soldiers based on religious bel… Yes, a rifle led to the need for a revolt! The Sepoy Mutiny was a violent and very bloody uprising against British rule in India in 1857. In the 1870s the British government formalized its role as an imperial power. Palmer and John Kaye trace the origins of the soldiers’ rebellion at Meerut to the Lee-Enfield Rifle. A private company which first entered India to trade in the 1600s, the East India Company had eventually transformed into a diplomatic and military operation. Sepoys were forced to watch such displays as it was believed it set an example of the horrific death that awaited mutineers. The Revolt of 1857 was the rebellion of Indian sepoys against the British officers. World War I-era arms, left to right, include the 12-gauge shotgun with bayonet attached, American Enfield, and Springfield rifles. Later that month, Sepoy troopers at Meerut, Bengal, refused to use the new Enfield rifle cartridges, and, as … Rumors began to spread that the grease used to make the cartridges was derived from pigs and cows, which would be highly offensive to Muslims and Hindus. This resource will grow as the Museum's Collection is catalogued and computerised, and as new acquisitions are added. Sepoy units in the south of India remained loyal, but in the north, many units of the Bengal Army turned on the British. Loading the Enfield required tearing open the greased cartridge with one's teeth. The cow is sacred to Hindus and the pig is a taboo to the Muslims. It was developed at the Enfield arsenal by James P. Lee and fired a .303 caliber ammunition that had to manually loaded before firing. Each of the weapon’s paper cartridges contained a precise amount of powder and a .577- caliber Minié ball. The East India Company had been active in India for nearly 250 years, but the violence of the 1857 uprising led to the British government dissolving the company and taking direct control of India. ... CIVIL WAR ENFIELD STYLE SPANISH CONTRACT MODEL 1857 OR P1857 PERC. A number of Indians began to suspect that the British intended to convert the Indian population to Christianity. THREE BAND RIFLE MUSKET, DATED 1864. This provided the opportunity for circulating rumours that the paper was sealed with animal grease, either beef tallow or pork lard. Its cartridges consisted of a .577 inch ball projectile and a charge of gun powder propellant wrapped in waterproofed cartridge paper. So what was the immediate cause of the Revolt of 1857? Justify the statement. This made them offensive to both Muslims and Hindus, and added weight to … The 1854 Infantry Manual specified that to load, the soldier should bite the end off … The Online Collection showcases a selection of our objects for you to discover and explore. But in the 1830s and 1840s, tensions began to emerge. Along with the previously mentioned illustration in Ballou's Pictorial, numerous American newspapers published accounts of the violence in India. ShotGun Cartridges . Increasing numbers of Christian missionaries began arriving in India, and their presence gave credence to rumors of impending conversions. Add to Cart. The Sepoys in the East India Company were first issued with the Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket in 1857. Throughout May and June 1857 more units of Indian troops mutinied against the British. Quite rare possible Confederate use period copy of the P1853 rifle musket and made by various Sp ...Click for more info. The standard method of loading was to bite the top off the cartridge and then pour the powder down the barrel. It was introduced in the Bengal Army by the East India Company in early 1857. The Encyclopedia Americana however, says that it was derived from vegetables. Rumours spread that the cartridges for the new rifle were greased with pig and cow fat. 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 fat. In an elaborate ceremony, Lord Lytton, the serving viceroy of India, honored a number of Indian princes. New cartridges Matters came to a head following the introduction of the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle. In 1877, outside Delhi, essentially in the spot where bloody fighting had taken place 20 years earlier, an event called the Imperial Assemblage was held. A rumor was spread that the cartridges were made from cow and pig fat. 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