The Fascinating History of the Tennessee Rifle

In April of 2024 the Tennessee General Assembly paid homage to the Tennessee Rifle and its contributions to the settlement of the state through a joint resolution that established the gun as the “…historic rifle of the State of Tennessee.” The recognition bestowed a long overdue honor on the firearm that helped boost an entire region to its ultimate destiny. Albeit, it was a dark and bloody beginning, one rife with important deeds and events, with the part played by the Tennessee Rifle essential in the winning of the Southeast and the creation of the United States.

Recognized as the official historic rifle of its namesake state, it can be argued that the Tennessee Rifle helped win this nation’s independence. Images by Ric Lambert

The rifled flintlock had its heyday in the period between 1700 and 1830. (Mainly because of their increased dependability in wet weather, percussion rifles or caplocks began to replace flintlocks early in the 19th century.) The flintlock’s origin traces back to the “jaegers” produced mainly in Germany in the 17th century. The distinctions between the rifles made in Pennsylvania and countless others on the Appalachian frontier by gunsmiths and their apprentices were more cosmetic than mechanical. The common denominator was that their most essential components were constructed by hand by skilled craftsmen. In Tennessee, among the first of dozens of gunsmiths/blacksmiths were William Bell, Sr. (1769; mentioned in the joint resolution), Thomas Simpson (just after 1776), and Jacob Brown of Nolichucky (about 1772).

Because of their increased accuracy, long rifles gradually replaced smoothbore muskets along the Wilderness Road that connected the Tennessee hinterlands with Kentucky. Limiting factors included the availability of wrought iron used to make the barrels and a Tennessee rifle’s other parts. As a result, rifles were expensive and more often acquired through temporary servitude or barter of hides or other goods than through purchase. Their value to a long hunter or pioneer settling land already inhabited by unfriendly Shawnee or Cherokee braves was worth any cost.

Long Rifles replaced the less accurate smooth bores of the day, making longer shots possible.

Something there is in the minds of men to fashion even weapons of war into works of art, and so it was with flintlock rifles. Spartan in design and finish at first, Tennessee rifles gradually became more than mere tools. As they became more popular, their makers’ style and owners’ pride were imparted to the finished products. Inlays of brass, silver, and ivory were added later to replace plain iron parts. The finest curly or tiger-stripe maple was used for the custom-fitted stocks. Metal furniture, including the lock plate, patch box and trigger guard, were engraved and matched with artfully tooled powder horns and primer flasks.

At the beginning, however, flintlocks were more utilitarian and judged not so much by their looks as by their dependability as hunting or fighting weapons. In a dangerous land where letting one’s guard down even momentarily could be fatal, accuracy trumped all.

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THE TENNESSEE RIFLE IN WAR

Flintlock rifles began to supplant muskets around the time of the French and Indian War at the middle of the 18th century. As far as nation-building, flintlocks started to change the colonial landscape as early as the battle of Saratoga in 1777 when a 500-man contingent of “sharpshooters” helped turn the tide of battle for the colonials. In battles to come, the sight of farmers and long hunters armed with rifles filled British Regulars and Tories with dread.

The Tennessee Rifle started to appear across the landscape around the time of the French and Indian War in the middle of the 18th century.

In 1780, rifles wielded by ordinary citizen-soldiers of the Tennessee backwoods had their shining moment. At the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, “Overmountain” marksmen mainly from the Watauga, Nolichucky, and Holston River valleys of eastern Tennessee (then part of North Carolina) joined frontiersmen from Kentucky to defeat an army of Loyalists. It hastened the departure of the British from the Carolinas and Virginia. Before and after the Revolution, Cherokee and settlers employed long rifles in their battles with each other. The struggle was eventually decided in part because the native Americans could only acquire a limited number of rifles, usually through trade or bloody encounters.

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A BASIC DESIGN

Bar and sheet iron from furnaces in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland in particular were used in the manufacture the first Revolutionary-era Tennessee Rifles. Later, iron works that opened in the eastern river valleys provided a ready supply. In an unforgiving land largely settled by toughened immigrants from Germany and the British Isles, rifle-making was a cottage industry for blacksmiths and gunsmiths who apprenticed in Appalachia and southeastern Pennsylvania. Except for the iron used to manufacture the rifled barrels, however, it’s likely that most of the other components were made or acquired by the owners who lived or hunted on the frontier far from settlements. The long hunters clad in buckskin or homespun who roved the wild backwoods had only themselves to fabricate replacement parts and make repairs. Walnut, maple, or ash were popular woods for gunstocks, and readily available. Hand-poured lead balls and saltpeter gun powder supplied the fire power.

Calibers varied, depending on use and availability of material. Daniel Boone’s brother, Squire, is credited with making his brother’s favorite long rifle, in .44 caliber, which suggests that smaller calibers were preferred by most hunters. Gradually, the .54 caliber became more popular in Tennessee and elsewhere. The ramrods or “scouring sticks” used to swab out the barrels were usually made of stout hickory or iron. Barrel lengths often depended on the gunsmith’s preferences or the shooter’s size and how fast he wanted or needed to reload. The shorter, the faster, with 42- to 46-inch barrels being most common.

As the rifle gained popularity across the region, it began to take on other names depending on location.

Accurately or not, the American flintlock, including the Tennessee version, is more commonly known as the “Kentucky Rifle.” It also deserves its alternate descriptive name, “Pennsylvania Rifle,” as the standard American version originated in the southeastern corner of that state early in the 1700s. The “Lancaster Rifle,” named after Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and “Southern Mountain Rifle” were other generic names. “Iron-Mounted Rifle” was a common name in eastern Tennessee and alluded to the firearm’s hardware.

It’s been said that a popular folk song, “The Hunters of Kentucky,” which originated after the battle of New Orleans in 1815 at the end of the War of 1812, was the true source of the rifles’ name. But considering that that there were more fighters from Tennessee in the battle (1,352) than from Kentucky (986), the song’s lyrics seem ironic. More irony: the song became so popular that Andrew Jackson adopted it as his campaign song when he ran for president, though “Old Hickory” was from Tennessee.

BY ANY NAME…

Some claim that the fame of Daniel Boone’s exploits with flintlocks was responsible for the name; though in that case the “Boone Rifle” would seem more appropriate. Another explanation is that the flintlock morphed into the Kentucky Rifle because of its common use along the Warrior’s Path between the east Tennessee settlements and the rich alluvial lands northward beyond the Cumberland highlands.

The Kentucky Long Rifle is the official gun of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, so designated in June, 2013. In 2014 Pennsylvania followed suit with the Pennsylvania Long Rifle. Other designated flintlocks: the Indiana Grouseland Rifle, the West Virginia Hall Model 1819, and the Tennessee Long Rifle, the historic rifle of the State of Tennessee.

As Captain John G.W. Dillin wrote in his seminal book, “The Kentucky Rifle,” published in 1924: “From a flat bar of soft iron, hand forged into a gun barrel; laboriously bored and rifled with crude tools; fitted with a stock hewn from a maple tree in the neighboring forest; and supplied with a lock hammered to shape on the anvil; an unknown smith, in a shop long since silent, fashioned a rifle which changed the whole course of world history; made possible the settlement of a continent; and ultimately freed our country of foreign domination. Light in weight; graceful in line; economical in consumption of powder and lead; fatally precise; distinctly American; it sprang into immediate popularity; and for a hundred years was a model often slightly varied but never radically changed.”

The Tennessee resolution might be more accurately considered a salute to the rugged individualists who settled the southern Appalachians rather than a paean to the flintlock rifle itself. Except for a few variances, the Tennessee long rifle resembles any number of roughly fashioned flintlocks made elsewhere. As Dillin suggested, however, the critical difference is where they were used, and for what purpose.

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Muzzleloader Vocabulary

As with most firearms, the flintlock rifle was the weapon of choice in its day, but also was a tool for putting meat on the table. Though caplocks and other types of firearms diminished its lofty importance over time, the flintlock rifle still captivates hunters as a revered cultural icon from the days of the Long Hunters. Many of the flintlock’s components have even contributed to the modern lexicon. For instance:

Going off half-cocked: Not completely prepared

A flash in the pan: A temporary or passing success

Ramrod straight: At full attention

Lock, stock and barrel: Everything, all

Draw a bead: To focus on an issue or topic

Keep your powder dry: Stay ready to meet any crisis or opportunity

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