Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: Paul Richardson on 15 July 2020, 04:06:38 PM
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I wonder whether anyone can throw any light on this? I have some TYW German figures which are either marching or are standing with shouldered musket and they all have their muskets on their left shoulders. Does anyone know what the practice was then? I ask because I'd quite like to mix them with some other figures I've seen on the web, and these figures have their muskets on their right shoulders. Do you think it would be OK to mix them (because I think the effect might look suitably ramshackle)?
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So, I went and looked at my copy of De Geyhn, and the weapon is carried on the left shoulder, which is where you need to carry it if you are going to go through the drill motions. This pattern carries right through to today, basically. The default assumption is for right handedness, and so the locks on all weapons are on the right side.
That said, I have a copy of Sennewald's book on the artist Pieter Snayers who painted all sorts of battle and camp scene paintings, and occasionally guys standing or walking around in camp settings have their weapon on the right shoulder. But mostly on the left shoulder.
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Many thanks for this. Very interesting. I now see that Wagner illustrates the drill movements on pp 94 - 97 (presumably based on De Geyhn) and he shows the starting position as marching with the musket on the left shoulder. From quickly flicking through Wagner, it appears that all his illustrations show the musket on the left shoulder.
I'm pleased to hear about Snayers' paintings, however. It does give me some sort of reason for having some figures standing with the musket on their right shoulder, rare though it may have been. Perhaps by the end of a day's march the left shoulder would have needed a rest...... :)