In order to boost the fledgling nation’s home-grown arsenal, General George Washington ordered the establishment of the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1776. A well-trained soldier could generally fire and reload a flintlock weapon three times a minute, whereas the American long rifle required a more tightly loaded bullet and generally took a minute to load and fire a single shot. The spark used to ignite gun powder in early American-made smoothbore weapons was usually generated by a piece of flint striking a metal plate or “pan” coated in gun powder.
