Linstock
{{Short description|Device for holding a slow match in early artillery}}
{{for|the village in Cumbria|Linstock, Cumbria}}
File:Canon firing mvi 3662.ogg
A linstock (also called a lintstock) is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick".{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Linstock |title=Linstock Definition | Definition of Linstock at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |date= |accessdate=2009-11-05}} Linstocks were used for discharging cannons in the early days of artillery; the linstock allowed the gunner to stand further from the cannon{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Linstock |volume=16 |page=735}} as it was dangerous applying the lighted match to the touch hole at the breech of the gun. Not only could the charge flash back, but the recoil of the cannon might send the carriage toward the gunner.
Design
Linstocks had curving arms called a serpentine that ended with a pinching metal jaw to grip the slow match, and a sharp point at the base to stick in the ground.{{cite web |author=Duncan I MacLeod |url=http://www.dimacleod.co.uk/history/ecwshots.htm |title=The Artillery Garden |publisher=Dimacleod.co.uk |date=2003-03-14 |accessdate=2009-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329034617/http://www.dimacleod.co.uk/history/ecwshots.htm |archive-date=2010-03-29 |url-status=dead }} In emergencies, gunners could use the spear blade as a weapon to defend the cannon.{{cite book|author1=Don Troiani|author2=James L. Kochan|author3=Earl J. Coates|author4=James Kochan|title=Don Troiani's Soldiers in America, 1754–1865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-X2vvS698p4C&pg=PA9|year=1998|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-0519-6|page=9}}
Like much early modern military equipment, the linstock could have an additional function; 16th century examples had measurements in inches and a protractor engraved on the blade to allow the gun captain to check the angle.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
Obsolescence
By the mid-18th century, artillery pieces were being fitted with flintlock firing devices (known as gunlocks), rendering the linstock obsolete{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/linstock |title=linstock: Definition from |publisher=Answers.com |date= |accessdate=2009-11-05}} though the linstock remained in service in many places where the older form of ignition was used, including the United States during the War of Independence and parts of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.{{cite web|url=http://www.goantiques.com/detail,early-nineteenth-century,492791.html |title=An early nineteenth century linstock |publisher=Goantiques.com |accessdate=2009-11-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303225700/http://www.goantiques.com/detail%2Cearly-nineteenth-century%2C492791.html |archivedate=2009-03-03 }} During the War of 1812 and American Civil War, gun crews were issued linstocks,{{cite web|url=http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/Arms_and_Ordnance/Articles_on_Civil_War_Arms/shooting-muzzleloading-artillery-safely-a390.html |title=Articles on Civil War Arms - Civil War Talk.com - Shooting Muzzleloading Artillery Safely |publisher=Civil War Talk.com |date=2008-01-13 |accessdate=2009-11-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202111313/http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/Arms_and_Ordnance/Articles_on_Civil_War_Arms/shooting-muzzleloading-artillery-safely-a390.html |archivedate=2008-12-02 }} which were used when the flintlock and percussion cap-ignited primers failed.{{cite web|url=http://www.civilwarnews.com/artillerysafety.htm |title=CWN Artillery Safety |publisher=Civilwarnews.com |accessdate=2009-11-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212074858/http://www.civilwarnews.com/artillerysafety.htm |archivedate=2009-12-12 }}