The Rising - Ballad of Mangal Pandey (Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket)

The Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops under British rule in 1856. The Enfield rifle-musket was a contributing cause of the Indian rebellion of 1857. 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 so abhorrent to Hindu and Muslim soldiers based on religious beliefs. British military drills of the time required soldiers to tear open by biting open the prepared cartridge, pour the gunpowder contained within down the barrel, snap off the greased end of the cartridge containing the bullet at the muzzle, ram it home, bring up the rifle to the hip, replace the percussion cap, ready the rifle by setting the sights and moving it to full cock, then to present the rifle, marking the target and squeezing the trigger. The musketry books also recommended that, "Whenever the grease around the bullet appears to be melted away, or otherwise removed from the cartridge, the sides of the bullet should be made wet in the mouth before putting it into the barrel; the saliva will serve the purpose of grease for the time being". The idea of having anything which might be tainted with pig or beef fat in their mouths was unacceptable to the Indian soldiers, and when they objected it was suggested that they were more than welcome to make up their own batches of cartridges, using a religiously acceptable greasing agent such as ghee or vegetable oil. This seemed to prove that the issued cartridges were, in fact, greased with pig and/or beef fat. A further suggestion that the Sepoys tear the cartridges open with their hands (instead of biting them open) was rejected as impractical – many of the Sepoys had been undertaking musket drill daily for years, and the practice of biting the cartridge open was second nature to them. Incidentally, after the Mutiny, manuals amended the method of opening the cartridge to, "Bring the cartridge to the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, and with the arm close to the body, carefully tear off the end without spilling the powder." The arrogant indifference of many British commanding officers to the problem, a religious consideration as to tolerance, as perceived by the Sepoys only added more fuel to the already volatile situation, and helped spark the rebellion in 1857. As a consequence of British fears, the Indian infantry's long arms were modified to be less accurate by reaming out the rifling of the Pattern 1853 making it a smooth bore and the spherical / ball shot does not require greasing, just a patch. This greatly reduced the gun's potency and effectiveness, as did replacing the variable distance rear sight to a fixed sight. This became the Pattern 1858. However, due to the now thinner walls, the barrel would bulge and bursting was not an unknown problem. Furthermore, with the bayonet fitted excessive flexing became an issue. To remedy this, an urgent order was placed in England for around 12,000 new barrels made specifying with a thicker barrel wall. This became the very scarce Enfield Pattern 1859 which in good to very good condition attracts a premium. ...새롭게 지급된 1853년형 엔필드 강선머스킷은 보다 빠른 장전을 위하여 개별 포장된 탄약통을 사용하였다. 이 총은 병사들이 종이로 싼 탄약통을 입으로 물어뜯고 탄약을 총신에 재겨 넣은 뒤, 탄약이 흐르는 것을 방지하기 위해 종이와 탄환을 함께 총신에 넣고 발사하도록 고안되었다. 문제는 탄약통의 방수를 위해 종이에 동물성 지방을 입힌 것에서 비롯되었다. 돼지나 소의 지방을 이용한 탄약통을 입으로 물어뜯어 쓰라고 하는 것은, 돼지를 불결하게 여기던 무슬림 병사나 소를 신성하게 여기는 힌두 병사 모두에게 종교에 따른 차별로 받아들여졌다. 1857년 1월 27일, 참모장 리처드 버치는 새로운 머스켓 총을 사용하면 총신에 따로 그리스를 칠하지 않아도 되니 "세포이들이 좋아할 것"이라며 모든 세포이들에게 1853년식 엔필드 머스켓을 지급하라고 지시하였다. 새 탄약통이 지급되자마자 벵골에 있던 영국군의 덤덤 보급창에서 탄약통을 둘러싼 논란이 보고되었다. 상위 카스트에 속한 세포이들이 자신의 카스트 지위를 잃는 것이 두려워 탄약통 수령을 거부한 것이다. 물론 탄약통의 종이는 꼭 입으로 물어뜯지 않아도 손으로 뜯어 사용할 수 있었다. 그러나, 종교적 반감을 고려하지 않은 채 지급된 탄약통에 대한 루머가 삽시간에 퍼져, 세포이들 사이에서는 기존의 탄약통에 그리스를 발라 쓰는 것보다도 못한 새 탄약통은 순전히 세포이를 모욕하기 위해 지급된 것이란 말이 나돌았다.