CONCORD, Mass. - Nearly 250 years ago, hundreds of militiamen lined a hillside in Massachusetts and started firing a barrage of musket balls toward retreating British troops, marking the first ...

The National Park Service said early analysis of the 18th-century musket balls shows they were fired by colonial militia members at British forces during the North Bridge fight. Historians say the ...

Early matchlock guns are extremely rare. The matchlock shown here was made around 1640, and is typical of the muskets used by militia in Colonial America. 1498 - Rifling principle is discovered.