The story of the "Portuguese" Baker rifle began in 1828 when Emperor Dom Pedro abdicated the throne of Brazil with plans to invade Portugal, depose his brother Miguel and place himself on the Portuguese throne under the cry of "Liberte" for the people. He traveled to England in 1830 to raise an army and secure equipment for the expedition. Through his Court patron, the Prince of Wales, Dom Pedro became acquainted with Robert Wheeler, a Birmingham-based miliary arms contractor. Through Wheeler, Dom Pedro was able to procure contracts for the necessary firearms for the invasion; with wheeler both manufacturing new guns and refurbishing newly purchased surplus British military weapons for Dom Pedro from 1830-1831. His workshop used up all available old stock parts, including components purchased from other contractors, to quickly fulfill Dom Pedro's timeline for invasion. As a result, many of the Portuguese contract guns made by Wheeler and other British contractors vary from the official "sealed pattern" guns that were approved for manufacture and issuance in the British army. These guns are often encountered with "atypical" stock configurations, barrel dimensions, furniture.
With his newly acquired arms, Dom Pedro raised an 8,000-man mercenary force, including 1,000 British mercenaries. They landed in Oporto in April 1832 and fought across the peninsula until 1836, when Spain joined and ultimately defeated Miguel, allowing Dom Pedro to claim the throne. This victory was hard-won. Dom Pedro's forces were poorly equipped as they had not been able to obtain as many weapons from the British as they had hoped. After learning of Dom Pedro's contract with Robert Wheeler, the British Crown immediately seized a majority of the guns built for the former Brazilian Emperor by Wheeler and other BSAT arms contractors. The British were understandably nervous about the implications of surreptitiously arming an expeditionary force that intended to overthrow Portugal, one of Great Britain's oldest allies. Despite these restrictions, Wheeler and a number of other enterprising British Arms makers were able to provide Dom Pedro's new Portuguese regime with weapons by building guns for "general commercial sale" rather than under contract. Once these guns became available on the open market, the Portuguese Pedro regime would quickly purchase them, and they would be smuggled to the Portuguese border.
Despite this "creative marketing", a large percentage of the guns intended for the "Portuguese market" were continually confiscated by British authorities, and were kept in British storehouses until 1835 when they were among those used to arm the British Auxiliary Legion in 1835 - a volunteer force of approximately 10,000 men raised in Britain to support Queen Isabella II of Spain against the Carlists in the First Carlist War. When the Legion disbanded in 1837, their arms were turned over to Spanish armories, until they were eventually included in the large shipment of Spanish arms that was sold to Mexico in 1836.
The Mexican army utilized these purchased Spanish weapons to great effect. It was with a mixture of Spanish and locally-produced weapons that Mexican forces battled U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Guns intended for the Portuguese have been well documented among those used by Mexican soldiers during the Mexican-American War; as at least one documented Paget Carbine bearing a Portuguese Crown and cypher on its lock was captured by U.S. forces at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.
Among the guns made for the Portuguese by the British was the famous Baker rifle. It appears that all of the Baker rifles that ended up in Portuguese hands were made by British arms contractors, as there is no evidenced that the Portuguese ever produced them domestically. As British produced guns, Portuguese Baker rifles all have Birmingham proof marks on their barrels. The guns generally conform to the "sealed pattern" of 1823, with a 30" barrel, round faced lock, brass furniture, and 45" in overall length. Some have unmarked locks, while others have Dom Pedro's Portuguese crown cypher engraved in front of the cock.
There are a few distinct features of Portuguese Bakers that distinguish them from typical British Army-issued guns. For starter's Portuguese Bakers are readily identified by the fact that each has had its brass patchbox lid removed and a large wooden patch inserted in the stock in its place. It is unclear why this was done, but it is a feature common to virtually every known Portuguese Baker rifle. It's possible that the British arms builders who furnished these guns for the Portuguese were utilizing damaged or surplus military stocks that had mis-cut patchbox cavities, or that the stocks had been obtained with their their patchbox mortises already cut, but the cost of making brass patchbox lids was prohibitive and filling the cavity with a patch was a cost effective solution.
Further evidence that the British were utilizing salvaged stocks can be seen when examining the forestocks of Portuguese Baker rifles - most show evidenced of having been spliced together. These spliced repairs appear to be an attempt to repair split wedge slots as well as damage that resulted from the bayonet bar being removed from the barrel (nearly all Porteguese Baker rifles have had their bayonet lugs intentionally removed - further evidence that the British were using surplus parts when building them).
In addition to the stock modifications, some Portuguese Bakers were intentionally reamed to smoothbore, their rear sights being removed and their dovetails filled in the process. This could have been an attempt by British arms makers to the guns easier to export, as smoothbore muskets often garnered less government scrutiny than comparatively more lethal and effective rifles.
This particular rifle is an excellent example of a Portuguese Baker, and has all the distinct features associated with these unique guns; including a filled patchbox, spliced forestock, and smoothbored barrel. Additionally, this rifle could have been among the guns that were purchased by Mexico from Spain in 1836; as it was originally obtained by a collector who purchased in Mexico in 1936! After displaying it in his "arms room" for nearly 20 years, it was then donated, along with the rest of his gun collection, to a local museum in 1950; where it sat in storage until we purchased in late last year! The gun even retains it's original museum inventory number on the trigger guard (The numbers can be easily removed with acetone, leaving no damage, but we believe they enhance the story.)
This rifle is all original from top to bottom and is very well preserved. The lock is still in its original flintlock configuration, not reconverted like so many other guns from the time period. The lock works wonderfully; the cock holds solid on both full and half cock, and the frizzen spring is stout and crisp.
The stock is very good with no major damage. The barrel is full length and adorned with proper British proof marks, The bore is smooth with some scattered rust and pitting. The ram rod is full length.
This Baker would make for an awesome display, with history that relates, multiple countries over multiple decades of use - there's not too many weapons that have British, Portuguese, Mexican, and American history all wrapped into one! Don't wait on this incredibly rare flintlock!
