Story by Betsy Iler | Photo by Kenneth Boone

It’s something of a miracle that wars could be fought and won at all 200 years ago; a miracle that black powder flintlock smooth bore guns really could eject a lead ball 200 yards in a general direction and actually hit an enemy. It’s nothing short of astounding that a thumb’s width of metal against a pebble of flint could ignite an explosion that spewed fire out of the barrel of a gun and hurled a hot ball of lead across a noisy, smoky field and, by some kind of miracle, find a target. And the fact that the firing process alone took such a long time – about 20 seconds, if all went according to plan – makes it all the more remarkable.