There is no mention of Baer's irrefutable proof. The rest is mere supposition. Whilst the above may be true, it is far from convincing.First, One of the most common myths is that Napoleon ordered the hanging of anyone in possession of an airgun. The late Arne Hoff, famed arms historian and curator of the Royal Danish Arsenal, and others, have commented that this story, told as the “eye witness” war experience of French General Mortier, has now been quite thoroughly refuted (Baer, 1973). This story may have grown from the fact that many towns, fearing these unfamiliar, terrifying guns - even without any negative incidents, banned airguns. A death penalty was common for many offenses, so it is possible that some airgunners were put to death. One story relates that the city fathers had a gunsmith, who knew how to make airguns, blinded!
Not quite sure about this either. I vaguely recall a reference to airguns in Emil Ludwig's biography on Napoleon.Second, apparently there never was any incident of the air rifles being used against Napoleon’s troops.
Third, it is often related that these guns were silent. A number of city, and other governmental decrees of the 1800s, made the guns illegal, often largely on this basis. I can state from personal firing of a fully-charged museum copy of the Girandoni military air rifle that the discharge sound is quite audible, though by no means as loud as a similar large bore flintlock firearm. However, the fact the guns discharge without smoke or muzzle/pan flash does make locating the position of someone firing such a gun much more difficult. (Modern note: Powerful, modern, silenced, 9mm PCP airguns are being used by U.S. Seals in Iraq to snipe at insurgents. Firing an M-16 at dawn or dusk could attract a lot of return fire to the flash point.)
I have never heard of anyone claiming that PCPs are silent. Infact, I find that they are noisier than spring-piston airguns for the same power level. I am refering to 12 ft.lbs. airguns and not the more powerful ones and obviously sans moderators. As you have quoted, it was their smokeless property that was supposedly the reason for Napoleon's order.
Mack The Knife
