Washington Irving is occasionally credited as America’s first historian. While his works generally played fast and loose with the facts, he never failed to capture the culture of the times. Perhaps his best and most famous work is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820. More than two hundred years later, this short story and the many motion picture adaptations that captured the attitudes and lore of the early Republic have remained a Halloween staple. Perhaps the most visually interesting retelling is Tim Burton’s 1999 movie Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. Unlike previous adaptations, firearms feature heavily among the heroes, villains, and the ordinary townspeople of Sleepy Hollow. Here is a look at the Guns of Sleepy Hollow.

Simon North Model 1811 Pistol

The story takes place in upstate New York in the year 1799. Johnny Depp’s Icabod Crane is cast as a progressive, if somewhat cowardly constable from New York City exiled to Sleepy Hollow to find what was assumed to be a mortal murderer. This makes him more likeable than the morally ambiguous schoolmaster that Washington Irving depicts in his short story. But the change allows Icabod Crane to pack heat, even though it would be another half-century before armed law enforcement departments became a reality.

Depp carries what appears to be a Simon North Model 1811 pistol. North made large-bore full-stock smoothbore pistols for the US military in the early Republic up through the War of 1812. The Model 1811 is a flintlock .73 caliber smoothbore with no sights and a beefy brass butt cap, per its military tradition. Depp’s Crane carries the pistol concealed in a holster, defying conventions towards open carry in a belt or sash. He never gets to fire the pistol as he is disarmed by Baltus Van Tassel during the infamous church scene. Van Tassel then shoots one of the conspirators in self-defense. The same pistol is later seen wielded by Lady Van Tassel during the climax of the film. She shoots Icabod, but the ball fails to penetrate the Bible in Icabod’s jacket pocket. Oh Hollywood!

Northwest Trade Gun

The first gun we see in the film is a Northwest Trade Gun wielded by townsman Johnathan Masbath. The Northwest Trade Gun as a style dates back to a pattern of Indian trade muskets marketed by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1670s. It is distinguished by its large flintlock and massive bowed trigger guard. This pattern of musket was common with fur traders and Native Americans throughout Canada and the Western US, but examples have been found along the Eastern Seaboard. The guns were nominally .58 caliber and smoothbore to enable the use of shot or a single round ball. The Northwest Trade Gun continued to be sold into the 1870s with the only appreciable difference being the barrel length, which grew shorter as powder became more powerful during its run.

Mr. Masbath’s musket appears to be an early model with a 42 inch barrel. Lying in wait, he takes his shot at the Headless Horsman. But as in any other horror film, our intrepid Mr. Masbath abandons his fortified position to flee on foot only to be caught by the Horsman. Later, his son, Young Masbath, assists Depp’s Crane to solve the mystery and avenge his father.

Brown Bess Musket (Land Pattern Musket)

No film on early America cannot be complete without the Brown Bess Musket. This .75 caliber bayonet-ready smoothbore was first adopted by the British Army in 1727 and served all the way to 1838 when the Army went to a percussion cap version. There are three distinct models of the Land Pattern Musket, all of which are distinguished by their barrel length. The first two models, using 46- and 42-inch barrels respectively, were common issue for militia armories before the American Revolution and represented a cheap working gun post-war.

The Brown Bess Musket can be seen in the Revolutionary Battle in the hands of troops from the Continental Line as the pursue and kill the mortal Hessian horseman. Several can be seen during the townspeople’s standoff with the Horsman at the church. Brom Van Brunt (clearly Brom Bones from the short story) wields a steam punk version with a telescopic sight during his confrontation with the Hessian. There, you get to see the Brown Bess’s awesome knockdown power and a clumsy attempted reload. Props to Hollywood for trying to show the process!

The Charleville Model 1763 Musket

The Charleville Model 1763 was an older .69 caliber musket developed for the French Army just as the Seven Years War ended. The Model 1766 and 1777 models featured improved barrel bands and greater part interchangeability. Old Model 1763s were shipped in large quantities to the colonies during the American Revolution as war aid. This musket would be as close to a standard-issue long gun for the Patriots during the War. Post-war, the US Army would continue to model their muskets and pistols after French patterns up through the 1810s.

The Charleville features proximately in the Revolutionary Battle flashback scene in the hands of Continental troops. Charleville muskets also make the rounds during the Church standoff later in the film. Both mortal and immortal, the Horseman is not affected by fire from the Charleville. Clearly bigger is better with the Bess’s bigger ball.

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Blunderbuss

Blunderbusses were as rare in real life as it was in Sleepy Hollow. This flintlock smoothbore featured a short barrel and a flared muzzle to aid in loading. It served the effective purpose of a short-barreled shotgun today. Baltus Van Tassel wrenches a 10-gauge blunderbuss from one of the parishioners trapped in the Church. Knowing there is a conspiracy against him, he announces his intent to seek it out while holding the townspeople at bay. Icabod is now convinced of Baltus’s innocence before the man backs himself against a window, which allows the Horsman to impale and behead the final obstacle in Lady Van Tassel’s plot.

A Baker-Like Rifle

Instead of opting for his father’s Northwest gun, Young Masbath wields a short-barreled rifle throughout the film. It is distinguished with an octagonal barrel, small flintlock, and a simple bullet-shaped patchbox. It has a bayonet lug like that seen on the British Baker rifle from the Napoleonic era, but the rest of the rifle is a mix of post-Revolutionary Pennsylvania long rifle features.

Young Masbath uses the rifle during the Church scene and Icabod Crane later uses it to shoot the Horseman off a stagecoach before the film’s climax. The rifle ball bought Crane and his compatriots time to deal with Lady Van Tassel.

Jim’s Take: The Guns of Sleepy Hollow

Guns do not figure prominently in Washington Irving’s short story or any of the adaptations since, until we get to Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. Although the Headless Horseman is undead, the guns used against him and his living puppet masters reflect just what ordinary Americans had to go through to defend themselves. The guns in Burton’s tale are roughly of the period, as most guns then were flintlock single-shot muzzleloaders.

While Icabod’s pistol and Brom’s scoped Brown Bess does not fit the period, Burton largely plays it straight with plain military and commercial smoothbores that were practical and popular, particularly in New England where rifle culture was slow to develop. More importantly, it answered the question in my mind: what if the people in Irving’s Sleepy Hollow had guns? On seeing the film for the first time during its debut, I was intrigued by these long, flashy, and slow loading guns that behaved so differently from my usual deer rifle. This began my interest in black powder firearms and then firearms more generally. This film, above all others, was the one most responsible for making me a student of the gun. This Halloween season, don’t forget to give it a watch.