In 1755 the British Royal Navy began the process of upgrading the firing system for their naval cannons. From time immemorial, the navy had relied upon the use of a smoldering slow match mounted to a linstock in the hands of the gun captain to ignite priming powder in the touchhole of the cannon. The priming powder would in turn ignite the primary charge in the breech and fire the gun. While this was a relatively reliable way to fire a gun, there were some downsides to the system. First the simple carrying of smoldering slow match among numerous cannons with cartridge bags in the area, and the potential for spilled loose powder to be in the vicinity, was potentially hazardous and could result in an unwanted explosion. Slow match could also be extinguished, leaving the gun captain unable to fire his cannon. In rolling seas, the gun ports on the lower decks of the ship could have water splash through them and that could potentially put out a slow match. Finally slow match was a somewhat slow ignition system. Popular culture depictions of naval combat of the era have led many to believe that 18^th and early 19^th century naval gunnery was somewhat random and rarely well aimed. This was far from the truth and well-aimed gunnery that targeted masts, rigging and the rudder was an essential part of being on the winning side of a naval engagement. The gun captain was responsible for laying the gun, aiming it to achieve the most devastating effect. However, with the roll and movement of the ship that was firing the gun and the movement of the target, any delay between the sighting of the piece and the firing of the gun could result in a miss, rather than a hit. The flintlock igniters provided much more rapid ignition, which in term increased the probability that the shot would strike where the cannon was aimed. As a result, the Royal Navy started the process of upgrading all of their naval cannons to be fired by flintlock mechanism, rather than slow match. The expense of these upgrades and the time necessary to produce them meant that the process took a couple of decades and even by the turn of the 19^th century, the Royal Navy was still not completely retrofitted with the new cannon locks.

The locks were produced as standalone mechanisms that could be removed from the cannon when not in use and were completely enclosed to protect the mechanism. They can best be thought of as large flint box locks, with a centrally slung reinforced cock that was released from the cocked position by pulling a lanyard that connected with the sear at the rear of the lock. The locks were made of brass to reduce their susceptibility to corrosion in the salty environment, with steel cocks, frizzens and internal parts. The flintlock cannon igniters were a significant improvement over the older manual system of slow match on a linstock and world took note. Within a couple of decades many of the major naval powers of the world were transitioning to the use of flint cannon ignition systems, including France, Russia, Holland and eventually the newly established United States of America. In almost all cases the locks adopted were copied from their British counterparts and in some cases look absolutely no different from a British naval cannon lock, with only the markings providing any indication that the lock was not of English origin. By the time the new United States was ordering the building of its nascent navy, flint cannon locks were becoming rather common. In fact, research suggests that the USS Constitution was equipped with flint cannon igniters of English origin.

At least two US gunmakers are known to have produced flint locks for use on US naval cannons. Rufus Perkins, a long-time US small arms contractor from Bridgewater, CT and Enoch Hidden, a gunsmith from New York City. It is worth noting that examples by either maker are exceptionally rare and for whatever reason, very few American flintlock cannon igniters survive.

Early information about Hidden is somewhat muddled and inconsistent. However, Enoch Hidden appears to have been born in Rhode Island on January 2, 1785, and appears to have been the son of David Hidden who may have had Revolutionary War service. Almost nothing of Enoch can be found prior to the 1820s, when a series of announcements begin to be published in The Evening Post of New York City on September 9, 1823, noting that Enoch Hidden had been judged to be an “Insolvent Debtor” and those with claims against him should appear before Judge Irving on November 24 of that year to plead their cases. Hidden is listed in Heer der Neue Stockel as working as a gunsmith in New York City from circa 1820 to 1851, with premises at 293 Cherry Street for much of that time. The bankruptcy notice suggests that Hidden’s initial work in the field was not particularly profitable. Stockel also lists Hidden as a “manufacturer of cannon locks.” In American Gunsmiths Seller’s lists Hidden as working as a gunsmith in New York City circa 1823-1851. Seller’s additionally lists Hidden as receiving a US Patent on April 26, 1826 (no patent numbers were issued at that time) for an “elevating mechanism”. As a fire at the Patent Office in 1836 destroyed the early patent records, they are very difficult to research. The Congressional Record also indicates that by the early 1820s Hidden was petitioning Congress for contracts to produce cannon locks and refer to a verbal agreement that Hidden had come to with Commodor Decatur for Hidden to produce these locks. If the couple of surviving examples are indicative of what Hidden was doing in the production of these locks, his original ones were essentially copies of British naval flintlock igniters, but he was clearly interested in improving the design and was working to produce a better system. At least one online reference suggested that some Hidden flint cannon locks saw use on the frigate USS President.  

By 1824 Hidden had apparently developed what he considered to be an improved flint cannon lock, and a single example is known to exist, which was formerly in the James Gooding collection. This well documented lock is marked E. HIDDON, PHIL. It is not clear if the name was misspelled by the craftsman who made the lock, or possibly by Naval Ordnance or even the Patent Office. It is also not clear if the Philadlephia marking references where the lock was submitted for evaluation and testing or where the lock was made by a craftsman at Hidden’s direction. What is clear is that Hidden was in New York at this time and would remain there until his death in 1876. One also has to wonder if his financial woes were the result of his attempt to “build a better mousetrap”, or in this case a “better cannon lock.”

At some point during the 1820s it appears that Hidden’s business focus shifted from being a gunsmith to being a brass founder and producing brass fixtures and fittings for ships as a primary source of income, while his fascination with improving cannon locks continued. On April 29, 1842, he and Samuel Sawyer received US Patent #2,594 for a percussion cannon lock. This was a system he had been experimenting with for about a decade. In fact, Hidden’s new percussion lock design was getting press long before he received his patent for it in 1842. The lock was apparently impressive enough that it was demonstrated for President Andrew Jackson, the story of which was published by The Evening Post of New York City on June 8, 1833, nearly a decade prior to his receipt of the patent. It is worth noting the irony that this same paper had announced Hidden’s insolvency about a decade earlier. The story read in part:

“The Commander in Chief was present on Thursday last at the trial of a percussion lock made for cannon and submitted by Mr. Enoch Hidden, the inventor. The lock was fixed to a three-pounder, and its utility was tested during the heavy rain of the forenoon of that day. Thirty balls were fired, and the advantage of the lock to field pieces over the ordinary mode of discharging them was fully proven to all who witnessed the experiment…..The Commander in Chief expressed his satisfaction and gratification at the result of the trial, and at the fine appearance and disciple of the corps attending the excursion.”

Another story about Hidden and his cannon locks published in the same newspaper a few days later on June 24, 1833, recounted the visit of the Sauk Indian Chief Black Hawk to the New York Arsenal. Black Hawk had been defeated in the Black Hawk War the previous year. The chief was apparently appropriately impressed by the small arms and artillery in storage at the arsenal, but the story noted that “…perhaps nothing surprised these savages more highly than Mr. Enoch Hidden’s new patent artillery lock which the Commissary had fixed for trial on the beautiful brass three pounder, presented to the State by Governor Tompkins in 1814.”

The British Royal Navy discontinued the issue of flint cannon locks in 1835 and by 1837 the flint cannon igniters in service were being altered to percussion. Hidden’s new percussion lock design was a significant enough improvement that famed US Naval ordnance innovator John A Dahlgren, who was but a lowly lieutenant at the time, described Hidden’s percussion cannon lock by saying “In all the essentials for firing heavy ordnance it has no superior.”Interestingly Dahlgren would design his own cannon lock in 1847. 

Hidden’s percussion locks apparently saw at least limited use with field artillery and siege artillery, as well as with some shore artillery. During the Mexican American War, Hidden’s percussion locks were in use with the Flying Batteries which were commanded by Brevet Majors Samuel Ringgold and Braxton Bragg. A study conducted by Fred Gaede while researching cannon locks discovered that the 1909 listing of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum’s holdings included six variations of Hidden cannon locks, as well as two by Rufus Perkins. All of these locks, except for one, are marked with Hidden’s name, and most include the words “PATENT” and “NEW YORK”. Hidden’s success with the development of cannon locks appears to have been short lived, as not long after the Mexican-American War the use of locks on artillery generally fell out of favor and the friction primer, which had been in use in some forms as early as the War of 1812, became the standard method for cannon ignition with the US military. Hidden, did however, hit paydirt with his improvements in the manufacture and development of the porthole. Known as “side lights” during the period, as their primary use was to allow daylight and fresh air into the lower decks of ships, Hidden would receive two patents for their design. One was issued in 1848 and another in 1853. His design was so successful that the patents were renewed in both 1863 and 1864. Hidden’s work both in the innovating of porthole design and supplying brass fixtures to shipbuilders made his a very successful and wealthy brass monger. One of his daughters, Henrietta,  eventually married New York shipbuilding magnet William H Webb. Webb is probably best known for designing and building some of the finest American clipper ships of the mid-19^th century. Hidden would die a prominent New York businessman on December 3, 1876, a far cry from the “insolvent debtor” that he had been some fifty years earlier.

Offered here is an incredibly rare American Flint Cannon Lock by Enoch Hidden. The lock probably dates to the first half of the 1820s and is for all practical purposes a direct copy of the British Naval cannon locks that had been in widespread use for some four to five decades previously. The lock is a brass box lock design that measures nominally 6 ½” in length, slightly less than 1” in width (.95”) and about 1 ¾” in height for the mechanism, and about 4 ¼” in height including the cock. The cock is a classic reinforced naval cock and retains the original top jaw and top jaw screw. The right side of the removeable side plate is clearly stamped E. HIDDEN. There are no other markings on the lock. The lock remains mechanically functional but does not appear to have a half-cock position. It is not clear if a half cock was part of the lock design or not, but Hidden’s 1824 patent drawings for his improved flint cannon lock clearly includes a half cock. The lock shows wonderful age, and the brass body has a rich, uncleaned dark golden patina. The iron components have a richly oxidized brown patina. The lock shows staining and discoloration from firing and use with residue staining in the integral brass pan. The brass body of the lock shows numerous small dings, dents and marks from its service.

Flint cannon locks of any sort from the late 18^th and early 19^th century are exceptionally rare, and do not appear for sale very often. When they do appear on the market, they are usually English made locks. American made cannon locks are exceptionally scarce, particularly maker marked examples by the most noted of the 19^th century cannon lock makers. Most serious 19^th century US Navy collectors do not have a flint cannon igniter in their collections, and if they do it is almost certainly an English lock, representative of the locks used on the early American frigates. Finding an Enoch Hidden made and marked lock for sale is almost impossible. Do not miss your opportunity to add this rare American cannon igniter to your US Naval collection. 

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