Claude-Étienne Minié

Who was Claude-Étienne Minié?

Claude-Etienne Minié was a French Army officer famous for solving the problem of designing a reliable muzzle-loading rifle by inventing the Minié ball in 1847, and the Minié rifle in 1849. He succeeded the pioneering work of Henri-Gustave Delvigne and Louis-Étienne de Thouvenin.

Minié served in a number of African campaigns with the Chasseurs, after which he was eventually promoted to captain. In 1849 he designed the Minié ball, a cylindrical bullet with a conical point. This projectile, combined with his rifle, resulted in a major improvement in firearm accuracy.

The French government rewarded Minié with some 20,000 francs and installed him as a member of the staff at the Vincennes military school. In 1858 he retired from the French Army with the rank of colonel, and later served as a military instructor for the khedive of Egypt and as a manager at the Remington Arms Company in the United States. His rifling technology proved critical to the increase in firearms accuracy seen during the American Civil War.