Military men did not look on the rifle with much favour in the 18th and early 19th centuries; they preferred the smooth-bore musket. The Kentucky rifle was one of the first rifles to be employed in warfare, in the American War of Independence, but not by regular soldiers. With the arrival of a French design called the Minie, the rifle was finally adopted by the British Army as the standard arm of the regular soldier - and proved its worth against the Russians in the Crimean War.