Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object |
Musket, Flintlock |
Year Range from |
1760 |
Year Range to |
1777 |
Description |
Early unmarked flint lock musket. 46 inch barrel - 61 inches overall. Barrel pin fastened lugs have since been broken off, now fastened with bands made of very thin brass. Barrel marked on top near breech "C:1268" Bayonet stud underside of barrel. Walnut stock well made with brass hardware and brass sideplate. Lockplate 6 3/8" long with gooseneck hammer. Detachable pan with fine frizzen, spring fastened from inside (French style). Cap and screw missing from hammer, ramrod missing, fore end cap missing, pin lugs on barrel missing. |
Subjects |
Bennington, Battle of, N.Y., 1777 |
Information |
Family history states that this musket was obtained from "the enemy" after the Battle of Bennington by James Richardson of Chester, New Hampshire, a private in Stickney's Regiment. Object details such as the flat hammer, square frizzen, trigger guard design, and bayonet pin under the barrel point to this being a Dutch-German gun. Some German troops in America might have been outfitted with an arm such as this, though there is no evidence that the troops at Bennington had anything other than traditional German arms. It is more than likely that this gun was obtained from a loyalist fighter under the command of Francis Pfister. Many of his troops (also his neighbors) were of Dutch descent and could have purchased this arm from the low countries or had it produced here by a gunsmith working in the Dutch tradition. This firearm illustrates the diversity of troops fighting in the American Revolution and the difficulty in ascribing artifacts to people and places with only family stories to guide us. |
Related People |
Richardson, James |
Credit line |
Gift of Byron N. Clark |
Catalog Number |
A42 |