MetallörgY
Greenie
Greetings,
According to historical documentation, the French Army wintered in Lebanon, CT, during the months between 1780 and 1781, on its way to New York (the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route). Among those French troops included officers Rochambeau and Duc de Lauzun. The army camped in, and around, the town's large green and adjacent areas. Lebanon, CT, is also the home of the War Office where over 1,000 meetings took place to discuss strategies relative to the ongoing war (Google the War Office, Lebanon, for the who's who list of those who attended meetings).
Anyhow, on one of my permissions adjacent to the green I uncovered this important relic. This is a bronze? flintlock pistol butt cap that would have, more than likely, been carried by an officer from a foreign army. As a flintlock collector I am under the impression that such an ornate, decorative piece such as this grotesque would have been extremely rare to produce in, or for, the Colonies/Colonists, at the time.
Also pictured is my flintlock pistol manufactured in Liege in about 1760. Its butt cap is bronze. Also note the screw above the grotesque face. This screw would run through the butt/cap tang to aid in securing the butt/cap to the wood handle of the pistol. Although the tang of my found cap is mostly intact, the extreme end where a holed end would have been has been broken off.
I am excited to have found, what I believe, further evidence of the French Army's presence in Lebanon, CT. To think that this butt cap my have been the personal property of army officers with the likes of Rochambeau or Lauzun....I am just grateful to be a part in the preservation of history.
-M
According to historical documentation, the French Army wintered in Lebanon, CT, during the months between 1780 and 1781, on its way to New York (the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route). Among those French troops included officers Rochambeau and Duc de Lauzun. The army camped in, and around, the town's large green and adjacent areas. Lebanon, CT, is also the home of the War Office where over 1,000 meetings took place to discuss strategies relative to the ongoing war (Google the War Office, Lebanon, for the who's who list of those who attended meetings).
Anyhow, on one of my permissions adjacent to the green I uncovered this important relic. This is a bronze? flintlock pistol butt cap that would have, more than likely, been carried by an officer from a foreign army. As a flintlock collector I am under the impression that such an ornate, decorative piece such as this grotesque would have been extremely rare to produce in, or for, the Colonies/Colonists, at the time.
Also pictured is my flintlock pistol manufactured in Liege in about 1760. Its butt cap is bronze. Also note the screw above the grotesque face. This screw would run through the butt/cap tang to aid in securing the butt/cap to the wood handle of the pistol. Although the tang of my found cap is mostly intact, the extreme end where a holed end would have been has been broken off.
I am excited to have found, what I believe, further evidence of the French Army's presence in Lebanon, CT. To think that this butt cap my have been the personal property of army officers with the likes of Rochambeau or Lauzun....I am just grateful to be a part in the preservation of history.
-M
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