IDENTIFIED FRENCH-MADE MUSKET, USED BY AN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY CAVALRYMAN
Muzzle-loading flintlock smoothbore musket, 44" barrel, 59"overall, approx. .74 caliber, with three brass barrel bands and a brass trigger guard. The barrel bands are very bright and smooth, and the front band is fitted with a raised teardrop-shaped front sight. No rear sight is present. Steel sling swivels are attached at the front of the trigger guard and at the second swivel. A button-headed steel ramrod is affixed beneath the barrel, and a bayonet lug was once present at the underside of the muzzle, but has been filed away. The lock plate is marked "Manuf. Royale de St. Etienne" with a combined "HB" mark above. The stock is walnut, and the butt is stamped with the numeral "81" on both sides and on the underside, as well as the letters "S E B H" arranged in a square around a fleur-de-lis on the left side of the butt. Several other small and faint cartouches are present on the butt and above the trigger, and three notches have been carved into the top of the butt just behind the wrist. The flintlock action is very strong, with no half-cock position, and cocks and fires properly. The markings on the lock indicate that this component was crafted at the royal armory at St. Etienne, and in general the components used in this weapon originate from several different models of musket: the lock is that of a model 1770, the barrel, stock, and butt plate are those of a model 1763, and the ramrod is taken from a model 1746. The top jaw of the hammer bears a 1 1/4" crack, the trigger guard and the securing spring for the front barrel band are somewhat loose, and the tip of the ramrod bears a very old repaired break. The brass fittings appear well-polished, and the musket shows expected age wear, else very good. This musket originates from the collection of Thomas E. Hall, who received it in 1949 from the descendants of Joseph Brown, a Revolutionary War cavalryman from Ipswich, Massachusetts. It was believed by the family that this was a weapon that Brown carried into battle, and it would have been received by him after February of 1776, when the first shipments of French arms began to arrive in the colonies. Present with the musket are photocopies of the original hand-written notes from Mr. Hall's collection, a typed transcription of those notes, and a brief service record of Joseph Brown.