(GA.261) Powder Horn
ARTIFACT NUMBERCCN 909430
Country of OriginContinental Army
Dateca. 5 Nov 1775
MATERIAL(S)Horn, Wood
Dimensions14.5" x 3.5" x 3.5"
Credit LineU.S. Army Artifact, CCN 909430
DescriptionThis is a very plain powder horn with an inscription and a twine strap. The horn is dark green, with one simple raised ring around the spout about an inch from the tip. The wooden base plug has some deep scratches. The horn is engraved with two ships, possibly representing the sloop Enterprise and the schooner Liberty. Inscription reads: "ISAAC BARNS HIS HORN/ MADE AT SANT JOHNS 1775/ NVEMBER / THE 5 1775/ C I I C C C C O".ProvenanceIsaac Barns - Barns dated his horn on the 5th of November, three days after the capture of Fort Saint Johns. Around the base are the initials ‘C I I C C C C O,’ probably from a regimental brand, ‘I C,’ of the First Connecticut Militia of which Barns was a member. The two ships shown on the horn may represent the sloop Enterprise and the schooner Liberty, which accompanied the troops on Lake Champlain. Barns enlisted from New Haven in the Sixth Company of Capt. William Douglas in the First Connecticut Regiment of Col. David Wooster in 1775. Fort Saint John on the Richelieu River was built of palisades with four bastions by the French before 1750 at the present site of the town of Saint John. Today there are no remains of the fort and a plaque on a stone beside the river marks the location where the fort was located. In 1775 a two-pronged attack on Canada commenced, with Benedict Arnold’s troops moving up the Kennebec River from Boston and Montgomery’s army going north via Lake Champlain to Montreal. After occupying Ile aux Noix on the 24th of September, Montgomery’s forces proceeded to Saint John with 1700 men. The British surrendered the fort at Saint John on November 2, 1775. Barns participated in the siege of St. Johns. “The siege of St. Johns was an important element in the ill-fated Canadian expedition, for the British, under Preston, delayed the American invasion forces almost two months.
ca. 1775