Image Not Available

(GA.265) Powder Horn

ARTIFACT NUMBERCCN 910636

Country of OriginContinental Army

Date2 Nov 1775

MATERIAL(S)Horn, Wood

Dimensions9.5" x 2.5" x 2.5"

Credit LineU.S. Army Artifact, CCN 910636

DescriptionThis is a powder horn with an inscription. The horn is a pale brown with a dark brown spout. The spout has two raised rings around it. Both the rings and the area where the body meets the spout are engrailed. There is a wooden base plug with an iron D-shaped ring. The horn is engraved with the shore of Lake Champlain, a tree, a flower, and horseshoe-shaped battery. The scene likely represented what Humphrey could see from the hill of Mount Independence. Inscription reads: "Frederick Humphry Junr His Horn Made/ att Mount Independent November y'2 AD 1776/ Ticonderoga/ Mountindepenc".
ProvenanceFrederick Humphry (1753 - 1821)

Following the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen in May 1775, the Americans began construction of a second fortification opposite Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain to secure the strategic approaches to Albany in the event of a British foray from Canada. Built in 1775-76, Mount Independence was designed by Chief Engineer, Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin as an all wooden star fort with extensive shore batteries overlooking the lake. Several thousand New England militiamen were employed in constructing and garrisoning the fort. The partially completed work was formally christened ‘Mount Independence’ on July 28, 1776 in the wake of the proclaiming of the Declaration of Independence. In late October 1776, a British amphibious force under Sir Guy Carlton appeared off Three Mile Point, but ‘the formidable appearance of the two forts with flags flying and artillery conspicuously displayed’ compelled the British to withdraw. Frederick Humphrey carved this horn shortly after that encounter. The next year both forts manned by an under-strength garrison commanded by Arthur St. Clair were evacuated on July 6, 1777 after a brief siege by John Burgoyne with 10,000 British regulars and Hessians. Following Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga in October 1777, the British quickly found the forts to be untenable, evacuated the garrison and burned Mount Independence. Frederick Humphrey (1753 – 1821) had joined the Simsbury Company of Militia that formed part of Colonel Samuel McClellan’s Regiment, Connecticut Militia. A brother, John Humphrey, commanded the company in which several other Humphrey brothers served.