St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-03-27
An Old Firearm.

LOOK back among your papers, and you
will find one ornamented with fine Yer
mont farmhouse. Let me tell you Of
some curiosities to be found in that
house; this time, of the ancient flint.lock
gun, and its powder-horn.
They are both ornamented with cum
ming jack-knile work, (Which hints at the
WEAKNESS of the camp,) the word BEN
nngton" is conspicuous, and the date,
Aug. 16, 1777." Can any Of you tell
what they mean without any delay? The
horn will hold a pound of po WIDER, Judge,
and the gun is of very unique pattern.
What country produced a rifle" las such
piece used to be called) having a stock
smooth and true from muzzle to lock,
which concealed the ramrod its length,
i. e., having no "thimbles" and no need
of any? Was it the French? Then this
must have been French gun at first.
How did it get to Bennington, Vt?
1t also has the name of "Simeon Cobb"
rudely carved on it, He was Revolu-
tionary soldier, the grandfather Of the
honored owner of this farmhouse, and
himself the first owner of this farm. His
birthplace was Taunton, Mass, and he
was one of the Minute Men" of that
early day. The affair at Lexington
brought him to Boston Neck" where he
was first under fire, and saw Gen. George
Washington; to Bunker Hill, and to Ben
nington. Arriving at the latter place a
little before the battle, his company was
detailed to drive herd of beef cattle to
Gen. Gates. This being accomplished,
they set out on the return. No strict
discipline was enforced until. early one
morning, they passed cabin, when
woman came out to them to warn them
that party of tories had just passed,
and had carried off her husband and some
of their property. She declared they
would be ambushed and killed.
They now came into military form,
threw out skirmishers, and advanced
cautiously. Mr. Cobb was on the ex-
IRENE of the skirmish line, only one man,
his particular friend, outside of him. Soon
they crossed good sized stream, and as
they crawled out of it's underbrush, his
companion was shot, while he found him
self face to face with one OF the enemy
whose rifle covered him, and he was or
dered to surrender. He had no choice,
and obeyed. Just then the firing grew
brisk in another direction, and he saw
his captor's attention turned slightly.
Quick as fash he wheeled jumped down
the bank, and plunged into the water.
He could not swim, and saw the necessity
of keeping under as much as possible, and
gaining the other bank.
Struggling, strangling, crawling, losing
his gun, andgettingjust a breath ofair, he
succeeded in getting into the underbrush
the other side without feeling bullet. The
enemy had business the other way, and
were soon routed or captured. When he
found his company, all was quiet.
But he was minus gun! Noticing
that prisoner had one, he took it, and
thus armed himself Orders were given
that every articlecap tured must be turned
IN at headquarters, and he did so with
this gun, taking a friend along to cor
roborate his story. He was hidden to be
on hand at the "vendue" and bid OFT the
gun, if he needed it. He did so, and used
to say that it went remarkably low"
He found token Of some kind about
the size of our present cent, in the streets
OF Cambridge, Mass, after the battle o
Bunker Hill, and inlaid it into the butt
OF this gun afterwards. The device
whatever it was, is worn off entirely, but
the inscription, "Fuudamentum Quieti'
Nostrae, is quite plain even now.
This gun was among the curiosities al
the centennial OF Lyndon, VT, and, az
There is no male descendant to inherit i
further, Mr.. Charles Cobb is thinking o
sdieposlting it at Bennington when he feel
IKE parting with it at ALL Rev. P. B
FISK in Vermont Chronicle.