Bridgewater Light Dragoon Pistol
date: label: date made
content: ca 1808
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description:
label: Description
content: This .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock Light Dragoon Pistol was made in Bridgewater, Ma and used by a New England militia unit.
label: Description
content: The lockplate is stamped “BRIDGWATER” and “US” under an eagle. It is stamped “21STL.DS” on the barrel. The left side of the stock has a “V” and “39”.
label: Description
content: History:
label: Description
content: The actual maker of this pistol is unknown. It is like many other Light Dragoons pistols from the time. Its weight is what signifies it as a dragoon and would have been used for a militia unit. The make though cannot be determined because the only identifying mark is the location “BRIDGWATER” and “21STL.DS”. These markings give a location and a militia unit, but there were many gun smiths in Bridgewater, Ma at the time this pistol would have been made.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Flayderman, Norm. Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms…and their Values, Gun Digest Books, Iola, 2007. 9th edition.
label: Description
content: Smith, Samuel E. and Edwin W. Bitter. Historic Pistols: The American Martial Flintlock 1760-1845, Scalamandre Publications, New York: 1986, p. 112.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Bridgewater
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: The Bitter Collection of Firearms
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Adriana and Edwin W. Bitter Family Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1988.0518.08
label: catalog number
content: 1988.0518.08
label: accession number
content: 1988.0518
label: collector/donor number
content: P176L
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pistol
label: Object Name
content: pistol, flintlock
label: Other Terms
content: pistol; Firearms; Caliber .69; Center Fire
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 38.43 cm; 15 1/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 15 3/8 in x 6 1/8 in; 5.715 cm x 39.0525 cm x 15.5575 cm