Did George Washington carry a pistol?

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SodaPop

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I don't recall ever seeing an image of him with a firearm.


Did Generals carry firearms back then?

In combat I mean...........
 
Good question, I have never seen a portrait with a handgun. Generals did carry sabers. If old G.W. were around today, I bet he would be packing a 1911-A1. Ok, here come the flames!:neener:
 
Perhaps a Google search - - -

- -for "George Washington Pistol" OR "George Washington Pistols" might yield something. I know I've seen an illustration of one said to have been his - - Nice, medium-ornate, but about what you'd expect from a field general. And, there's at least one painting of Washington with a horse bearing at least one pommel holster.

Belt holsters were almost unknown until well into revolver days. Some, esecially naval types, had a big hook on the side opposite the lockwork. More frequently, the pistol was simply thrust into the sash or belt.

Jumping forward several decades to another, more tragic war - - I've never seen a photograph of either Grant or Lee with a pistol holster on his belt, but there were those pommel holsters, on the saddles of each commander . . . .

Best,
Johnny
 
President Washington's estate contained a couple dozen firearms. They included a brace of flintlock pistols of the type that would have been carried while traveling or fighting.

He was also known to have owned a small brass cannon. It was kept in his study and used to signal ships passing on the Potomac.
 
Washington also wrote that as a lad, one reason he took a job on a river ferry was that he could carry a pistol, I guess to guard cargo and passengers.

Many paintings of him show his pommel holsters, but the untrained eye doesn't recognize them. Same for Lee, etc.

Lee is known to have owned at least one highly engraved Colt M1851 .36 Navy revolver with dark walnut stocks.

Custer (to name another famous general) had a number of handguns, many engraved.

And, of course Teddy Roosevelt had many guns, again some engraved ones with fine wood and some with ivory grips.

Lone Star
 
I think I remember reading somewhere that Washington had a pair of 1748 French Flintlock pistols but I don't really know for sure.
I used to read alot as a kid. :D
 
I've been re-reading some of my Revolutionary books and I was surprised at the number of times Washington had to give orders to shoot deserters after losing battles. It kind of changed my historical view of him even though I understand the necessity of it.

I always wondered if he carried out the orders or if it was done by a firing squad.

:uhoh:
 
I seem to remember The American Historical Foundation selling a replica of Washington's pistol.

The original that he carried during the war was used to insure an exact copy.

Been some years back.
 
It was common for officers to carry pistols but being of command rank, Washington would wave his sword to inspire the men (and that was something he was very good at - inspirational acts and not sword waving :) ) than engage in close combat.

Prez had a charmed life and at Braddock's Defeat (1755) was shot at about 11 times by Red Hawk who missed. Red Hawk was considered somewhat of a marksman and he gave up as he believed Washington was protected by the Great Spirit (heck yeah he was as Gawd reserved for Washington greater deeds).
 
Replica of George's pistol By Hawkins, London, 1748. 14" long
replicaweaponry_1780_4142665.jpg
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Found this after a search for George ashington's pistols... doesn't say he carried them, but he had them during the War era.

Of the pistols, one pair of matched flintlock pistols had once belonged to George Washington and was bought from the estate of Bartholomew Dandridge, former Private Secretary to George Washington. They were 14 inches long, with brass barrel, full-length walnut stock and seven solid silver inlays, including a grotesque mask on the butt; a rolled edge and engraved trigger guard; a panoply of arms on the cut-out side plates which show cannon, flags, drums, pole arms, a lion, and a unicorn.

Richard Wilson and John Hawkins, London, gun makers made the pistols in 1748. Thomas Turner, whose grandfather had known Washington as a youth, gave the pistols to Washington in 1778. The pistols remained in Washington's possession during much of the Revolutionary War. Before he died, Washington gave the pistols to Bartholomew Dandridge, his wife's nephew and his secretary for six years. Dandridge survived only a few years after Washington's death, and, after his death, Philip purchased the pistols.

In 1902 the pistols were sold to an antique arms dealer, Francis Bannerman at an estate auction near Warrenton, VA. In 1914 the pistols were sold to collector Edward Litchfield. In 1951 the Litchfield collection was sold to Clendennin Ryan. In 1953, he presented them to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where they currently reside in the West Point Museum. In 1978, the U.S. Historical Society with headquarters in Richmond Virginia commissioned a limited edition of 975 pairs of commemorative replicas of the pistols, which were offered to the public for $2,600.

edited to add this, taken from a study f Washington's will...

22. Four pairs of pistols were found "in the Study" at Mount Vernon when the inventory of its contents was taken in 1800. The appraisers set a value of $50 on three of the pairs, and $50 on the fourth. The pair of pistols given to Lafayette was exhibited at the Chicago Exhibition in 1893 as one of the "Souvenirs Franco-Américain de La Guerre de Independance." They had been on permanent display in Lafayette's chateau de La Grange. It is possible that these were the pistols that were sent from Philadelphia to General Washington at West Point on 22 Sept. 1779, with these words: "General Washington: accepting of these Pistols will very much oblige Sir Your most obedient very humble Sevt George Geddes." On 30 Sept., in accepting the gift, Washington called them "a pair of very elegant Pistols." By leaving this or another of his pair of pistols to Lafayette, Washington may have been returning the compliment. In 1824 Congressman Charles Fenton Mercer presented Gen. Andrew Jackson with a pair of pistols which, he said, Washington wore during the Revolution and were the gift of Lafayette. Mercer had got the pistols from William Robinson, the son-in-law of Washington's nephew William Augustine Washington. See Prussing, Estate of George Washington, 417-18, Richard and Carol Simpson, "Andrew Jackson's Pistols," (The Gun Report, January 1985), and Andrew Jackson to Edward George Washington Butler, 20 Jan. 1824, in Sam B. Smith, Harriet Chappell, Owsley, et al., eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson, 5:341-42.
 
Did anyone else see the travelling Geo. Washington exhibit that made the rounds to museums in big cities a few years back? It seems to me that there was a presentation pistol, maybe two, that was/were part of that exhibit. Nothing that was carried by him, tho.
 
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