This horn was described in an exhibition of historical artifacts in Hatfield in 18891 as the powder horn of Henry Wilkie, a Hessian in General Burgoyne's army.
While Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War were typically pre-issued cartridge boxes, this horn may have been issued to Henry once in America, or could have been taken off a captured or killed soldier from the Continental Army. Since the more prominent initials on one side of the horn do not match Henry Wilkie’s initials, the latter scenario is more likely.
There are two known versions of how Henry came to Hatfield, MA. Samuel Partridge in his reminiscences2 indicates that he knew Henry and described him as follows:
“…Henry Wilkie, who was from Wolfenbüttel, Germany, belonged to General Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. While on his march to Boston for reembarkation to Germany, he made his escape, preferring to remain in this country. He was a barber in his native country, and told me that the barbers there were surgeons to the extent of bleeding patients. He lived in a small one-story house with his wife and four sons. All of these sons attended school in the old brick schoolhouse. One of the sons, Henry, remained in town, where he died at an advanced age. The others left town before their father's death.”
Another version of how he came to be one of the earliest non-English residents of Hatfield comes from an obituary of Henry’s grandson Charles E. Wilkie (donor of the powder horn), in which Henry is said to have been paroled. He, like many of his fellow Hessian soldiers, chose to remain in this country and was allowed to settle on condition that he not take up arms again for the British. Some Hessian POWs were paroled to local farmers, who needed manpower.
There were several paths of march taken by the prisoners from the Saratoga battlefield to Boston following General Burgoyne’s surrender on Oct. 17, 1777. One march led by General James Brickett did pass through Hatfield and another passed through Northampton. These, however, were thought to consist of British soldiers. The Hessians were marched via more southerly routes through Springfield and Connecticut. Along these routes, the Hessian soldiers were encouraged to desert their British armies and settle in the new land.
A more in-depth profile of Henry Wilkie is available from the Hatfield Historical Society.
Journal from ye 1st of March 1773
1773--- Mar 1st- Went with Mr Cutler in ye Morning to Leiut
Fields drank Egg Pop and from there to Hoyts
drank Cherry and then back to Lt Fields & dined &
in ye Afternoon to Dickinsons Shop drank Cherry from
there we went to Joiners and in ye Evening we had
a dance and I waited upon Mr C Williams the Co
were Doctr Barnard et lexor J Williams & Sister T. Cutler
Murray Dickinson Cooley Peggy Ingersoll & Vira do
with several other Gentleman and Ladies a very fine
Dance, the Co braking up I came and Lodged wth Murray
Tuesday Majr Murray paid ye fine of 10/0 to
Colo Thos Williams Esq for riding of a
Sunday from Hubbards in Sunderland to Deerfield he
complaind of himself up & ye Afternoon I began
to read Van Swietens Commentaries upon Boerhaaves
Aphorisms drank Tea with ye Ladies, in ye Evening
went to Lt Fields to get an order of Abatement wc he
promised he would make when he saw ye Selectmen
from there I went to Ensn Barnards & from there
went to Catlins wth Murray, and from Catlins we
went to Doctr Barnards and playd Checkers, Murray
married me to Vira and I married him to Peggy after
which Murray and Peggy in truth like married People
went to Bed in presence of Theod Barnard & Vira & myself
where I left them when I came away Theod took Vira away
& into ye Kitchen and them I see no more---
Prior to arriving at Fort Ticonderoga, Caesar lived and worked at a vast estate known as Forty Acres in Hadley, Massachusetts. His enslaver, Charles Phelps, Jr, was a man of high status in the community, and had him sent to fight in his place. It was common for white men, when called up to serve in the army, to send their enslaved servants as a substitute. Though they would receive the same wages as their white counterparts, they were required to give half or more to their owner. Caesar wrote to Charles in September of 1776, complaining that he had not received his wages. While lack of pay was frequently an issue for American soldiers during the Revolution, Caesar’s poignant letter reveals the complicated and precarious nature of his life as an enslaved person. He strives for some control over his living situation and meager personal possessions even as he acknowledges his status and that Charles has the power to sell him at any time.
The “stock and buckel” Caesar requests in his letter would have been his neck stock and buckle, a clasp that held a tightly wrapped piece of fabric around the neck. They would have been some or all of the possessions he would have been able to own. Enslaved persons were able to purchase small items like this, usually with the exchange of labor.As this gravestone attests, patriots faced danger at home as well as on the battlefield. This stone stands in Longmeadow Cemetery, describing the untimely death of 18 year-old Solomon Burt, "Who was suddenly Kill'd by the Blowing up of a Powder Mill."
Two years before this catastrophe, Longmeadow's minister Stephen Williams wrote about the growing conflict with Great Britain in his diary. On April 20th, 1775, the Reverend Stephen Williams wrote (Vol. 8): "this morning–as Soon as it was light, ye Drum beat & three Gun/fired an Alarm–the Story is that Some of ye troops had marched from Boston to Seize Some military Stores, at Lexington, or Concord–& that Some men had been Killed..." On April 21st, Captain David Burt led 22 Longmeadow minute men to the Lexington alarm. On the 26th, Reverend Williams, upon hearing of various conflicts occurring in New England, prayed "to God to Give wisdom, prudence, discretion and moderation to all his people." In May, he bemoaned the state of affairs: "the nation in a ferment; Some are for violent and coercive measures, with ye colonies, & provinces; some few for lenient, & moderation measures–destruction both to the parent country & the colonies Seems inevitable..."
While Williams seems to have been torn about the rift with Great Britain, the Burt family's sympathies were clearly on the side of the patriots. Solomon Burt worked at a powder mill situated on the Mill River in Springfield. The mill, owned by his father David, supplied powder to the American army.
On May 7, 1777, the powder mill exploded, with predictably disastrous results. Sabotage was suspected, but powder mills were by their very nature extremely volatile, and any spark could have set it off. The Reverend Williams wrote about the event in his diary (Vol. 9): "this day ye powdr Mill blew up & Solomon Burt (Son to Lt. David Burt) was Kill'd- was cari'd over ye Mill River - Severall rod/ & upon ye Hill - his leggs broke - & his Body much Bruis'd- Asahell Bliss - yt was in ye mill with him - was flung into ye River & one of his legs broke de [ditto]- de [ditto]- a very awefull & affecting providence - ..."
David Burt continued the powder mill business even after the explosion, as detailed in the following document from 1781 in the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum in Springfield, MA.
Other local cemeteries record similar dramatic explosions, including Southwick and Glastonbury, CT.