May 18, 2021 Early Arms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/18/2021
Simple blade front sight, with two leaf rear sight, one standing V-notch leaf and one flip-up with V-notch and simple aperture. Flintlock with swan neck cock, roller bearing frizzen, waterproof pan, and tailed pan cover. Tower lock with stamped "(Crown) / GR" and vertically stamped "TOWER" at rear with simple lined borders. Brass wrist escutcheon with "HH", likely for Hompesch Hussars. Flowy Germanic brass trigger guard with "16", presumably a rack number. Hardwood single piece ramrod with cupped mouth retained by simple reinforced ferrule mouth. Brass serpentine sideplate. Saddle ring with bar. Brass buttplate with toe. The Hompesch Hussars have a distinct history, raised in 1794 by Baron Charles von Hompesch primarily with recruits from Schwarm, Hanover, and nearby areas. At the same time, Ferdinand von Hompesch, the younger brother of Charles, raised the Hompesch Chassuers, and both units marched to the Low Countries in 1794 to provide support for the Allied Army. The unit underwent its trial by fire in 1794 at the Battle of Boxtel, and both units suffered casualties in the 90% range, forcing both to disband. Hompesch was not one to be dissuaded, however, and rebuilt the unit, this time integrating emigrants from Prussia, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Turks, and, notably, France. Unfortunately, the unit was ordered to England and, because a number of the soldiers had signed up to fight against France, a conspiracy formed among many of the men who attempted to desert and were stopped by the British 15th Dragoons. To prevent further attempts at insurrection and attempts at going AWOL, the unit was put on ships and sent to Hythe, where they were reviewed by the Duke of York and Prince of Wales, who was so impressed that the Prince adopted the regiment. Hompesch was replaced by Colonel Hellemer, and shipped to Port Au Prince in 1796. They returned in 1797, again with catastrophic losses, with nearly 900 men who were no longer fit for service as a result of battle, fever, or bandit attacks. After their return, Ferdinand, who originally formed the Chaussuers, reformed the original unit again, picking up the original men from Port au Prince, more Germans, and men from several areas of Germany. They entered service in 1798, where they were sent to Ireland to suppress the United Irishmen's 1798 rebellion, fighting at Vinegar Hill and Ballynahinch; for their particularly aggressive actions, the Irish called them "the notorious Hessians". The unit remained stationed in Cork, where a portion was set to take part in the Ferrol expedition but did not arrive in time. By 1801, they sailed to Egypt and took part in the battles at Aboukir, Caesar's Camp, Rosseta, Alexandria, and Cairo, for which they received honors from King George III. With the Treaty of Amiens, the unit was disbanded. Accompanied by a copy of Michael Robinson's article on the Hompesch Hussars and an evaluation by Adrian Roads and Rob Robles. CONDITION: Very good to excellent. Barrel has a mottled appearance and a pleasing patina with some age spotting, and some silvering at mouth. Brass has a lovely uncleaned deep mustard patina. Ramrod is possibly replaced as it is slightly too short. Lock is very good with some old spotting. Engraving and stamping crisp throughout. Wood is very good with some dings and pressure marks throughout and has shrunk away from hardware in a few places but does not appear to be sanded; may have an extra layer of old varnish. Mortise is cut precisely for the lock. Action works appropriately on both full and half cock, bore is very good with crisp rifling. Top jaw screw of cock is replaced. An absolutely phenomenal historic rifle with ties to the Anglo-French Revolutionary Wars and Irish Republicanism. EW
Paperwork
Article, Evaluation