This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/13/2026
Although other muskets with regimental provenance may be associated with important battles and campaigns, this extraordinary longarm from the first Virginia militia under George Washington’s command encompasses broader swaths of Colonial American history. Quite likely the only major material survivor of Washington’s 1754 Ohio Valley campaign against the French, this piece encapsulates Washington’s role in extending the American colonies westward, eventually leading to the conditions that set the stage for the American Revolution.
Coinciding with British desires to extend American trade and colonial lands westward, in 1748, a group of wealthy Virginians formed the land speculation company that came to be known as “The Ohio Company of Virginia”. Investors in this new company included George Washington, his brothers, members of other early wealthy Virginia families including the Lees, Mercers, and Carters, as well as Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie himself. Receiving support of the Crown, these Virginians were granted several hundred thousand acres of land in the Ohio Valley, much of which was contingent on successful British fortification, settlement, and establishment of trade with the Indians there. However, these intentions set the British firmly on a collision course with the French, who already had well established alliances and trading ties with the Indians in the Midwest.
Starting in 1750, the Ohio Company sent explorer and surveyor Christopher Gist on several expeditions to identify desirable Ohio Valley lands and foster relationships with the Indians. In 1753, Dinwiddie sent George Washington with Gist and a small party to intensify efforts to create alliances with the Indians, deliver a formal ultimatum to the French laying claim to the lands as British territory, and additionally gather intelligence on existing French forces and fortifications in the region. In 1754, Governor Dinwiddie issued a formal proclamation guaranteeing wages and Ohio Valley land grants to Virginians who would enlist in a militia to go west and procure territories.
Proceeding west in 1754, the Virginia Militia would soon be placed under George Washington, who did not hesitate to engage and defeat a small French military scouting party at the Battle of Jumonville Glen near “The Forks” (the confluence of the major rivers in the Ohio Valley). Getting word from Indian scouts of an impending reprisal, Washington chose an open forest clearing near the Forks known as the Great Meadows to construct a temporary log stockade fort which the Virginians dubbed “Fort Necessity”. Joined by a volunteer regiment of redcoats, but lacking Indian allies willing to man this fort, Washington soon found his fort surrounded by a large force of French soldiers and hostile Indians. The tactically flawed decision to defend a forest clearing from concealed enemies firing from surrounding woods was compounded by rains which thoroughly soaked the British weapons and gunpowder. Thus forced to surrender his entire force to the French, Washington signed surrender papers in French whose terms unknowingly had GW admit to initiating hostilities. The French then generously allowed Washington and his men to return to Virginia with their equipment and weapons, whereupon Washington voluntarily resigned his militia officer’s commission. But Washington and his men had clearly initiated the actions resulting in what came to be known as the French & Indian War.
This example, made by Richard Wilson of London, had been erroneously sold at auction in 2014 as an Ohio Militia musket. This typically mid 18th century small caliber British gun would have been an unsuitable choice for Ohio and its militia, which were not formally established until the early years of the 1800’s. Through careful research, the purchaser from the auction put together the pieces of evidence suggesting this gun’s presumed role as an intended gift to an Indian Chief during Washington and his militia’s ill-fated 1754 expedition to the Ohio Valley.
Although Indian motifs are sometimes engraved on metal furniture of mid-18th century British fusils and hunting guns, the high concentration of these motifs (bows, arrows, quivers, and war clubs) on this particular piece sets it apart, and suggests it as an early example of an Indian treaty gun. The lock engravings--"OHIO" (Iroquois word for "good river" or "great river"--or perhaps simply a reference to the Ohio Company) and "REGE PIUS" (possible Latin for "pious to the King") represent motto's that might hopefully resonate with a native American chief. Perhaps the ultimate corroborating link with Washington’s 1754 expedition is the name “Wm Field” engraved on the wrist escutcheon along with “JRL”, a presumed subsequent owner. The roster of approximately 160 men in Washington’s Virginia militia listed on the National Parks’ Fort Necessity website lists a William Field—a soldier who presumably had the good fortune of taking home this un-gifted treaty gun to use it for hunting. Indeed, William Field of Culpepper, Va is subsequently known to have served as a Captain under Col Wm Brent, seeing extensive action in multiple Rev War battles. Yet one last possible sign of this musket’s association with Washington is the fact the only long arm known to have descended from Washington—a similar vintage sporting arm with a 48” barrel was also made by Richard Wilson (The American Rifleman February, 1968).
Delayed by the British Proclamation of 1763, the land promised to Washington’s Virginia militia by Dinwiddie’s Proclamation of 1754 would not be fulfilled until 1772. That final promise was settled by “the Savage Grant”—that original grant document is also listed for sale in this auction. Having received his land grant separately, Washington’s surveying company is extensively described as surveyor for the plots in the Savage Grant .
This is a rare opportunity to acquire a scarce George Washington-related longarm encompassing major historic landmarks which set the stage for the American War of Independence. This gun tells the story of early hard lessons learned in the American wilderness by the man who would later master military leadership, diplomacy, and the disposition to put country first. As important, this artifact was there for the start of the war which turned American colonists’ financial ambitions into liabilities for the British motherland. The resulting “taxation without representation" lit the smoldering fuse which would explode at Lexington-Concord. The gun itself features a tapered barrel with top flat transitioning to round. Flat marked "WILSON LONDON". Left side of hooked breech marked with private London view and proof marks as well as "RW" below a star for maker Richard Wilson. The convex lock is marked "OHIO / REGE PIUS”. The brass furniture is profusely engraved with arms motifs and many Native American symbols including quivers, bows, arrows and headdress feathers. Pierced and chased sideplate with flors and quiver with arrows. The wrist escutcheon is engraved "Wm. FIELD / JRL". The stock is of classic Georgian form and is carved with a relief shell around the barrel tang. The period wooden ramrod is slightly short. CONDITION: The barrel retains a brown patina, markings very good. Lock is in its original flintlock configuration, has a light grey patina and is somewhat pitted with markings partially worn. Brass retains a pleasing mustard patina. Stock shows some light we are and scattered marks from use. PROVENANCE: For additional detailed images of this musket and its associated history, see “Evolution of the Brown Bess Musket--Early British Flintlocks in Context” by Dr Jay Tartell, Track of the Wolf Publisher, 2024 (pages 114-122). A copy of this book accompanies this lot.