Artifacts in our Collection

If you have artifacts that you think may relate to Benedict Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, please let us know. We can help you identify the item, conserve it, and catalog the information for future researchers.

This is an Escutcheon Plate from a Brown Bess Musket that was part of a weapon issued originally to Company H of the British 60th Regiment of Foot.

Member Duluth Wing found this artifact on the Arnold Trail near Chain of Ponds in 1989.

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was founded in 1755 as the 62nd Royal American Regiment and later renumbered the 60th Regiment in 1757 when the 50th and 51st foot were eliminated after a British loss at Fort Oswego, New York. The 60th was a large regiment raised with four battalions.

The unit was originally titled the "Royal Americans" in an attempt to recruit American colonists into the ranks of the regular British army. This proved difficult, so the 60th was made up of a large portion of German immigrants, King George's Hanoverian subjects, drafts from other British regiments, and some American colonists.

Eventually, this escutcheon (or wrist) plate and the Tower of London Brown Bess musket on which it was attached, ended up in the hands of one of the members of Arnold's expedition in 1775 where it was dropped in the Maine woods and remained for two centuries.