Page 18 - Nov 2020 JOA

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Horns of Plenty On a cool April morning

by Erica Lome, Ph.D. in 1775, Amos Barrett

Decorated Military Powder Horns readied his musket and
prepared for combat.
in Colonial America Earlier that day,

23-year-old Barrett

had awoken to the

news that 700

British Regulars were

marching from

Boston to Concord.

They were planning

to seize and destroy

military supplies

stockpiled by

“rebellious”

Provincial colonists

as tensions with the

British government

worsened.
Artist: John Trumbull, American, 1756–1843
The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton,
January 3, 1777, ca. 1789, Yale University Art Gallery +

He Was Not Throwing Away His Shot The ensuing “shot heard round the world” set in motion a day-long
conflict that marked the beginning of the American Revolution.
Barrett was a member of the Concord Minute Company, a special To commemorate the occasion, Amos Barrett carved “April XIX”
corps ready to fight “in a minute,” created by the Massachusetts and “1775” into his powder horn, which already contained engravings
Provincial Congress in 1774. By the time he made his way to the of animals, a ship, compass, and other geometric designs. That
muster field, the Regulars had already opened fire in Lexington, killing powder horn remained by Barrett’s side for the rest of his life and
several members of the opposing militia and wounding more. They became a prized family heirloom before entering the collection of the
were now in Concord searching for the contraband material, while Concord Museum.
about a hundred men each went to secure the nearby bridges. At the
North Bridge, 450 Provincials had assembled to stop their progress.
Amos Barrett was among those who, upon seeing the Regulars
approach, changed the flints in their muskets – a clear and deliberate
provocation. In an account written fifty years later, Barrett described
what happened next:

e were all ordered to load and had strict orders not to Minutemen facing
fire till they fired first, then to fire as fast as we could. British soldiers on
Lexington Common,
WWe then marched on. Capt[ain] Davis had got,
Massachusetts, in the
I believe, within 15 rods of the British, when they fired 3 guns, first battle in the
one after the other. I see the balls strike in the river to the right of War of Independence,
April 19, 1775. Artist
me—as soon as they fired them they fired on us, their balls whistled
William Barnes
well. We then was all ordered to fire that could fire and not Wollen.
kill our own men.
16 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles