Description:
Militia knapsack lettered in yellow on the front, "HANOVER / RIFLEMEN. / 2d. REGt." and inscribed in ink on the reverse "J. Hatch" or "I. Hatch." The Hanover Riflemen was a volunteer company located in Hanover, Massachusetts, midway between Boston and Plymouth. According to a 2003 phone converstion with Carol Franzosa, president of the Hanover Historical Society, the Hanover Riflemen existed from about 1814 to 1822, and that Hatch was a local name. In HD 2003.37.6, a book titled "The New Military Guide; ... Compiled for the Use of the Militia" by John Farmer, printed in Concord, New Hampshire, by Hill and Moore, 1822, there is a listing for a Hanover 23rd Regiment on p. 10. Volunteer militia companies were the elite of the citizen army and enjoyed preferential placement in the line of march or at review. Militia-day parades were extremely colorful events; among the ornamented equipment of the men in the early 19th century were brightly painted knapsacks which were worn on the back and supported over the shoulders with either leather or brightly colored woolen tapes. This knapsack has one-third flap cover; is painted dark green with dark yellow borders and a red oval on the flap with a star surrounded by a yellow sunburst; and has leather straps on the flap attaching to pewter buckles on the body. The extreme rarity of a triple set of militia items (also canteen, HD 2003.37.7 and cartridge box, HD 2003.8) from the same unit makes this assemblage the only such set in existence.
Label Text:
Knapsacks, or back packs, provided a way for regular soldiers to carry a limited change of clothes and accessories while leaving their arms unencumbered. More practical than earlier animal hide versions, painted canvas examples like these were also more decorative. Front flaps were embellished with identifying words and numbers in coordinated colors, all of which added to the spectacle of early 19th-century militia uniforms. The Hanover Riflemen (ca.1814-1822) was a volunteer company located in Hanover, Massachusetts, midway between Boston and Plymouth.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2003.37.9 |
