We consider the complex history and symbolism of an elaborately decorated sidearm weapon, originally made in Bristol, England, possibly intended as a dueling pistol, which came across the ocean to America with General Edward Braddock, witnessed the catastrophic events in the Ohio valley that sparked the Seven Years’ War, and which then became a prized possession of George Washington, symbolizing his relationship with the ill-starred general as well as America’s fraught relationship with Britain.

Special thanks to the Bristol Archives and to Eric Gabbitas, a direct descendant of the gunsmith William Gabbitas.

Image Courtesy of the Division of Political and Military History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian record on the pistol: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_746133

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