Revolutionary War Fascine knife with extended blade, as in books and museum

This is another early and unique piece being offered. It is an 18th-century fascine knife (also frequently referred to as a military billhook). It measures 14” overall with the curved blade being 8 ½” and the second blade 3 ½”. It also has a very solid hardwood handle with ferrule.

The blacksmith  put his armorer’s stamp of half-circles on the blade. This same marking is on an example in “The Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution” by Neumann & Kravic (see pictures). This one features the rarer secondary blade protruding from the back of the main curved structure that served a few distinct, practical functions for military engineers and pioneer corps.

While the main inward-curved blade was optimized for hooked, "pull-toward-you" slicing cuts on small twigs and soft brushwood, the straight rear blade was used as a cleaver for chopping through thicker branches, heavy saplings, and logs that would otherwise dull or damage the delicate hook.

Issued officially or carried as private property by engineers, artillerymen, and light infantry, these long-bladed instruments functioned as backup close-combat sidearms when standard firearms could not be reloaded or used. There is a near identical example of this fascine knife in the Yorktown Revolutionary War Museum in Virginia (see pictures). Overall, this is a very solid piece and found in an area in North Carolina which saw quite a bit of activity during the war.

With the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding this year, interest in the Revolutionary War and its relics are significantly increasing. This renewed enthusiasm is driving the demand for virtually all Revolutionary War artifacts, further contributing to their scarcity and rising prices.