Revolutionary War Pocket Knife, dug at Fredericksburg, VA

Being offered is a Revolutionary War soldier’s large size pocketknife, measuring 8 ¾” x 7/8”. The tip of the blade has rusted away, being in the ground for over 200 years. These knives are in the Colonial Williamsburg Museum and the Fort Ticonderoga Museum (see pictures). This knife was recovered many years ago at Fredericks burg, Virginia.

Throughout the Revolutionary War Fredericksburg was a center of distinction. "There is not one spot in the State so generally useful in our military operations," wrote James Mercer in April 1781. The spring of 1781 witnessed in Virginia that remarkable campaign of the gallant young Marquis de LaFayette; the wonderfully conducted retreat from Richmond leading Cornwallis away from that important center and attempting a juncture with General Wayne, who was on his way from Pennsylvania with reinforcements.

This is the typical pocketknife carried by most Revolutionary War soldiers on both sides. There are examples in “Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution”, by Neumann and Kravic (see pictures). Also, there are examples of dug and non-dug pocket knives in most Revolutionary War museums. Although this knife dates back to the Revolutionary War, there is also a chance that a Civil War soldier may have had it. It comes in the glass top display case pictured.