Revolutionary War “Trench Spear”, associated with the 10th Continental Regiment

This is another rare piece being offered, it is a Revolutionary War “Trench Spear”. It measures 9 ½” long and would have been attached to a 3/4” diameter wooden pole. Carved into each side of the spear is the Roman numeral “X”. The history of this piece is said to have been associated with the 10^th Continental Regiment.

The 10th Continental Regiment was a unit of the Connecticut Line in the 1776 establishment of the Continental Army. It began as Parson's Connecticut Regiment (also known as the 6th Connecticut Provincial Regiment), which was part of the 1775 establishment, and was commanded by Colonel Samuel Holden Parsons until his promotion to brigadier general.

It was first active during the Siege of Boston, and then in preparing the defenses of New York City. After Parsons was promoted in August 1776, command came to John Tyler, who was promoted to colonel at that time. The regiment fought in the Battle of Long Island and was part of the panicked retreat after the British landing on Manhattan.

Although the regiment was present with the army at White Plains, New York in October 1776, it did not participate in the battle fought there. The regiment was then placed on guard duty at Peekskill, New York, where it remained until it was disbanded at the end of the year.

Being there was a shortage of bayonets, the primary weapon for American troops would be these types of spears. George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army at Cambridge, laying siege to Boston, ordered on July 14, 1775, that “the Commanding Officers in those parts of the Lines and Redoubts, where the pikes and spears are placed. will order the Quarter Masters of Corps, to see that they are greased twice a week and always ready and fit for service.”

Again, on July 23, 1775, Washington ordered that “the people employed to make spears, are desired by the General to make four dozen of them immediately, thirteen feet in length, and the wood part a good deal more substantial than those already made, particularly in the New Hampshire Lines, which are ridiculously short and light, and can answer no sort of purpose, no more are therefore to be made on the same model.”

This spear head is in nice condition, very solid and no rust from being stored away for over 200 years. There are examples of this piece in “Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution” (see pictures). It is a great piece of early American History.