War of 1812 Shoe Buckle, recovered at Battle of French Mills, NY

This is another nice piece coming out of an old collection. Being offered is an excavated War of 1812 soldier’s shoe buckle. It measures 2 1/4” x 1 7/8” and is mostly complete. It was recovered during the War of 1812 at the Battle of French Mills, NY.

The Battle of “French Mills” (near Fort Covington, NY) was fought very briefly under a night sky and in poor weather on November 22nd, 1812, and Canadian occupation carried over to the early hours of the next day, November 23rd. Fort Covington initially became occupied by the Americans in July of 1812 when they proceeded to begin the construction of a blockhouse on Covington Hill.

It was from Fort Covington that Major Guilford Young (Troy Militia) twice made raids on St. Regis in Lower Canada, the second being successful in that the Americans plundered Canadian provisions and captured a company of British soldiers in the process. The distance between the two locations was approximately 18 miles.

This buckle is made of brass and iron, which is now fused together. It is a solid piece and comes in the glass top display case pictured.