• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

French Powder Horns?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
These two examples are profiled in "Engraved Powder Horns of the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War Era" by Nathan L. Swayze.
 

Attachments

  • FrenchHorn1.jpg
    FrenchHorn1.jpg
    17.9 KB
  • FrenchHorn2.jpg
    FrenchHorn2.jpg
    28 KB
  • FrenchHorn3.jpg
    FrenchHorn3.jpg
    31.1 KB
  • FrenchHorn4.jpg
    FrenchHorn4.jpg
    33.3 KB
  • FrenchHorn5.jpg
    FrenchHorn5.jpg
    38.5 KB
French rarely engraved horns in the dreaded Anglais manner … and whereas the troops were French Marines, if military, you really should opt for a ‘pulverin’ (horn worn vertical) not a traditional horn.

Milicen used horns:
“French rarely engraved horns in the dreaded Anglais manner … and whereas the troops were French Marines, if military, you really should opt for a ‘pulverin’ (horn worn vertical) not a traditional horn.

Milicen used horns:
Milice wore a powder horn and shooting pouch, not a cartridge box. The horn was commonly 12 to 14 inches long in this period and the pouch was made of a sturdy hide such as cow or pig. These were hand sewn, and not laced and had a good flap for protection.” Source = French Milice (Militia) | Donegal Township Riflemen, Inc.

However, I’m not too sure what Courier de Bois’s may have used … likely similar to the milice.
 
Last edited:
French rarely engraved horns in the dreaded Anglais manner … and whereas the troops were French Marines, if military, you really should opt for a ‘pulverin’ (horn worn vertical) not a traditional horn.

Milicen used horns:
“French rarely engraved horns in the dreaded Anglais manner … and whereas the troops were French Marines, if military, you really should opt for a ‘pulverin’ (horn worn vertical) not a traditional horn.

Milicen used horns:
Milice wore a powder horn and shooting pouch, not a cartridge box. The horn was commonly 12 to 14 inches long in this period and the pouch was made of a sturdy hide such as cow or pig. These were hand sewn, and not laced and had a good flap for protection.” Source = French Milice (Militia) | Donegal Township Riflemen, Inc.

However, I’m not too sure what Courier de Bois’s may have used … likely similar to the milice.
Interesting - thanks!
 
There are but a couple of Fr-Can. engraved horns and one of them is questioned. Do not suggest going there. I have one horn that is probably correct that came out of Fr.-Canada. It has a two hole lobed ear for connecting the strap at rear. An eastern buffalo horn would also be correct but very hard to come across one.
 

Attachments

  • Canadian powderhorn.JPG
    Canadian powderhorn.JPG
    144.2 KB
  • Description of an 18thc Kaskaskia gun horn and pouch.pdf
    109.2 KB
The Voyager's Sketch Book has drawings of powder horns carried by French Canadians. They're very plain; the fanciest one having some chip carving on the butt plug.
 
That is a flask made of horn but it is not a powder horn.
… and just what does that
mean … ??? Usless input really, without any details.

Maybe the top spout is shaped differently than that you believe, but otherwise the SHAPE of the horn body, with 2 end caps, and 4 ring eyes (2 up each side) are INDENTICAL to pulverins the French military used.
 
As I read the comments by the OP, he is interested in a conventional powder horn and not the Pulvérin or the Fourniment (which is leather and wood), all of which were used for black powder. The latter two would have been used by the Compagnies franches de la Marine.
 
Last edited:
When I was still living in Paris, rue Sophie Germain, my neighbor, a dealer in antique weapons and curator of the St Etienne weapons museum, wrote a complete book on this subject, you should be able to find this book for a small fee on Amazon or eBay...
The name of the author is Robert Marquiset and the name of the book is simply " Poires à Poudre ". You don't really need to read French to understand it...
 
Note that the Pulvérin or the Fourniment were the King's property and normally returned to stores when a colonial solder was discharged. As a result not many were around as personal property. Did find one that showed up in an officers death personal property listing.

An engraved Fr-Can. powderhorn seems to be rare.
 
Back
Top