This is a French 4-pounder smoothbore gun, cast at Lyons in 1793 and apparently captured during the Quasi-War with France (1798-1800). Manufactured in the year in which Louis XVI went to the guillotine, it has its founder's identification on the breech face with the republican slogan "Liberte,egalite" on the chase. A nearly-obliterated device on the first reinforce seems to be a revolutionary national monogram substitute for the royal cipher used on earlier guns. Where 3-pounder and 6-pounder guns were used in the English service, the French preferred 4- and 8- pounders.
Description (physical):
Material: Bronze.
Location:
805 Kidder Breese Street SE 20374
Institution:
Naval Historical Center