D Day Anniversary

The Memorial in the US Cemetery. France has permanently given this ground to the US as US territory.

A small section of the graves.

There are 9347 graves in the Normandy Cemetery.  The remains of 60% of the war dead were shipped home.  The battle for Normandy cost over 125,000 American lives; of these over 30,000 died  by the end of June.  The landings at Utah and Omaha accounted for overt 5000 and the fighting through the hedgerows the rest.

Over 35,000 French civilians were killed and 3 times that  number were seriously injured.

Photos by Lois Ahlers and copy by Heinz Ahlers.

Powder Horn by Tim Crosby

Photographed at the 2013 Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show by Jan Riser.

2014 CLA Live Auction: Elisha Bull Inspired Rifle by Roger Sells

Elisha Bull inspired rifle by Roger Sells

Roger Sells is a well known contemporary builder and is a regular at the Southern rifle events at Lake Cumberland and the the Museum of Appalachia.  He is noted for extremely well made iron mounted mounted Appalachian rifles and some great Hawken rifles. 

Roger lives in an area of Tennessee where gunsmiths lived and worked in the the 1800 to early 1900 time frame.  Roger notes he was exposed to iron mounted Southern rifles at an early age (12 years of age), but was not really interested in the history, design, and function of the rifles until he returned from military service in 1969.  “My interest grew and I soon learned to love these iron mounted rifles because of their simple functional design and graceful lines.  Rifles built by Ambrose Lawing, the Bean family, William Douglas, and Elisha Bull are close to my heart, but the rifles built by Elisha Bull of Bulls Gap Tennessee are my favorites.”

When Roger decided to build a rifle for the CLA auction he chose an iron mounted Southern rifle inspired by Elisha Bull's rifles considering the auction focus on the War of 1812 period and the expansion westward.   Elisha served as a private in a regiment of East Tennessee volunteers during the War of 1812.  The Bulls’ clientele included frontiersmen, settlers and native Americans living in the region between the Appalachians and the Mississippi.  Many of their rifles surely found their way to battlefields such as Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans, and beyond to the places like the Alamo, the Rocky Mountains, and the western Indian territories.  Roger had been wanting to build a rifle like this for some time.  

Roger did not build a bench copy of a specific Elisha Bull rifle, but did incorporate characteristics from Elisha’s double grease hole rifle and one of his tri-metal fancy rifles with characteristics Roger normally uses to build his well known iron mounted rifles.  The results are this elegant, clean and very Elisha Bull like auction rifle.  Roger said “My focus was to build a simple functional rifle with graceful lines like the rifles built by Elisha Bull.” and he certainly succeeded.

Roger used the following components:

-  Rice "A" weight 44 inch .40 cal. swamped barrel with square cut rifling.

-  Chamber's late Ketland flint lock

-  Davis #4 triggers

-  Walnut stock blank from Harrison's Gunstocks

The iron hardware and rear sight were fabricated in Roger’s shop

This is truly a notable contemporary longrifle and exemplifies the period when the frontier was moving west, the economy was shifting to steamboats and cotton, and the classic iron mounted Southern rifles were reaching their artistic peak.  It is difficult to achieve the true elegance of line, excellence of the iron mounts, and balanced architecture that carries a simple un-ornamented tool into a classic artwork.  Roger Sell’s Elisha Bull inspired rifle does just that. 

Knife by Kyle Willyard

Photographed at the 2014 Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show by Jan Riser.

McAfee’s Station by Ken Scott

Here is a painting I just completed and delivered to a customer last week. He is a decedent of the McAfee’s. Now it seems like his relatives want on too.

Last year before the CLA I went down to McAfee just north of Harrodsburg and south of Lexington and did the research on where the station was. Got a good look at the lay of the land and good dozens of photos. Presently, on the site, there is a stone house that was built in 1790, just 5 years after the station was abandoned. I talked to the owners and will deliver them a print of this just before the upcoming CLA. It is ink and watercolor on laid paper.

Copy and image supplied by Ken Scott.

Jaeger by Dan Brawner

A .54 Jaeger I built a few years ago, it is called "der fuchs" (the fox).

Copy and photos supplied by Dan Brawner.

Pen Knife by Mike Buss

Photographed at the 2014 Lake Cumberland Show by Jan Riser.

Hunting Pouch by Sarah Miller with a Tim Sanners Powder Horn on a Kris Polizzi Strap

The double bag is made by Sarah Miller of Old Roxbury Store just east of Somerset Pa. It measures 8" wide by 6" high. Pillow ticking lined and aged to look very well used. Hand forged buckles and a ticking lined strap with a patch knife sheath sewn on. A nicely scalloped to on the flap finishes off this fine hand sewn shooting pouch.

The horn is one made by Tim Sanner it measures about14" around the outside curve and 21/2" across the cap end. A tapered octagon tip and a fake repair finish off a good looking horn with the plan of Fort Wm. Henry engraved on the front. The  back has a nice engraved saying on it with scrolls and other designs.

And no respectable horn should be seen without a Kris Polizzi from Elizabethtown, PA. This strap measures 53" long and is in the patriotic colors of old glory. 

Copy and photos supplied by Tim Sanner.

Flintlock .78 inch Musket, Long Land Pattern, 1742 (c)

The Long Land Pattern, commonly called the 'Brown Bess', was the standard British Army musket for most of the eighteenth century. As most male citizens of the American colonies were required to own a musket for militia duty, weapons like this would have been in common use on both sides during the American War of Independence (1775-1783). The Brown Bess weighed about five kilograms and fired a ball weighing about 40g. It had an effective range of about 80m. Muskets were most effective when they were fired in volleys (large numbers of men all firing at the same time).

Copy and photos from the National Army Museum.

Recent Work by Glen Mock

 Here is a cork screw I made for Doug Delsemme. I forged it from a hay rake tine and turned the rest out of walnut with a ivory inlay.

 

Copy and photo supplied by Glen Mock.

General Sir Henry Clinton in General Officers' Undress Uniform, 1777 (c).

Miniature, watercolour on ivory, by John Smart, 1777 (c).

Henry Clinton (1738-1795) was born in Newfoundland and grew up in New York, where his father served as Royal Governor. In 1751 he went to England and gained a commission in the Coldstream Guards. By 1758 he had risen to be lieutenant-colonel in the Grenadier Guards. During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), Clinton distinguished himself as an aide-de-camp to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick. He was promoted to full colonel in 1762 and wounded at Johannesburg in August of that year. Clinton was promoted to major-general in 1772, in which year he obtained a seat in Parliament (held until 1784) through the influence of his cousin Henry Pelham-Clinton, Duke of Newcastle. In 1775 he sailed for America.

Clinton played a major role in the American War of Independence (1775-1783). He took part in the battles of Bunker Hill and Long Island, subsequently taking possession of New York. In March 1778, following the defeat at Saratoga, Clinton replaced General Howe as Commander-in-Chief in America. The following year he invaded South Carolina and in 1780 captured Charleston.

For services during the American war he was promoted to lieutenant-general and awarded a knighthood. Friction, however, was constant between him and Lord Cornwallis, his second in command, and in 1782, after the surrender at Yorktown, he was replaced as Commander-in-Chief by General Sir Guy Carleton. Clinton was re-elected to Parliament in 1790, and he was promoted to full general in October 1793.

Copy and photo from National Army Museum.