Kulenburg
This is a
flintlock infantry rifle, caliber 17.5, which has suffered from the wear and
tear of time, with its pitted and worn wood and the absence of its ramrod, but
which deserves the greatest respect both for its historical appearance and its
rarity.
It is a
French standard rifle, model "1777 corrected Year IX."
Developed at the end of the Ancien Régime, the model
1777 rifle was used during the long period of the Revolutionary Wars and the
First Empire. The "Year IX" correction takes its name from the Revolutionary
calendar and was adopted in 1800 (Year 9 of the French Revolution). The result
of the work of a commission convened at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte, the
modifications compared to the 1777 rifle mainly concern the lock, stock, and
mouthpiece. For an example of these rifles, visit the website:
http://www.littlegun.info/arme%20francaise/saint%20etienne/a%20manuf%20roy%20grenadier%201777%20an9%20gb.htm
This example comes from the Kulenburg factory, a word
indicated in the cartouche on the lock. Kulenburg is a city in the Netherlands
whose name is Frenchified as Culemborg. Of course, the Netherlands was at that
time an integral part of the Napoleonic Empire (on June 5, 1806, Napoleon named
his brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte King of Holland). The Kulenburg factory was
therefore requisitioned to produce weapons for the French army. The imperial
administration only began operating in January 1811. The factory, run by the
entrepreneur Devillers (from Liège), experienced financial difficulties and was
closed by order of Napoleon at the end of 1812, in order to concentrate
production in Liège.
Since the Kulenburg
factory only operated in 1811 and 1812, only 6,743 rifles were produced! The
weapon presented here is therefore truly rare...
Markings:
Kulenburg
in a cartouche surmounted by a crown, right-side lock: factory marking.
Number 6 (or 9 depending on the reading direction) on the
left side of the barrel. Hallmark on the left side of the barrel, incomplete,
evoking a D.
Some Sources:
From Aspects of Dutch gunmaking by Henk L. Visser & De
Witt Bailey: “In 1812, the factory [Culemborg?] was closed by order of Napoleon.
Production of French arms for the Northern and Southern Netherlands was
concentrated in the Liege arms factories….”
https://www.passionmilitaria.com/t88208-fusil-d-infanterie-de-la-manufacture-de-culembourg
https://www.tircollection.com/t31804-manufacture-de-culemborg
https://www.nmm.nl/nl/stories/culemborgse-geweerfabriek/
Chris, HPH
