Original American Revolutionary War Era Sergeant Spontoon Leaping Horse of Brunswick & NUNQUAM RETRORSUM Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a 88″ Pole Arm Spontoon with a 10″ iron head of the type carried by German Mercenary Sergeants from an area of what is now Germany then known as “Brunswick-Wolfenbuttell” during the American Revolutionary War.

King George III hired over 30,000 German Mercenaries in order to help British troops quell the uprising. Commonly referred to as “Hessians” in fact less than 30% were actually Hessian (From Hesse) and the remainder came from other then independent German states.

This Partizan comes from Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and displays the crown over the “Leaping Horse of Brunswick” on one side of the blade. The other side of the blade features a script cypher. Both sides have a crown and the motto “NUNQUAM RETRORSUM” loosely translated from Latin to mean “Never Retreat” as was the official motto of the Welfs.

Much of the original gold inlay remains. The Partizan Pole Arm was not so much a weapon as it was a sign of rank used by Sergeants, a tradition dating back hundreds of years before the introduction of firearms.

This Partizan is one that originated from the German Castle of Schloss Marienburg the traditional home of the Dukes of Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg from the 1600s and was sold off in 2005, with the finest items being offered by Sotheby’s a auction, the catalog for which is still available for easy reference online.

A very similar Spontoon with the same crowned leaping horse engraving is illustrated in SWORDS AND BLADES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by George C. Neumann (a truly wonderful book) published in 1991 by Rebel Publishing. See page 221 (item 120.PA)

The original wood shaft retains it’s original bottom mount in lovely matured condition.

Dimensions-

88″ overall length

10″ iron head