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Spurs

Pair of Spurs
c. 1775
Silver, steel, leather
Spurs
Pair of Spurs
c. 1775
Silver, steel, leather
Pair of Spurs c. 1775 Silver, steel, leather
Status
Not on view
Label Text

During the army's grueling winter encampment at Valley Forge, Washington inspired his men through simple gestures. These included giving the spurs on his boots to Lieutenant Thomas Lamb, who volunteered to ride to Boston to request supplies. Unfortunately, Lamb and his horse were injured near the city. Lamb delivered Washington's message, but was prevented from further active duty and discharged in 1779.

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Datec. 1775
Geography Possibly made - United StatesPossibly made - England
DimensionsOverall: 5 3/8 in. × 2 11/16 in. × 5 3/8 in. (13.65 cm × 6.83 cm × 13.65 cm) Other (body): 3 in. (7.62 cm) Overall (Overall): 3/4 in. × 3 1/4 in. × 5 1/8 in. (1.91 cm × 8.26 cm × 13.02 cm)
Credit LineGift of Aimee and Rosamond Lamb, 1952 Conservation courtesy of the Life Guard Society of Historic Mount Vernon
Object numberW-1912/A-B
DescriptionPair of silver spurs with scrolled neck, five-pointed steel rowel, and buttons for attaching the adjustable black leather strap with steel buckle.


Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 88, cat. 21.

General Washington's Military Equipment (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, third ed., 1963), 33-4, fig. 25.

James C. Rees, Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Waahington Revealed (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1999), 46 (ill.).

Margaret Brown Klapthor and Howard Alexander Morrison, George Washington: A Figure Upon the Stage (Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982), 177.

Warren Moore, Weapons of the American Revolution and Accoutrements (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1976), 215, A-118.
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