Dutch/Belgian Flintlock Sea Service Pistol, ca. 1815

This pistol features a 9" tapering round smooth bore barrel of .69 caliber, stamped with
numerous marks on the breech and barrel tang, including the numbers “2.15" for
manufacture date of February, 1815.  Lock plate with deeply stamped oval mark and
featuring rounded swan neck cock.  Walnut full stock with brass trigger guard, fore end cap,
and flat butt cap, with steel lanyard ring.  There is no provision for a ramrod, as the user
carried one secured to his belt. This model was in service from 1815 well into the 1830's
and would have been one of the last large, smooth bore flintlock pistols to be made for
official service before switching to the percussion firing system.  Very good condition, the
metal smooth and bright; the stock with typical handing marks and a 1 ½" crack on the
reverse near the barrel breech.  Overall length 15 1/2".

The country we know as Belgium, with the city of Liege, famous for its centuries of arms
manufacture, was not yet independent at the time this pistol was made.  It was part of the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1839. That period in history was dominated by
Napoleon’s wars of conquest and the Kingdom of the Netherlands was a part of the French
Empire from 1795 to 1813.  Under Napoleon’s rule it was renamed the Batavian Republic,
and then the Kingdom of Holland. During this time, the Dutch fought alongside the French.
After Napoleon was defeated in 1813, William I was restored to head the government, and
declared himself king in 1815 when Napoleon returned from Elba. His son, the future King
William II, known as “Slender Billy” to the English, fought with Wellington at Waterloo
against Napoleon.