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Bullets

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Objects connected to the American Revolution (1775-1783) became cherished heirlooms in the years following the war. A Shelburne, Massachusetts, resident gave these musket balls and paper cartridges to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Hall Museum. The donor claimed the ammunition had been carried at the Battle of Lexington. Whether these bullets and gunpowder actually were at Lexington is debatable. The tale suggests how a body of myth quickly grew up around the Revolution. Any object, however humble, that could be connected to the war attained an almost sacred status. This ammunition provided for museum visitors a tangible link to the blood and sacrifice that for them defined the War for American Independence.

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