Chris: what makes you think it was a "shield"? Besides, it's hard to imagine
something of that sort being made of cast iron. It must weigh a ton.
Actually, from your picture, it looks like a fireback -- a piece of metal,
often cast iron, put in the rear of a fireplace to radiate heat into the
room.  -Ted Burrows
  -----Original Message-----
  From: A LISTSERV list for discussions pertaining to New York State
history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Christopher
Ricciardi
  Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 10:11 PM
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: a question with regard to the Revolution period


  Hello,

  I would like to ask a question to the NY History List
  with regard to British Military history during the American
  Revolution.

  While working on an archaeological site in Brooklyn, New York,
  the Hendrick I. Lott farmstead, a rather large, approximately
  5 feet long by almost 3 feet wide, cast iron shield was cataloged.
  Family tradition says that this shield was absconded from Lord
  Cornwallis as he, and his troops, marched down The Kings
  Highway (modern day Kings Highway) that butted the Lott
  farmstead.  The family obtained his shield during the march and
  kept is as a trophy and a symbol of this particular Dutch family s
  resistance to the British Monarch during this period.

  Of course we can only take oral history as a starting point.
  However, none of us associated with the Brooklyn College
  Archaeological Research Center has any experience with British
  Military shields from this time period.

  Does anyone out there have information with regard to this subject?
  Or, can you direct us to someone who may be able to help us
  authenticate this find?  If it is Cornwallis  shield, it will be a major
  discovery for not only the project, but with regard to the issues of
  Dutch resistance during the Revolution.

  I have put a rather poor jpeg image of the shield up on a
  separate web page for anyone who may be interested in it.
  The web page is:

  http://www.lotthouse.org/shield.jpg

  Thank you for any help with regard to this issue.

  Regards,
  Chris Ricciardi