To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution, the Institute’s deputy director and curator, Emily Parsons, discusses an American-made hanger sword carried during the early months of the Revolutionary War by James Taylor, a minute man from western Massachusetts. A native of Pelham, Taylor was an ensign in Capt. David Cowden’s company of minute men when it answered the Lexington Alarm—seventy-five miles east—on April 19, 1775. Two months later, Taylor participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a sobering victory for the British Army, which lost so many casualties that the Redcoats stayed bottled up in Boston and the Patriot rebellion remained alive. During these battles, Taylor carried his hanger, a secondary weapon for infantrymen to supplement their musket. This Lunch Bite will explore the design and use of this weapon, as well as Taylor’s military service and how he experienced the opening months of the Revolutionary War.
This Lunch Bite accompanies our upcoming exhibition, Revolutionary Beginnings: War and Remembrance in the First Year of America’s Fight for Independence, on view through January 4, 2026.