Rappahannock Forge Musket Sideplate

A close-up view of the sideplate of a musket made at Rappahannock Forge, the armory at James Hunter's large-scale iron works in Stafford County. A sideplate functions like a washer, helping to secure the lockplate screws to the musket and reinforcing the wood. While this sideplate is quite simple, some sideplates could be decorative—muskets with serpent sideplates were common trade items with Indigenous people during the colonial era.