National Portal to Historic Collections

The expedition to the Dead Sea was dangerous. In order to protect the expedition boats from possible attack, there was a blunderbuss mounted to the bow of one of the boats. In case of attack, the members of the crew used the blunderss as their source of protection. Lieutenant John Dahlgren, a weapons designer at the Washington Navy Yard, was inspired by the weapon from the Lynch expedition and developed the blunderbuss seen here.