U.S. CIVIL WAR CARTRIDGE BOX WITH ORIGINAL PAPER CARTRIDGES

1861-1865. U.S. cartridge box with original paper cartridges, intended for a Civil War infantry musket. Black bridle leather, the outer flap mounted with an oval brass “US” plate; retaining a group of period paper cartridges and larger wrapped bundles. 

A well-preserved Civil War cartridge box that likely saw Federal infantry service. Constructed in black leather and fitted to the outer flap with the familiar oval brass “US” plate, the box presents the robust and utilitarian design long associated with wartime accoutrement. The leather shows the expected wear, creasing, and surface variation of age and use, yet remains sound and visually strong, while the plate retains an appealing patina.

Of particular interest is the survival of a quantity of original paper cartridges and wrapped packeted contents. Such material was inherently consumable and was ordinarily expended, discarded, or lost in service, with the result that cartridge boxes are far more frequently encountered devoid of the very ammunition they were designed to carry.

Cartridge boxes were made to carry paper cartridges for the rifled muskets that armed the Federal infantry in vast numbers during the Civil War, most notably the Springfield and Enfield patterns. As such, the cartridge box occupied a central place in the soldier’s daily equipment, suspended from the waistbelt or shoulder sling and intended to keep ammunition protected, organized, and immediately accessible under campaign conditions.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Militaria, Accouterment, Equipment, Uniforms]