Early Battlefield Pickup M1857 Pattern of 1862 U.S. Cartridge Box

SOLD

Early Battlefield Pickup M1857 Pattern of 1862 U.S. Cartridge Box – This cartridge box was picked up by a member of the Burgess family (owner’s of Burgess’ Mill – site of the 1865 Battle of Hatcher’s Run), in the 1880s. The Burgess family member found this box, as well as several other items (including the two sets of M1859 McClellan saddlebags also listed on the Perry Adams site), some 20 years after the Battles of Hatcher’s Run, the Crater and Five Forks. We obtained these incredible, leather battlefield pickup items, from a gentleman who purchased them directly from a Burgess descendant, several years ago. We are not sure, nor is the former owner, where these relics were found, other than somewhere on one of the aforementioned Petersburg campaign battlefields. In the many years we have been collecting and dealing in Civil War memorabilia, excavated and non-excavated, we have never happened upon such well-preserved sets of battlefield pickup, leather goods. This cartridge box remains almost totally intact, albeit evidencing several years resting on the battleground. Both sling buckles remain, as do both belt loops and the finial; the latch tab is now gone. It appears that this box once had a box plate affixed, but that is no longer present. Most poignant and interesting, is the folded up corner of the outer flap, indicative of a soldier’s bending up the flap for ease of opening to retrieve rounds, while under fire. This box was there and was used. At the risk of using an oft-used descriptor – “if only this cartridge box could speak.” This rare, battlefield relic will be accompanied by a scan of the original letter, signed by the Burgess descendant, explaining where it was discovered, as well as a corroborative statement by the person who purchased the items from the Burgesses.