This is a classic early to mid-war Union army cap box that came out of the Lee’s Headquarters Museum here in town and bears a white inventory number showing its ultimate origin to be Joel Danner, one of the earliest entrepreneurs in Gettysburg battlefield pick-ups and relics. The box itself has the one-piece flap with integral latch tab that became standard by 1862, but does not yet employ rivets to reinforce the stitching of the belt loops. The outer flap has a narrow, impressed border line, as do the narrow belt loops,  and a small “US” stamp on the outer flap, but is otherwise unmarked. The condition is very good, with good color and finish, showing just minor rubs, a little crazing to the finish along the top rear of the flap and a little wrinkling on the lower front of one side from the soldier bending it back as he drew percussion caps, with small bits of finish loss to the latch tab and to the belt loops from flexing, and on the lower back of the box from the waist belt running through the belt loops. The belt loops are secure. The inner flap with side ears is intact. The interior shows the narrow piece of sheepskin sewn to the back, though the fleece, used to keep the caps from be jostled out if the box was unlatched, is gone.

The lower front of the body of the box has a small, painted “31” characteristic of Joel A. Danner’s “Free Battlefield Museum” here in town. He was one of the earliest entrepreneurs in the relic business, making “useful and ornamental” articles from relics as early as 1864 and then moving into a storefront operation on Baltimore Street by 1875, selling everything from souvenir spoons to cigars to visitors, and using his museum of Gettysburg artifacts, where it seems everything was for sale, as a draw. Danner bought local collections from farmers and local relic hunters. Collectors will be familiar with stereocards issued by Tipton and Mumper showing the ever-changing elements of Danner’s collection, all carefully keyed by number to identification and find location. Collectors and veterans could buy individual pieces or ready collections of “50 to 75 pieces.” He upped his game over the years, providing painted wood bases for artillery shells, framing collections in shadow boxes, etc. His pieces have dead-real Gettysburg provenances and are valued not only as relics of the battle, but as having passed through his hands.

The Lee’s Headquarters Museum, located in the house occupied during the battle by 69-year-old widow Mary Thompson, will be familiar to students of the battle. Located along the Chambersburg Pike on Seminary Ridge, the property was involved in the first day’s fighting with an active Union battery posted close by and troops in neighboring fields. As Union troops fell back into town the property was selected for the Confederate army’s headquarters not only as a good observation point, but a readily recognizable point for couriers, with the headquarters operation expanding beyond the house itself as headquarters tents and baggage came up, though at least one Confederate battery was posted nearby.

The house, interestingly co-owned by influential congressman Thaddeus Stevens, passed through several owners after the battle, but was a popular site for visitors and returning veterans, with the owners eventually taking advantage of the tourist trade by adding cabins and then a motel and restaurant. It operated as a private entity from 1921 to 2014, when it was acquired by the American Battlefield Trust, who returned the house and surrounding property to its 1863 appearance. In addition to private sales of items from the museum’s collection from time to time over the years by the family, some 200 items were transferred to the Gettysburg National Military Park when the site was acquired by the ABT, some going to the National Park Service and others sold privately to raise funds for the acquisition and restoration of the property.

This is a standard piece of Civil War gear with a solid connection to Gettysburg and in good condition.  [sr][ph:L]

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