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US CAVALRY MANN’S PATENT CARTRIDGE BOX EX-LEES HQ MUSEUM

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The Mary Thompson house at Gettysburg, used by Lee as his headquarters at Gettysburg, was recognized by its owner in the 1890s as a valuable battlefield relic, perhaps a particular attraction for returning Confederate veterans, and was opened as a private museum and souvenir shop with tourist cabins around 1921. The museum included some world class Gettysburg material and some more general Civil War material. When the site was acquired by the American Battlefield trust in 2014 with the goal of returning it to its 1863 appearance, some 200 artifacts in the museum’s collection were placed with the Gettysburg National Military Park, which reserved certain items with tight provenance to house for eventual display there, placed items associated with other battlefields with appropriate Park Service units, such as Monocacy, Fredericksburg and Spottsylvania, and others, and sold items deemed duplicated in its existing collections to raise funds for the restoration. It has also been our great fortune over the years to acquire pieces privately from former owners.

This is a clearly marked example of a Civil War Mann’s patent cartridge box that was once in the museum, but postdated the battle itself. Mann devised a system of accoutrements for infantry and cavalry that would better distribute their weight. This is one of his cavalry cartridge boxes that bears on its flap an embossed US in an oval with the border containing the  Emerson Gaylord maker’s stamp and Mann’s patent information, along with a small script US stamp and the US inspector stamp of T.J. Shepard at lower left. The box has a single open magazine tin for cartridges and the back shows the rivetted bottom portion of the shoulder strap that forms a loop though which a waistbelt might pass. See Fred Gaede’s wonderful monograph on Mann accoutrements for a full discussion of his designs and their use in the field.

The box has flaking to the finish and wear spots. The seam/hinge of the flap has given way on one side along the upper edge of the back and part of the latch tab is missing. The inspection marks are good and much of the embossing is legible, though with sections missing from the loss of finish. The box is untouched and has never been treated with any leather dressing, preservative, color, or polish.

The Thompson house, built in 1833, was partially owned at the time of the battle by prominent Republican Thaddeus Stevens, but occupied by 70-year-old widow Mary Thompson. Situated on Seminary Ridge, the farm was involved in the first day’s fighting on July 1 and was taken over as Lee’s headquarters after U.S. troops had been driven back through the town since it offered a good observation point to scan U.S. lines and could readily be found by couriers. Lee purportedly slept in the house the first night, pending the arrival of his headquarters baggage and tents. The house and property also served as a hospital for casualties of the first day’s fight and Confederate artillery units posted nearby took part in later phases of the battle.  [sr][ph:L]

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