CONFEDERATE / MILITIA STYLE TIN DRUM CANTEEN

$595.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2024-693

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For details on this and similar patterns see O’Donnell, Canteens, Chapter 2 in particular. This is a simply made canteen using tinned sheet iron and was popular in prewar militia units, imitating somewhat the US army 1836 pattern, and was carried into service, particularly early in the war, by necessity. In this case both sides are slightly convex, soldered to a band forming the flat rim, which is pierced for a short, tinned iron spout, and fitted with three narrow tubes or loops for a shoulder cord, all soldered in place.

The use of a cord rather than strap points to a militia origin, with the cord likely to prove uncomfortable for extended wear with a full canteen, but militia units were concerned at most with occasional drills and parades rather than extended field service. Indeed, some early 19th century militia canteens were intentionally small for convenience, though  large enough for a shot or two of something stronger than water, but worn mostly to conform to the letter of militia regulations specifying a canteen as required equipment. That having been said, some cord suspension canteens did end up in the field in the Civil War. O’Donnell illustrates a Confederate soldier photographed with his cup and canteen, the latter of a slightly different pattern, but clearly fitted with a cord rather than strap.

This has a typical oxidized gray color mixed with some thin crusty brown from wear to the tin finish, with the solder showing lighter gray. The faces show some broad, shallow dents from use, but nothing obtrusive. All three loops are there and secure, and there is a section of twisted cord still on it, feeding through the loops, showing some unravelling and a few string repairs, but old, looking original to it, knotted at the ends and tied together to shorten it, perhaps to hang on a parlor wall as a memento.     [sr][ph:m]

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