This is an excellent example of the regulation US sling used on the M1839 infantry cartridge box and that still shows up on some early Civil War state troops. The sling has a pleasing light, cream color, has little soiling, and is flexible though showing signs of having been on a cartridge box for a long time with the lower ends tending to curve slightly from having been crossed for decades on the back of a box. The 1827 pattern round eagle cartridge box plate is still with it, though the leather retaining thong for it is long gone. It has the full lead-solder back and iron wire loops in place (and matching the holes for it in the sling,) with excellent detail to the eagle with arrows and olive branch, a pleasing and matching medium patina, and no edge dings.

General specifications for these slings did not change from 1839 to 1865, though color and material did, moving from white to black in 1851, and from buff leather to upper or waxed leather and to bridle leather. States might have other ideas, of course, and many early war volunteers were photographed still wearing white buff cartridge box slings. This is full length, one piece, with full length billets on the end each pierced with four small holes for the tongues of the small buckles on the bottom of the cartridge box. This measures roughly 65 inches overall and 2 3/16 inches wide, and the billets roughly 4 1/2 inches long and 7/8 inch wide, pretty much dead on the money, allowing for some minimal shrinkage and stretching from age and use, for the official specifications of the belt portion as 55.5” by 2.25”and the two billets each 4.25” by .0875” (we don’t know if the specifications counted semicircular cuts on either side of the billet transitioning from the parallel sides of wide belt itself to the narrower parallel sides of the billets with holes, but this is close enough for government work in any case.) See Paul Johnson’s excellent book on cartridge boxes for details on the boxes and slings.

This would look great back on a cartridge box.  [sr] [ph:L]

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