VERY INTERESTING CIRCA 1800 “BELLY BOX” WITH SEVERAL CARTRIDGES

$795.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 844-50

This is the style of cartridge box as worn by “Light” troops and militias throughout the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 and later.

It was very simple and rugged in design. It consisted of a curved wooden block with drilled holes to hold musket or carbine cartridges. A leather flap covered the rounds and held them in place. A simple belt would be attached to the box. The box was worn, as its name indicates, in front of the soldier on his belly.

This box is constructed around a curved wood block that has 25 holes drilled into it to hold paper cartridges. The holes are approximately 0.75” in diameter. Twelve of the holes hold a cartridge or portion thereof. Due to a small missing piece on the bottom of the wood block, at least three of the cartridges can be pushed out from the bottom and examined. One lead ball is exposed and able to be examined. It measures 0.59” in diameter.

The condition of the leather is just about what you expect in something produced over 200 years ago. Overall, the thin leather is dry and has shrunk, but is in fairly good condition and not brittle. The damage that is present was likely all caused due to the shrinking of the aged leather. Both ends are split or torn at the sewn seams as is 2” split along the bottom seam on one end. A single split on the lip of the top flap was also likely caused recently by someone trying to close the dried and shrunk flap over the block once more. The stitching is still tight where it is complete.

A portion of the original waist belt is still present. The belt is stitched to the back of the box in three places. Belt remains supple.

Ball diameter; .59 inch and paper thickness- roughly .622 inch or 22-21 balls per pound.

The Militia Act of 1792 required every militiaman to supply his own cartridges suited to the bore of his musket, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges. In the years after the Militia Act of 1792, musket calibers in New England states ranged from .65 to .75 caliber. The cartridges contained in this box, including the thickness of the paper, would likely be for the .65 caliber musket.

Rodger Brown, author of “Development of the Paper-Wrapped Musket Cartridge in Colonial America 1640-1841” believes that with the length of the cartridges being about 2.5”, the size of the ball (about 21-22 balls per pound), and string tied, suggests a New England militiaman wrap. He believes the whole piece is a New England militia pouch dating to the Indian border war period 1792 to early 1800s with militiaman made cartridges.

Overall, this is a very nice historical piece of equipment from the early years of the United States and it will display very nicely in any collection!  [jet] [ph:L]

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