This is the quintessential Union army Civil War knapsack. These were made of tarred canvas and leather. This one is complete and well marked on the shoulder straps by the maker, E. Robinson, with the Aug. 15, 1864, date of his army contract and with the US inspection stamp of R. Valentine showing it was accepted by the government. The shoulder straps are fully intact, flexible and show a lot of original finish with minor small losses. One strap fastens into  a buckle on the bottom of the pack; the other is fitted with a triangular loop the engages a wire hook on the bottom to enable the soldier to quickly unsling the pack. These still have the pivoting support straps with brass J-hooks on the ends that were originally intended to engage the sliding brass belt loops on the M1855 rifleman’s belt to better distribute weight of the cartridge box and heavy saber bayonet, but were retained for use on the standard infantry belt as well by simply hooking under it, though most soldiers seem to have used them simply to keep the shoulder straps in place by crossing them over the chest. The straps are anchored to the top rear of the pack by a sewn panel that also has a small loop for hanging it up.

The pack is the double bag style, with one compartment a simple open bag with a flap secured by rawhide thongs. The other compartment opens on the face using four triangular flaps fastening with narrow leather strap and small buckles. As original envisioned this would hold a thin wood frame, but soldiers soon found it served better as kindling for campfires than any other purpose and it is unclear how often they were issued with the packs as the war went on. The two bag sections are joined by a rectangular section on top that has sewn flat leather loops to secure straps for a rolled blanket or overcoat. The two bags are secured at the bottom by three narrow straps fastening into small buckles on the bottom of the body. There were a number of commercial and state issue packs and even the US issue seems to have undergone some minor changes, but the markings on this leave no doubt about the maker or the date.

The condition is good. The canvas does not show the tears or holes these often have from poor storage or careless handling. The interior leather and rawhide closing straps for the compartments do show breaks, but of course are not visible when the pack is closed. This would be a central piece in a display of soldiers’ personal gear and look great with an issue canteen and other gear that was essential to the soldier.  [sr] [ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!