P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

[LeatherHead]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

The seamed oil bottle with partial and full insertion in its well in an original bridle leather Ball Bag by "Ross & Co./C & M/1861"; flap of the built-in percussion cap pocket at left.

(I might have fumbled the 3 upload images....we will see...)

Dean Nelson
1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, N-SSA

[DBURT]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

Dean, wonderful pictures, thank you. Is this ball bag and oil bottle in your collection or in a museum collection somewhere? It is a fascinating bag as it is a volunteer type with the internal percussion cap pouch as made by Ross & Co. I was unaware that Ross supplied the volunteer type of bag as they were the biggest supplier to the regular army at the time of the civil war.
Lovely information.

Dave Burt

[David Jarnagin]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

The seamed oil bottle with partial and full insertion in its well in an original bridle leather Ball Bag by "Ross & Co./C & M/1861"; flap of the built-in percussion cap pocket at left.

Dean,
The ball-bag is waxed leather and not bridle. Bridle means the grain (smooth) side is turned out. The grain is clearly on the inside which means it is waxed leather (or finished on the rough or flesh side). The cap pocket is bridle though so there are both types of leather present. It is a shame that someone along the way felt the need to dye the inside of the flap black. It was a very poor attempt at best.

Dave,
This looks like leather was been tanned in the US and not England so I would count the pouch as made early 1860’s. I would bet it was made from leather imported from the US in 1860 or early 1861.

David Jarnagin

[DBURT]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

David,

As with all Ross & Co accoutrements it has the familiar date of '1861'. My original pouch is stamped with exactly the same "A Ross & Co C&M 1861" The C&M almost certainly stands for 'Contractor & Manufacturer". My guess is all the early Ross accoutrements were stamped with this and the later stuff was unmarked.

As for the bottle, it is in a black rifle volunteer ball bag- if it is original to it- it has to be a bottle meant for the volunteers. The brass top of the bottle is different to the other more prevalent style I have seen. (See the middle 'dug' top in the previous pictures, that is more common on the P60 seamed style) It could be the previous zinc bottle mentioned in 1859, or a copy of the P60 with a different top.

All this is great information though, thanks Dean.

Do you know if the bottle is original to the ball bag, and does it belong in your personal collection or a museum?

Dave Burt

[LeatherHead]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle


Ross Ball Bag front: The one piece flap and back panel is 6 5/8" inches at the "ears" at the fold over the front panel. It is of 5 once "waxed leather" as kindly pointed out by Mr. Jarnigan, not bridle leather as I wrote initially. The bag is 5 1/4" inches tall, from the exterior top of the flap fold, to the bottom of the side/bottom gusset where the brass closure button is located, not including the button in the measure. The front panel is 6 ounce in weight, the flap tab is 7 ounces, the rear belt tab is 5, the oiler well 4, and the percussion cap pocket flap and body are 2 ounces.

The stitching securing the flap back panel and the stitches securing the front panel to the side/bottom piece/gore is 7 stitches per inch. The edges of those pieces are butted together (no overlap) and those stitches are variously called "channel stitches", "tunnel stitches" and "round closings." It is about the trickiest leather sewing there is, and requires a sharp, thin, curved awl to pierce the thin leather at the edge of the piece to 1/2 its thickness and to ensure it is aligned with the thickness and hole (perhaps pierced with the same push) on the adjoining piece. The side/bottom piece/gore is 3/4" at the top ends and 1 3/4" at the bottom, at the button location. The belt tab on the rear is 3 1/4" at the widest where it is stitched to the back panel and has a lancet taper to a point, 5 1/4" overall. The securing "stab" stitches are 10 per inch.

The bag and oilers are in private collections and are here juxtaposed for illustrative purposes. None have a story of period ownership or use.

The photo of the back would not upload, so I will try it again shortly.

Sincerely,
Dean Nelson
1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, N-SSA

[LeatherHead]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle


Ross Ball Bag, rear

Dean Nelson

[DBURT]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

Again, many thanks Dean for the great pictures, descriptions and knowledge of the ball bag and oilers. It does prove that Ross was sending in accoutrements of not only regulation patterns but also volunteer patterns.

Dave Burt

[DBURT]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle

Dean, just a couple more questions if I may? How were the tops of the P60 and 62 constructed? Was the top of the p60 zinc with just the threaded neck made of brass? And the same question for the seamless P62?

Regards,

Dave Burt

[LeatherHead]

Re: P1860 Enfield Oil Bottle


The featured original oilers have brass top disk/collars with threaded brass throats. I can not discern if they are cast in one piece and the throat then threaded, or if the throats are separate pieces set into the disk. The threads go crisply down into the disks; if cut onto a cast blank I would think the threads would dwindle off a bit as the cutting dies approached the top of the disk. Pre-threaded throats set into the disks would yield what we see here.

But the bottom view of the dug up top shows no throat/disk seam (albeit obscured a bit by the iron oxide corrosion of the "feather"), suggesting a one piece casting. Of course, the technique could have varied from maker to maker, and even varied over time by a single maker.

The solder securing the brass top to the zinc body in a bit generously smeared on the seamed oiler, to the left. The excess solder on the seamless oiler (right) was skimmed off in finishing, but an arched vestige remains...

Hope this is off interest. Regards...

Dean Nelson
1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, N-SSA