question for stillwagon

[FloridaConscript]

John, It might be my memory playing tricks on me, but i recall reading an article authored by you discussing the theory that US manufactored canteens carried by Confederate troops were not merely battlefield pick ups but an organized effort by the CSQM to refurbish them. having studied a couple of photos (namely dead COnfed at Alsop farm and another dead Confed around petersburg spring 65), i believe the canteens had leather straps but they did not appear to be of US origin. care to refresh my memory. thanks for your time and patience

bryant roberts

[CJDaley]

Re: question for stillwagon

http://www.southernguard.org/education/canteens.html

[Jimmayo]

Re: question for stillwagon

The dead Confedertate at the Alsop farm does have what appears to be a Confederate copy of a smooth side canteen. In the attached picture, notice the different spout and the lip around the canteen where the two sides were fastned together. Havn't checked the PB photo.

If you look at the three prisoners at GB the left prisoner's canteen also looks a bit like a confederate copy canteen. Notice the ring in the center of the shown side. The picture is just not quite clear enough to make a positive determination.

[markj]

Re: question for stillwagon

Hi,

Attached is an enlargement of the center GB prisoner's canteen for perusal.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Jimmayo]

Re: question for stillwagon

Here is a pic of the canteen on the left prisoner.

[Yellowhammer]

Re: question for stillwagon

Bryant,

Chris already posted the link to the article you reference. Hopefully that will answer your question.

At this point, I haven't been able to find any documentation from the QM in Richmond spelling it out, but I have found a fair amount of circumstantial data to support the hypothesis that there was some level of organized issuances of captured and refurbished canteens.

If you look at pics of Confederates in the field, you will see an astonishing number of uncovered US canteens in the ranks. From the available evidence, I think it is also fair to say a majority have leather slings. Last, some of these slings appear to be of Confederate manufacture. A good example of this is the "split strap" style of sling.

To my eye, and this is conjectural, I think this raises the question of an organized issue. If we can accept that for a moment, there are several possible sources for an issue of canteens of this nature.
1) We know the Confederate QM made efforts to recover and refurbish items abandoned on the field. Since they were doing this, I think it would be likely they would have refurbished the canteens somewhat.
2) There were one or more CS manufacturers making copies of the US model canteen.
3) Battlefield pickups by individual soldiers
4) All of the above.

We can pretty clearly show that ANV troops were carrying uncovered canteens of the Federal pattern in significant numbers. What we have to uncover for sure is how they got there.

[VMI88]

Re: question for stillwagon

The dead Confederate at the Alsop farm does have what appears to be a Confederate copy of a smooth side canteen. In the attached picture, notice the different spout and the lip around the canteen where the two sides were fastned together.

I have an original canteen with a very similar lip around the circumference. Interestingly, it's covered in sky blue kersey and has a jack chain tied around one of the straps, rather than hooked through a hole in the strap. Unfortunately the sling is missing. I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and post them.

[VMI88]

Pictures of Original Canteen

Here are the promised pictures of my original canteen that looks similar to the one pictured above. I found this in an antique shop in Montgomery, Alabama, several years ago -- I think it was around $25. They even had it labelled as a Civil War canteen, so it's not like they didn't know what they had!

It appears to be a pretty standard M1858 US canteen except that it has a lip where the two halves meet. The pewter spout is unmarked. The cover has a greenish cast to it, but if you look at the close-up of the rim you can see the original blue color inside. It's a richer blue than the typical sky blue kersey. The chain is also unusual in that it's not hooked through a hole in one of the tin hangers, but just looped around one of them.

I've done a little bit of research without finding anything, so I was pleased to see the original photo of a similar canteen. If anybody has any additional information I would appreciate it.