How Early was Halter Bridle Seen in West?

[emartinez]

Hi, y'all,

Coming up on Farmington this weekend, and was wondering whether use of my halter bridle would be appropriate. From what I have read (courtesy of Ken's book) the Nashville Depot turned out halter bridles almost exclusively...and of course it was gone early in the war prior to Shiloh...so it seems to me that would indicate halter bridles were issued in the West from almost the first year of the war.

Long and short...is a russet halter bridle appropriate for the Battle of Farmington, or would an English bridle or some other civilian pattern be a better fit?

Thanks for your input.

[The Egyptian Homeguard]

Re: How Early was Halter Bridle Seen in West?

So... not to split hairs but what makes your halter bridle a CS issue and not a citizen's pattern? If you're concerned about if a halter bridle could have been in use at Farmington, I believe you are safe using one there... My .02, Ken,Mark, Ethan... Time to weigh in... you're much more CS Western knowledgeable.

[Ken Knopp]

Re: How Early was Halter Bridle Seen in West?

Zack brings up a good point. The question really is whether your current halter bridle is a pre-war civilian pattern or... a CS military issue. You are correct in that the Nashville Arsenal made the military pattern as their primary issue bridle/halter from their inception until being closed and moved to Atlanta in early Feb 1862.
As a re-cap, the Nashville Arsenal (then the Atlanta Arsenal) and the Montgomery Depot almost exclusively made the halter/bridle combo during their existence. The CS Augusta Arsenal manufactured halters and bridles as separate items throughout the war. The arsenals at Macon and Selma did so as well but only until the early summer of 1863 when they switched to the halter/bridle combo. All of these arsenals appear to have supplied the west's armies and cavalry commands at various times through the war. Convoluted? You bet!
Civilian model halter/bridles go waaaaaay back and could be found in any number of varying patterns of construction, leather and hardware (as do regular bridles). Their hardware could be quite fancy and come in many patterns of iron and brass. The leather too, could be quite fine with high quailty bridle or patent leathers, various widths or even rolled leather, stitching, embossing, cloth decorations, fancy tassles, etc, etc. Please see my article on the web site for more info.

http://confederatesaddles.com/cswp/?p=903

The military issue CS Nashville construction halter/bridle (as often those made at other arsenals) would be a bit more illusive. From the written descriptions one can assume a very basic pattern varying only in hardware. Please see the drawings in my books. The hardware is the difficult part to ascertain as that arsenal like other CS arsenals employed large numbers of varying buckles from basically three sources.....

1. Civilian hardware purchased “off the shelf” from local harness makers;
2. Basic, often crude buckles (but not always) cast from local foundries or.......
3. Those found on halter/bridles that they purchased “under contract”. It appears most halter bridles at Nashville were made under contract with local harness shops, saddleries, etc. Very little if any halter-bridles, were made during its short life span in the arsenal itself. However, as was often the case of CS arsenals, the gov’t often supplied the hardware (and often the leather) to the the “finishing” contractor to complete the items. So, if your not already confused then perhaps you can see it is kind of a “duck soup” of inconsistency.
So, what to do? Well, if your current halter/bridle is of a basic pattern and uses typical iron or brass hardware typical of the period (that in and of itself is a challenge cause most modern made reproduction hardware is crap!!) then your are “safe”!
I guess I took the long way around to not make any sense on this whatsoever, didn’t I?
Sorry, In short, ....for a military, western arsenal halter/bridle....employ a basic pattern with “correct” period hardware and you are “good to go” for most any time period in the west from fall 1861 through the end of the war. PLEASE be sure your hardware is correct!!! That, is a pet peeve of mine!! A good bridle & bit but with the wrong hardware is like an authentic reenactor with a piece of crap/farby hat! It says it all!
Whew! I am sorry to be so long winded but without better documentation it is hard to be more specific than this in such a short space. Please refer to my books and articles for more details. Best,

Ken R Knopp

[Forrestcavalryman]

Re: How Early was Halter Bridle Seen in West?

Ken and Zack, as the maker of said halte bridle I can answer this. The bridle is made of russet leather and is of the early civilian pattern. I also used brass horse-shoe buckles on the headstall.

[forrestcav]

Re: How Early was Halter Bridle Seen in West?

the C.s. ordinance manual shows an artillery bridle that is identicle to the halter-bridle minus the pieces under the chin and along the gullet to the throat latch.