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MODEL 1879 WHITMAN
SADDLE BAGS:
A necessary piece of horse equipment to complete your
saddle display, this set of Model 1879 Whitman
Saddlebags is in remarkably nice condition. Introduced
with the other Horse Equipments recommended by the
Cavalry Board of 1879, while the saddles apparently were
not made or issued in any great numbers, these unique
saddle bags gained a substantial acceptance in the field
and were used not only with the Whitman saddles, but
with the McClellan Saddles, Models 1874 and 1885,
available in the field at the same time, as evidenced by
known period photographs.
Both of the bags are notably in very good condition with
full pliable outer flaps complete with all of the full
length closing billets and buckles, the exterior pouches
on the faces of the bodies are complete and intact, and
the gussets, commonly found split or torn, are fully
intact, smooth and very pliable.
All of the brass hardware,
to include the belly strap rings at the bottom of each
bag, is present and intact. The flaps are both
embossed with a legible "US" in the oval. The interior
liners, of a pattern and made from a material unique to
these M1879 bags, are present and intact with the proper
full length leather lacing around the opening which
holds them in place. Made of same brown duck material
that the Indian War haversacks were made from, these
liners are specially cut and lock into the bags not only
with the lacing around the opening, but through whip
stitched "button holes" through which the main flap
closing straps are fed before passing through the top
slots of the flap. The near side liner is nicely ink
stamped along the top of the back side with the arsenal
inspector’s initials “WMH”.
An added value to this
set, not only do they include their original liners, but
the original belly straps as well. The strap is full
length in the body, is complete with both brass buckles
and leather keepers, and the billets are present and
intact with no tearing or wear. The tips of the billets
have been shortened - a very common practice by the
Indian War soldiers in order to eliminate any
unnecessary lengths of leather which would snag or
become entangled with other equipment or brush and other
debris while on campaign in the field. These belly
straps are most often missing, having been separated
from the bags years ago, are very difficult to find on
the loose, and certainly add to the value of this set of
saddlebags.
The seat, or yoke connecting the two bags that passes
across the back of the saddle, is strong and complete
with both leather keys used to secure the saddlebags to
the foot loops on the rear sidebar extensions of the
saddle, both footloop reinforcement plates intact, and
the center round reinforcement plate intact. There is
also a neatly executed hole cut in a cloverleaf pattern
above each of the footloop slots and the leather around
each of these holes has been reinforced with stitching.
As the footloop slots on the M1879 Saddlebags were
situated for the foot loops on the Whitman Saddles, when
these bags were used on the McClellan Saddles the
footloop slots did not necessarily match up with the
footloops on the cantle of the McClellans. In order to
secure these bags on a McClellan, either a second set of
footloop slots had to be cut, or as in this case, an
expedient method was used that is known to have been
used as early as the M1868 McClellans – simply punching
a set of holes that would correspond to the spacing of
the equipment rings on the rear side bar extensions of
the saddle. The saddlebags were then placed on the
cantle, the saddle bag stud was engaged and the
equipment rings were pulled through the holes in the
saddlebag yoke and the friction of the yoke leather
against the staple holding the ring in the saddle was
sufficient to keep the bags in place. When the leather
was new and still had some give to it, a relatively
small hole was sufficient for the ring to pass through
and still be small enough to be held in place by the
ring.
There is some minor wear in the upper corners of the
bodies of the bags, again very typical of these bags and
certainly those that saw actual use in the field, but
not to the extent that the integrity of the bags is
compromised and not to the point of being unsightly.
There
is of a neatly applied patch to the lower portion of the
gusset on the off side bag, a small wear hole reinforced
with stitching on the back side of the near side bag,
and the right hand buckle billet strap on the near side
bag has been replaced. These are old field repairs,
both are very well executed, and they were definitely
done during the period these bags were used in the field
- likely the work of the company saddler, and certain
evidence that these bags were used in the field. These
repairs do not show any indication of work that was
recently done and I believe they are not only
contemporary to the bag’s use, but also consistent with
the kind of work done by company saddlers.
Any of the Indian War
era saddlebags have become difficult to find,
particularly in the condition of these bags.
Considering the rarity and expense of the Model 1874 and
Model 1885 Saddlebags, this set of Model 1879 Saddlebags
are priced very reasonably and will be very appropriate
for displaying on your Indian War McClellan. Overall,
this is a very nice, attractive set of saddlebags that
has survived service in the field in remarkable
condition and will definitely enhance the appearance and
value of your saddle. (1016) $1650
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