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SAN ANTONIO ARSENAL MODIFIED CARBINE AND PISTOL
POUCH – POSSIBLY MADE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE 1870
EQUIPMENT TRIALS – RARE ARSENAL WORKSHOP MADE SAMPLE
POUCH IN EXCELLENT CONDITION:
This cartridge pouch
consists of an interesting modification which was likely
produced in the leather workshops of the San Antonio
Arsenal. This piece was purchased locally here in San
Antonio and when found, it was stuffed with pages taken
from an edition of the San Antonio Express News
newspaper dated April 16TH, 1945. Those
pages contained articles covering the death of President
Franklin Roosevelt, President Truman’s ascendancy to the
Oval Office and assorted war news from the fronts. Until
the arsenal closed in 1949, they held regular public
sales of surplus equipment and it was at one of these
sales that a local historian picked up this fascinating
cartridge pouch.
This modification consists of a Cartridge Box for the
Model 1842 Pistol that has had a Civil War era cap pouch
sewn to the front center of the pistol cartridge box’s
front flap. The cap pouch’s belt loops were detached at
the bottom of each loop, fed through a slot cut in the
pistol box’s front flap, and sewn down to the inside of
the flap. The cap pouch was then sewn to the pistol box
flap along the main seam at the lower rounded corners of
the cap pouch. The workmanship is definitely of the
quality associated with arsenal workers and the means of
attachment provided a very strong and stable arrangement
with no play or loosening.
The pistol cartridge box has had both of its original
belt loops removed, presumably during the modification
process. While there is no other means of carrying this
modified box present, there are three parallel lines of
stitching centered and running vertically on the back of
the box which were not part of its original design. It
is possible that this modification was intended to be
carried on a shoulder slings, perhaps incorporating the
modified box on a carbine sling such as the arrangement
of the Model 1870 “E” Carbine and Pistol Cartridge Pouch
and Sling. The width of the three lines of stitching is
appropriate to the width of the Model 1851 Carbine
Sling.
The final feature of this modification involved the
sectioned tin liner. The tin liner was originally
designed with five square sections across the top of the
tin with a single open faced compartment which spanned
the width of the bottom of the tin. The upper
compartments held individual cartridges and full packets
of cartridges were held in reserve in the large
compartment on the bottom. This tin was retained in the
modified box, probably to help the box keep its shape
and support the load of cartridges, but all of the
dividers were removed leaving a single compartment which
incorporates the entire interior of the box.
This modified cartridge box is in excellent condition
with all of the seams intact, and all of the leather
surfaces retaining a bright shiny surface with only
minor crazing in some isolated spots. The leather is
all supple with no hardening. The front flap of the cap
pouch is stamped with the desirable small “US”. The
front cover of the cartridge box has some soldier
applied lines pressed into the leather along the edges
of the flap, apparently his attempt to personalize and
decorate his cartridge box. The rear of the cartridge
box two initials, “JC” or “JG” inscribed into the
leather, again probably soldier identification related.
Of course, the $64,000 questions remain as to when the
modification was done and for what purpose.
Unfortunately, we will probably never know the answer to
either one.
I have owned this box for a number of years and I have
come to the conclusion – albeit based only on opinion
without any evidence to support it – that this
modification was produced in the years immediately
following the Civil War when the Ordnance Department
began entertaining a number of modifications of Civil
War surplus accoutrements.
Taking into account the history of the San Antonio
Arsenal may be of some help identifying the period in
which this modification was produced. The arsenal was
established in 1859, and shortly thereafter in 1861 it
was surrendered to the Confederate forces. It is
unlikely that the arsenal had any reason or opportunity
to acquire large stocks of surplus accoutrements in
those two years, and any that were present when the
arsenal was surrendered in 1861 were likely issued to
Confederate forces in the field and consumed during the
war.
After being reoccupied by US Army personnel in 1865, the
arsenal would have begun to acquire old or surveyed
accoutrements from outlying army posts and units which
were returned to the arsenal as new equipment was issued
in return, and too, they would have had all those
accoutrements and other equipment surrendered by the
Confederate forces in the area.
Based on the condition of the two pieces – the cartridge
box and the cap pouch – and the quality of the
workmanship to assemble them, I believe they were
selected from the surplus equipment held at the arsenal
and one of the piece workers fashioned this
modification.
The form of the modified box suggests it was intended to
carry carbine cartridges in the main compartment and
pistol cartridges in the cap pouch. If indeed this box
was modified in the post Civil War years, the concept
bears a telling resemblance to that of the Model 1870
“E” Carbine and Pistol Cartridge Pouch.
Arguing for the modification having been done after the
Civil War is the manner in which the tin liner was
altered. If the box and cap pouch were assembled
together to create this modified box while the paper
cartridges were still in use, the tin’s dividers would
not have been removed as they were necessary to protect
the fragile paper cartridges. Metallic cartridges were
far more resilient to being carried in the cartridge
boxes and didn’t require the dividers to protect them.
Along the same lines, it’s notable that the strip of
sheep wool was removed from the cap pouch – not just
worn away, but removed altogether.
All things considered, I am convinced this is an early
Indian War modification, quite possibly the only one of
its kind, produced as a sample piece of a concept being
considered at the time, and that from pieces such as
this grew the more developed patterns which were
introduced for the 1870 Equipment and Firearm Trials. A
very interesting accoutrement, this modified cartridge
box would be a significant addition to your collection.
(0301) $750
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