CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY PASS-BOX, EX-BANNERMAN

CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY PASS-BOX, EX-BANNERMAN

Hover to zoom

Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6 Image 7 Image 8 Image 9 Image 10

$850.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2026-9587

Wood pass-boxes were used during the Civil War to carry the powder charge from the magazine to an artillery piece in fortifications and gun emplacements. Needless to say, it was rather important to prevent sparks, flying embers or debris from cannon firing in the fort from igniting any fresh cloth cartridges and these wood boxes with a carrying handle and hinged lid served that purpose for the heavy guns, much as the gunner’s haversack did for field artillery.

In his 1860 Artillerist’s Manual, Gibbon described them as follows: “Pass-Box.—This is a box used to carry the cartridges to guns in garrison or sieges. It is made of white pine, the sides and ends dovetailed together, and the bottom let in between the sides, and nailed to them and the ends. The top is fastened on with two butt hinges, and kept closed by a strong hook and staple. A wooden handle is fastened with screws diagonally on one end, by which the box is carried.” We show a Civil War photo of a 100-pdr Parrott Rifle with one of the gun crew holding one of these just under the muzzle.

This measures 15” tall, not including handle, 8 ¼” wide, and 7 ¾” deep and comes from the artillery portion of an old and well-respected collection that includes a lot of material bought directly off Bannerman’s Island or through their Blue Point Long Island operation, opened after closure of their New York City store. The box is solid and both the handle and the hinged lid with hook are present. The wood shows largely aged, weathered color with some thin gray remnants of paint on three of the long sides. It clearly lay for many years on one side, which shows some losses from moisture along one edge and around some of the nail heads, but has preserved more of the paint, which was clearly gray or olive drab. Please see our photos.

This is a rare survivor- most likely ended up as kindling- and would display very well in a collection of artillery implements and gear.    [sr][ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!

Inquire About CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY PASS-BOX, EX-BANNERMAN

should be empty