Enlisted cavalrymen were encumbered not only by their sabers, carbines and pistols, when fully armed, but also by the necessary cartridge and cap boxes. This is not only a regulation issue pistol cartridge box in excellent condition, it has a name written on the inside of the flap that might connect it with a black cavalry unit with extensive service in Mississippi, Louisian and Tennessee in 1864-65.

The box is solid, with good color and finish to the leather, showing just some slight rubs and  a small bit of minor small crackling, but no flaking, on the lower right front of the box. The seams are tight and the belt loops and latch tab are in place as are the interior ‘friction leathers’ that would keep cartridge packs in place. This is a good mid-war box using rivets to reinforce the belt loops, but retaining the single, straight line of stitching for the latch tab. These boxes show up in three different sizes. This one measures 3 inches tall, 4-3/4 inches wide, and 1-inch front to back. The sizes are often taken as deriving from the caliber of the ammunition they held, but seem rather to reflect changes in its packaging rather than the caliber. The only markings are the asterisk “stake” marks made by the leather worker to close the tack holes made when the leather was tacked to a wood block so the box could be sewn together.

Inside the flap, however, is a name in old black ink, somewhat blurred, that could be “Kerrin,” though opinion here differs- please see our photos and form your own judgment. A quick search of CWData shows only three cavalrymen of that name, Bryant, Ebenezer and Elic, all in Company M, 3^rd Cavalry, USCT. (We did see a “Kerrins” in a company of the 24^th NY Cavalry, but see no sign of an “s” at the end of the name.) The regiment had been organized from the 1^st Mississippi Cavalry African Descent and saw considerable service in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee in 1864-65, losing 4 officers and 33 enlisted men in killed or mortally wounded, and likely several times that in wounded who survived. A quick check of their service records shows all three men enlisted in Mississippi on Feb. 24, 1864.  Bryant died in hospital in Vicksburg on July 22, 1864. Ebenezer and Elic both served out their enlistments, mustering out with the company, Jan. 26, 1866.

As it is, this would make a great addition to a cavalry collection, displayed with a pistol or on a saber belt, and with confirmation of the name and further research could be a good addition to a display of black Civil War soldiers’ material as well.  [sr][ph:L]

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