AN INTERESTING CONFEDERATE CANTEEN WITH AN ATTRIBUTION

AN INTERESTING CONFEDERATE CANTEEN WITH AN ATTRIBUTION

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$1,250.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2026-2214

This canteen which is not cedar is a hybrid between a CS Gardner and a British regulation "Sealed Pattern" wooden drum canteen (ca.1802 to 1861). Its circumference of 7 inches approaches the Gardner, but its depth of 3 inches corresponds more closely to the British pattern. The top stave is carved to form a square 1 1/4 by 1 1/2-inch mound into which a stopper, usually wooden, would fit; this purely British feature does not appear on the CS Gardner canteen; this is well worn and has an old cork for a stopper. 2 iron hoops of 1/2 inch diameter are in place securing the 9 staves as is common to the British type, but the Confederate canteens had 10 or 11 typically. The 3 cross bars that facilitate holding the sling on the British patterns are always iron and rivetted into place and additionally are round in cross-section; in this case they are indeed rivetted but are flat and made of sheet metal, possibly tin, the type found on the CS Gardner.

Additionally, this canteen like the British pattern, but never the Confederate, is painted sky blue. It is therefore likely this canteen is a non-regulation or "commercial" type contracted by the Confederacy from an English firm. Stamped, not carved, into the top face of the canteen in 1/2-inch-high letters is the name, "J. HEISLER". It is this compiler's belief that this is the name of the cooper or contactor who made this canteen; the reason being that the exterior blue paint sits inside most of the letters which means the canteen was painted the British regulation sky blue after the name was stamped. However, the highly respected collector and museum owner Frederick R. Edmunds provided a letter to a buyer in 1998 stating that he believed the canteen to be Confederate and that J. Heisler was a Confederate soldier in Co. K of the 25th Louisiana Infantry. He attached Heisler's records to this letter from his Confederate States Armory & Museum, Gettysburg. Private Joseph Heisler served with the 25th Louisiana Infantry until captured sick at Wild Cat Mountain in late 1862 and dying a POW in January of 1863 at Louisville, KY, and is buried there in Cave Hill Cemetery.

This very real Civil War canteen is priced to reflect what we do not know for sure. It has a great untouched look and with 70 % original paint remaining it is a great find.  [pe] [ph:L]

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