This is the standard issue Civil War Union Army mess cup. Constructed of tinned iron, these feature handles attached with a rivet at the bottom and by wires looped over the rolled edge of the tops, ensuring that if left over a campfire they would not fall apart from solder melting. The only solder usually applied was at the rivet and the meeting of the crimped vertical seam of the cup with its crimped lower edge to guard against leakage.  Mess gear was issued through the recruiting services, which meant that there was a wide variety supplied in the early years by the different states (in addition to private purchases of various patent mess sets, etc.,) though many followed the Federal pattern. This style can be seen among members of the 95^th PV hanging out in the abandoned Confederate works at Centreville in early 1862.

These cups were heavily used and typically not very well cared for. This one is in good condition. The tin plating has shifted to a gray the underlying iron shows as a darker gray or brown. There is some light pitting to the iron where the tin wore off early and exposed it. The cup is solid, fully intact, and show perhaps just half a dozen small pinhole in the bottom and on one side.

These are surprisingly hard to come by, being so useful around the house or farm after the war. This would look great with an issue canteen and haversack in a display of the typical soldier’s gear.  [sr] [ph:L]

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