A very nice, excavated Civil War cavalry carbine sling buckle and bat-wing belt tip. The brass has a nice brown patina mixed with some bluish-green. There are no dings, bends or breaks. The buckle is smooth metal and the tongues work freely. The tip shows some speckling and retains three of four rivets with washers used to attach it to the belt, and still has some small bits of leather attached. The wide pattern sling using these was adopted 1841 and used through the Civil War by U.S. cavalry. The sling was carried over the trooper’s left shoulder and carried a steel snap hook that clipped on a carrying ring on the carbine’s left frame to carry it on the trooper’s right, with the belt itself made of white buff leather in the Mexican War, darkened to black in 1851, and then made of bridle leather as well during the Civil War. These fittings were excavated in Orange, VA, and may have come from a captured Union trooper’s sling. The area held many Confederate camps of the winter of 1863-64.

For those interested in the development of these slings, we recommend Fred Gaede’s recent article in the Military Collector and Historian, 74.3, Fall 2022. For the buckle itself see O’Donnell and Campbell, Plates 799 and 800.    [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!