This regulation belt plate for the cartridge box sling was in the collection of Syd Kerksis, well-known and respected early collector and author. It comes with his annotated envelope indicating he found it in July 1955 in the lines of the 1^st Division, 2^nd Army Corps, at Cold Harbor. This was an extended engagement, fought from May 31 to June 12 as Grant continued his 1864 overland campaign against Lee and Richmond that had begun at the Wilderness. The battle is best known for the disastrous direct assault by Union forces on June 3 that produced nothing but heavy casualties and was a lasting source of regret for Grant.

This plate has very good detail on the face and a rim with just a few shallow dings along the edge. The face shows as a dusty light green with a brown spot on the eagle’s lower jaw and just below. The lead-solder fill is intact on the back, with a level surface showing a mix of gray and white with some thin brown. The iron wire loops are in place and intact, but show thick brown rust.

These plates were adopted in 1826 with hooks on the reverse for the bayonet shoulder belt and made of brass for artillery and white metal for infantry. This was changed to brass for both services in 1831 and when the bayonet was moved to the waist belt around 1842, the plates were redesigned with two loops on the back for wear as fixed ornaments on the cartridge box sling and plates with hooks were relegated to the NCO and musician’s sword shoulder belts. (Some militia versions used hooks at a different angle for wear on the waist belt.) Although in theory the plate was dropped with introduction of the 1864 cartridge box rigs with no plates, the plate remained in use in the field and was not discontinued until the new 1872 sets of accouterments were distributed.

This is a good example, with an historic find location and provenance to a respected early collector and author.  [sr] [ph:L]

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