This regulation belt plate for the infantry cartridge box sling came from the collection of Syd Kerksis, well-known and respected early collector and author, and still has his annotated envelope indicating he found it in January 1954 not only at Petersburg in the area of Fort Sedgwick, but in “Ft. Sedgwick proper,” which we take to mean within the actual trench lines of the fort.

The plate is intact and complete with a nice, level lead-solder fill on the back securing the two iron wire loops, one slightly bent and both showing brown with just very shallow rust, the fill itself showing as a light gray with some white spots, but no significant losses. The face is a warm chocolate brown, with the raised rim showing just a little roughness at upper left and gray on the left from about the 8:00 o’clock position to 12:00 and then some thin, darker gray on the upper right, but with no significant dings or dents. The eagle with arrows and olive branch is nicely delineated with the eagle showing just a little rubbing to its wing feathers and side of its neck at left. Please see our photos.

More colorfully known as “Fort Hell” from its close proximity to Confederate lines and batteries, work on Sedgwick started near the Jerusalem Plank Road in July 1864, quickly expanded across the road, and with its deep trenches, “bombproofs” and earthworks constructed of dirt-filled wicker gabions and sandbags, was the most frequently portrayed fort of the Union Petersburg lines by photographer or artist. The nickname of “Fort Hell” seems to have been used from the very start by the troops posted there due to the heavy enemy fire they constantly endured.

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 in very good excavated condition, has an interesting find location, and provenance to a respected early collector and author.  [sr][ph:L]

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