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Civil War Canteen ?


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This is a militia pattern tin drum canteen, presumably with North Carolina state initials - from the Civil War era. The funky carrying strap is an interesting adaption, as these usually used a linen (sometimes leather) sling.

 

Where did you find this?

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ludwigh1980

That is a strange piece. I think it is made to appear to be a civil war Confederate canteen. There are several things that bother me. The leather strap, which appears to be old bridle leather has a 1904 equipment hook (what you find on vaious pieces of 1904 Cavalry equipment). The "tin drum" canteen, though used by confederates were typically crude in construction (hand made) and often beat the heck out from just normal campaign use. This canteen is not only in remarkable condition structuraly, it has very tight construction features, almost like it was machine stamped out. The loops for the strap are odd in that they appear to be just bent bar stock. Usually you see tin that is folded over and soldiered over for strength and then bent to form the slot for the strap. The stencil is again perfect, too perfect. The back of the canteen shows a very strange aging pattern or patination. Reminds me of a typical process that fakers use by dipping it into gasonline and the reaction and subsequent rust creates this sort of wavy pattern. The canteen may be an old canteen as this style was used up until the 1890's (mostly in civilian circles). To have it in the hand for closer inspection would be necessary.

However these are just my observations and I am just a collector, not a qualified expert.

 

Terry in COLO

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There were Confederate tin drum style canteens that were produced by the Confederacy, but as Terry said, this is too well made to be one of those. The prewar militia canteens tended to be on the small size, and better made. So the construction on this one doesn't necessarily put me off. I did not recognize the 1904 equipment hook as that is not my area of expertise, but as I said before, the strap is indeed a little unusual. With that being said, I have seen bridle leather being used as an improvised sling or strap - especially on Confederate pieces.

 

I also consulted "U.S. Army & Militia Canteens" by O'Donnell, and I was not able to find an exact match.

 

Pictured below is an example of a pre-war militia canteen (which were used by both sides during the war).

post-2801-0-35628900-1407113204.jpg

post-2801-0-62184100-1407113218.jpg

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