Civil War leather Cartridge Box, ex – Rochester Historical Society Museum

This is another great piece being offered, it is a Civil War soldier’s Cartridge Box. They held the cartridges needed to fire their muskets. On both sides of the box is the stamped maker’s mark “C.S. Storms / Maker N.Y.”. Christian Storms of New York City, was one of the high-quality specimens provided to the Federal government during the war, having contracts with the federal government.

This cartridge box is one of the Civil War items from the Rochester Historical Society Museum that has been deacessed recently from their collection. Their string tag museum number remains attached “3152 / R.H.S.”. The Society is Rochester’s oldest cultural institution, founded over 160 years ago (see pictures). To cover expenses, they periodically sell off some of their large collection, especially duplicate pieces. This has also become necessary because they had moved to a location which has substantially less storage space.

The cartridge box is in nice condition but show the signs of extended use. The two buckles on the bottom have been reinforced or repaired but appear to be solid in place. The two leather straps on the back have separations because of age. There is no brass US plate on the front flap, but it appears this has been off since the war. Many soldiers would discard these plates to reduce the weight. Often missing, but the two tin cartridge box tins remain inside the box.

It is not a surplus piece, but one that has definitely been through the war. The Rochester area provided countless men to fight for the Union during the war. Many veterans, or their families, would donate items to the Society such as this to preserve them and keep them local. This is a very nice piece of Civil War history.