Metal frame for a Soldier's Carpetbag, dug Dalton, partial ID

This is an interesting piece being offered, it is the top of a Civil War soldier’s carpetbag. It is made of iron and measures approximately 6” x 14”. It has a brass lockplate with keyhole and is engraved with the soldier’s initials. It is in fancy script, so I am not sure of the letters, possibly “S” and “J”. It was dug a few years back on the Dalton, Georgia battlefield.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, a carpetbag is what the average soldier would have carried when he left home. The size was ideal for an extra pair of socks, a shirt, change of underwear, and a few personal items. Many soldiers held onto their carpetbags throughout the war, especially officers, who weren’t issued haversacks or back packs.

Dalton was the winter camp of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston 's Army of Tennessee in 1863, the place where the second main army of the Confederacy had its morale restored to health after the disaster at Chattanooga under Gen. Braxton Bragg. Dalton was also the Confederate headquarters when U.S. Gen. W.T. Sherman opened the Atlanta Campaign in May 1864.

There are soldier-identified carpetbags in The Civil War Collectors Encyclopedia, by Francis Lord and an identified example in my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items”. Actually, I used the carpet bag to start off the book. There is a very similar example of this piece in “Civil War Artifacts”, by Howard Crouch (see pictures). It also has an engraved name on it and was recovered at Fredericksburg. This is the first dug piece I came across in the past 25+ years. It is very solid and has been coated for preservation, no chipping or flaking.