RARE – Civil War keg marked with “USN /1862”, recovered in St. Louis (SOLD)

This is a very rare and interesting Civil War keg being offered. It is staved wood with copper bands and measures 10” x 8” and the ends 7”. Stamped into one of the ends is “USN / 1862”, which stands for the United States Navy.

I had no history on this keg when I acquired it but discussing it with a friend of mine in St. Louis, he said to send him pictures because he thinks he may have owned it many years ago. He called me back and said that it was the exact keg that he owned. He said he received it from his brother in the early 1970s.

His brother was a St. Louis police officer at the time, and he would often check out the old, abandoned buildings and warehouses on the waterfront. One day while in one of those buildings, he spotted something up in the rafters and it was this keg.

St. Louis's riverfront, especially south of downtown, features many abandoned industrial buildings, like the historic Cupples Station complex and the Cotton Belt Freight Depot.     Remnants of its rich manufacturing and railroad past, now standing as weathered structures awaiting possible redevelopment.

During the Civil War St. Louis was a Union stronghold and supply hub on the Mississippi River, establishing a major military facility, Benton Barracks. With its important location on the river, the U.S. Navy was very active in the area throughout the war. Though no major battles occurred within the city, it was a strategic military center for recruitment, training, and hospitals.

The keg has a fill hole on the top and on the side is a smaller hole for inserting a spout. Usually, the bands on these kegs would be iron,  but being a Navy keg, they are copper so they wouldn’t rust at sea.  Overall, this keg is in very nice condition, but as typical on water kegs, the wood would slightly shrink over time, so there would be some movement with the bands, but does not affect the display. I discuss some of these kegs in my book “The Civil War Canteen – Third Edition”.  Very seldom do you come across a Civil War dated keg.