Cartridge Box Tin "struck"

Cartridge box tin with bayonet holes. Click picture and "Detailed Description".

Civil War Cartridge Box Tin, which would have been inside the leather cartridge box. These tins held the paper wrapped cartridges. It measures 4 ½” x 4” x 1 ½” and has several punctures which were done by a triangular bayonet…probably by a bored soldier, or maybe it was an attempt to make a grater. This interesting artifact was an early find from the famous "City Point Explosion" which took place in Virginia.

 

Many of the Union wounded from the battle of the Crater were brought to field hospitals that had been established at City Point.  A once thriving river port that was well in decline when it was occupied by Federal troops in early May, City Point had become the logistical hub for all operations against Petersburg and Richmond. The river bank, rising up high, had been cleared and leveled, so as to make room for storehouses for supplies, and for a station for the railroad. All this had sprung out of the earth as if by magic, in less than a month, this activity made City Point a tempting target. 

 

A successful blow was delivered on August 9, 1864, when a Confederate operative named John Maxwell planted a time bomb (which he called a "horological torpedo") aboard a munitions barge docked near the shore.  The resulting explosion destroyed several large buildings, 180 feet of wharf, two million dollars of munitions and supplies, and killed more than forty workers. The blast rained potentially lethal debris all across City Point, including U. S. Grants headquarters. Grant was not injured, but one staff officer was struck and an orderly killed. This is truly a unique item and still remains in fantastic condition. It has been in my private collection for many years.