Civil War soldier’s Sardine can, recovered at LaGrange, TN

Being offered is the nicest Civil War maker-marked sardine ration can that I have ever seen. It is really still mostly shiny metal with a little rust here and there. It is one of the larger sizes measuring 4 ½” x 4” x 1 ½”.  This one was dug years ago in Lagrange, Tennessee – it was the site of a large Union base of operations.

The soil in LaGrange is very sandy and low acid, making some relics very well preserved. Amazingly, it still has its stamped foil label  attached, which indicates that it was made in France, as most of these sardine cans were. It has the French makers name and address and product name " Sardines".

Over the years I have had many dug sardine cans, but this one is about the nicest I ever had. In my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items”, I show some of these cans (see pictures). They may seem insignificant, but when you think about it, the last person who handled this can was a soldier prying it open and anxious to get to one of his favorite foods.