Revolutionary War Cartridge Box with wooden block for 24 paper cartridges

This is another nice early piece coming out of an old Revolutionary War collection. Being offered is a well-used Revolutionary War leather Militia cartridge box. It measures 8 1/2” x 3” x 3 1/2”, is curved (“belly box”), two belt loops on the back, and has a single closing flap. Inside is a wooden block with 24 round sleeves to hold the soldier’s paper cartridges. This design would be typical of an American piece.

The front leather flap of the belly box has a small metal piece that connects to a metal latch on the bottom. The flap is in worn condition overall but without any tearing, with much of its finish still retained on the front. Both original belt loops are retained on the reverse, a rare find.

The hand-stitching on the box is still tight and overall this is a very nice historical piece of equipment from the early infancy years of the United States. The leather accoutrements dating from the earliest days of our Nation had several factors working against their survival in order to be available to modern collectors. 

At the risk of stating the obvious, by virtue of the fact they were the first accoutrements of their kind used in North America, they had to survive 200 plus years of wear and tear and been subject to less-than-ideal storage. In “Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution”, by Neumann and Kravic, similar cartridge boxes are shown (see pictures).

With the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding this year, interest in the Revolutionary War and its relics are significantly increasing. This renewed enthusiasm is driving the demand for virtually all Revolutionary War artifacts, further contributing to their scarcity and rising prices.