What more can be said? It's a cannonball.
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Relic Condition #4 Cannon Ball
Nice old tintype of Union NCO. The interesting part is that at closer examination the Sergeant is holding an officers sword. This is probably a case of a soldier using the photographers prop.
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NCO with Sword tin type
Infantry Officer tin type
Can't see the shoulder bars well enough to tell rank but probably a Capt. or lower ranking officer due to the single row of buttons on his jacket. Unusual not to have a weapon in the photo.
Another noteworthy item is that he either had six fingers on his left hand or he moved during the exposure.
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Caltrops were a device used to cripple the horses of cavalry units. When the horses would step on them they would become hobbled and it would require the soldiers to dismount which would in turn take away any advantage a mounted soldier had. The small ones would be thrown on hard surfaces such as roadways where mounted troops are expected. The larger ones would be used on softer ground where the smaller pieces might not be effective.
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Caltrops (Horse Cripplers)
Fid
These small Naval tools could be made of steel like this one or of bone. They were primarily used for poking holes in canvas sails for ropes or repairs
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Bullet Mould
Many soldiers who carried personal firearms with odd calibers did not have federal ammunition available to them. They were forced to cast their own bullets until more universal weapons were made available to them. Here is a round ball mold for a .32 cal bullet.
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Unopened package of 18, artillery 8 second fuses. Cant read the manufacturer through the paper covering.
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Artillery Fuses
Token (Civil War)
Civil war tokens came about due to the scarcity of government coinage. They came in 3 major forms, Store tokens, patriotic tokens and sutler tokens. They were used as currency until 1864 when the US government made them illegal. The collector value is based on rarity and condition like any other coin. This example is of the patriotic type.
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Maine Early Militia Button (Enlisted)
These Maine militia buttons were general issue to Maine units prior to the war. Many of the militias were formed into regiments at the beginning of hostilities. Many Maine men marched out of the state with these buttons on their uniforms. This button was for an enlisted man based on the size of the star in the center. See next item for example of an officer button.
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Maine Early Militia Button (Officer)
Another Maine militia button. This one with the large star at center was an officers issue.
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Cap Primers in tin
Nice tin of period percussion caps. These would have been opened and emptied into the soldiers cap pouch worn on his waist belt.
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Alonzo P Stinson enlisted as a sergeant in the 5th Maine Infantry on June 24th, 1861. He was KIA less than one month later on July 21st at the Battle of Bull Run. He was the 1st soldier from Portland, Me to die in the war and one of the first from Maine.
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This ribbon is a memento of the dedication of a memorial to him in 1903 at the Eastern Cemetery in Portland.
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Alonzo P Stinson Memorial dedication ribbon
Camel Corp Bell
The Federal Army experimented with the use of Camels in the west prior to the war. The thought was they would be more durable than horses in the desert. The bells would be used to keep track of the animals they also made some for the pack mules they used. The camels turned out to be to unruly to manage so the experiment was terminated. This left the Army with a surplus of these bells. They were issued to Cavalry units as alarm bells to locate the horses in the night. This example was one used for the mules.
Thunder mugs were a form of a small cannon used for signaling. Most were incorporated prior to the Civil War but surely some were used during the war. Difficult to say whether or not this was used during the war but it is a neat item none-the-less.
Thunder Mug
Guidons were a small flagstaff made to be carried on horseback to signal the location of a general officer in charge of a brigade, division or corp. All carried unique flags indicating the corp and division of the officer represented.
Guidon
On July 1st 1863 the 275 men of the 16th Maine Infantry were left on the field on Oak Ridge against overwhelming odds to facilitate the retreat of the 1st and 11th Union Corps. Once it became obvious the position would be over run the decision was made to tear the regimental flags from their staffs and tear them into small pieces to be distributed to the men to deny the Confederates their trophy.
Here we have a fragment of the regimental flag that was carried to Belle Isle prison by 1st Sgt. Charles Dearing. It is accompanied by the letter Dearing wrote to his mother when he sent her the fragment. He request that she keep it until his return from the war.