Bullet Struck Model 1858 New York Depot Canteen / SOLD

Description

Bullet Struck Model 1858 New York Depot Canteen

 

The Model 1858 New York depot canteen is in very fine and complete condition. It has 95% of its original brown wool cover, the original tin chain and stopper with cork, and its full-length strap. The body consists of two circular sections of pressed tin, formed in an oblate spheroid pattern and soldered together at the rim. Fluid capacity of the canteen was three pints, and its liquid contents were kept cool by means of a damp or wet wool cover. The pewter spout is unmarked, but the well-used sling or strap is stamped in India ink: “Aug.- 1864” next to this there is another stamp which is hard to make out.

 

Donated shortly after the Civil War to Grant Post # 4 in Melrose, Massachusetts. The former owner was informed that the canteen was picked up after the failed assault on Fort Steadman by a member of the 9th Massachusetts Battery 25 March 1865. Remarkably this canteen was struck almost dead center by a .58 caliber Minie ball which seriously dented the face then penetrated it cleanly but did not pass through the other side merely denting it. The offending projectile remains in the canteen. The fact that the stopper is stuck fast accounts for the bullet remaining in the canteen. Certainly, one for the books!

 

Fort Stedman was a key Union earthwork located east of Petersburg, Virginia, anchoring a vulnerable sector of the Union siege lines along the Appomattox River. On March 25, 1865, it became the site of General Robert E. Lee’s last major offensive, when Confederate forces under Gen. John B. Gordon launched a predawn assault in a desperate attempt to break the Union siege of Petersburg.

 

The Confederates initially overran Fort Stedman and several nearby batteries, creating a dangerous penetration in the Union lines. However, rapid Union counterattacks—coordinated infantry assaults supported by massed artillery—quickly sealed the breach. By mid-morning, the fort and surrounding works were firmly back in Union hands. The failed attack cost Lee irreplaceable manpower and directly hastened the Confederate collapse at Petersburg, leading to the fall of Richmond on April 2, 1865, and Appomattox shortly thereafter.

 

The 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery at Fort Stedman

The 9th Massachusetts Battery, a veteran light artillery unit of the Army of the Potomac, was among the Union artillery commands engaged in the Fort Stedman sector during the closing phase of the Petersburg Campaign. As Confederate forces broke into the Union lines, batteries—including those manned by Massachusetts artillerists—were caught in fierce close-quarters fighting, with guns temporarily captured, spiked, or turned against Union positions.

 

Following the initial breakthrough, Union artillery units rapidly regrouped and brought devastating fire onto the exposed Confederate columns. The discipline and experience of units like the 9th Massachusetts Battery were instrumental in restoring the line, supporting the counterattack, and sealing the breach that ended Lee’s final gamble.

 

Fort Stedman stands as the last offensive action of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the participation of seasoned units such as the 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery underscores the critical role artillery played in both defending the Petersburg lines and delivering the final blows of the war’s Eastern Theater.

 

Inventory Number: CAN 217