Civil War Confederate Army Used 1853 Cavalry Artillery Bit - In Fine Condition

Description

CONFEDERACY
.  Cavalry artillery bit made by the French in 1853 and imported and used by the Army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.  The artillery bit is complete with both brass rosettes, support bar, and curb chain; rosettes each contain the crossed cannon and bursting bomb pattern; measures 12” by 6.5” by 3.5”; and in fine condition with minor rust accumulation on the surface.  Three similar artillery bits recently sold for 8 in November 2011, 3 in May 2012, and 1 in May 2012 at Cowan’s Auctions.
1853 CAVALRY ARTILLERY BIT USED BY THE ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Ken Knopp, a Civil War historian who authored “Confederate Saddles & Horse Equipment”, references these artillery bits in his article published in the
North South Trader
magazine (Christmas 1997, Issue 6, Volume XXIV): “The 1853 French artillery bit.
A small number of these almost certainly came to the South through the Blockade with French artillery harness purchased by Caleb Use.
Others likely filtered into the US following the French effort by Napoleon III to install Maximilian as the monarch of Mexico.”.
DA003Z, Used for the passing of raw black powder up from a ships powder magazine below decks, to the powder monkey on the gun deck, who carries it over to the gunner, who opens it manually and removes the bags of powder and pushes them into the muzzle of the retracted gun, which are then rammed down the bore before the projectile gets rammed down on top of them. This specimen is for an 11" gun on Union, or Confederate ships. Stamped with British markings on lid are regimental, indicating surplus equipment's. A 31 over and I indicates gun and gun crew numbers. RCD over a broad arrow indicates British gov't ownership (British Cannon Dept.?) On the lid interior, stenciled in ink is 11/02 indicating caliber as 11" gun and number of bags of powder authorized in this pass box, being 2 of 6 pounds each. Very clean white canvas interior prevents static discharges. It's made of brown lather with contact surface areas lined with cork and covered in sewn leather. Handles and straps are mostly intact, need some restoration. Considerable flaking occurs here and there as testament to it's age and service, has brass fittings and rivets as well. Measures 26" long x 9" diameter. EXTREMELY RARE OFFERING today. Ship weight 6 pounds, all original.