{"product_id":"original-u-s-civil-war-federal-cartridge-box-plate-lot-ground-dug-near-the-location-of-the-battle-of-port-gibson-by-wwii-usmc-veteran-and-author-david-c-milam-2-items","title":"Original U.S. Civil War Federal Cartridge Box Plate Lot Ground Dug Near The Location of the Battle of Port Gibson by WWII USMC Veteran and Author David C. Milam - 2 Items","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Items: Only One Lot of 2 Available. This is a lovely pair of box plates which was ground dug at the Battle of Port Gibson in 1939\/40. These items were found by WWII US Marine Veteran and Author of \u003cem\u003e“The Last Bomb: A Marine Remembers Nagasaki”\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eDavid Carter Milam\u003c\/strong\u003e. In a letter that accompanies the set, Milam states that he was searching for Minnie Balls outside Port Gibson, Mississippi in a wooded area near the Mississippi River in either 1939 or 1940.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Items In This Lot:\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Cartridge Box Sling Eagle Breast Plate:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pattern 1826 Eagle Breast Plate with lead filled back. Both mounting loops are no longer present. The front brass face has fantastic crisp details and has aged wonderfully. There is even a faint manufacture marking on the back side.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e- Pattern 1861 Cartridge Box Plate:\u003c\/strong\u003e This is a genuine Pattern 1861 pattern Federal issue leather cartridge box front plate. A nice issued example, ready to display or to dress up a cartridge box that has lost the front plate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe front plate is the standard brass with tin plating on the back, with both attachments loops missing. Normally it would be held onto the front of a cartridge box with a small leather strap. It has some slight denting on one side and finish loss, but overall looks incredible for the age and having been ground dug.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComes more than ready for display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the early years of the American nation, the need for a national symbol was acutely felt. The new nation appropriated many existing symbolic forms, but none were to become as pervasive as the eagle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore the eagle was officially sanctioned as the symbol for the United States, however, a partially clothed, indigenous woman wearing a feather headdress had served that function. This representation soon gave way to goddess-like personifications of the social virtues upon which the United States was founded. The most widespread example in the visual arts is Edward Savage’s print of his painting Liberty (46.67.85). Liberty, who appears in contemporary dress, gives nourishment to the bald eagle. The figure is a variation on the Goddess of Youth, yet the staff in the background, surmounted by Liberty’s cap, clearly signifies her new identity. This print was copied in paintings, embroidery, and Chinese reverse-painted glass for the American market. However, an emblem of a civic virtue such as Liberty was too complicated to serve as a national symbol. In Savage’s print, it is as if Liberty were passing the torch to the eagle to take up this purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to design an official seal for the country to accompany its newly minted. Finally, in 1782, a design was accepted. Its main feature was an eagle, the ancient symbol of Jupiter, king of the gods, and, therefore, a symbol of ultimate authority (69.141.1a–d). The young nation was eager to model many of its institutions on the Roman Republic, so the eagle, proposed by Pennsylvania scholar William Barton, seemed a natural choice despite Benjamin Franklin’s preference for the turkey. Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, modified the design by inserting an American bald eagle, which perfectly blended the classical symbol with a species native to the New World (62.256.3). The eagle holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other, symbolizing its birth in warfare but its hope for a prosperous, peaceful nation.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40621347143749,"sku":"ONJR23OCAV069","price":495.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/ONJR23OCAV069__01.jpg?v=1692193170","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-u-s-civil-war-federal-cartridge-box-plate-lot-ground-dug-near-the-location-of-the-battle-of-port-gibson-by-wwii-usmc-veteran-and-author-david-c-milam-2-items","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}