Original Item. Only One Available. This is an exceedingly scarce early American cartridge box which looks to date from the War of 1812 period, but on the interior is a printed description which denotes it as an accessory for the M1836 Hall Carbine, a dragoon cartridge “belly box” with 24 individual cartridge cylindrical tins soldered together in two rows of twelve each. The cartridge box retains within a small description from an auction listing long ago, identifying this as a “Dragoon Cartridge Box for Mdl 1836 Hall Carbine”. The age and wear look correct for this purpose, but the box itself appears a bit older than the 1830s.

The cartridge box has a scalloped flap with a single flower rosette attached at the front, a common adornment of early American cartridge boxes. The flap leather is extremely crazed and cracked, and it is rather difficult to lift the flap to inspect the cylindrical tins, but the stitching is still strong. The back of the cartridge box shows three evenly spaced holes with one retaining a small strap in the middle. These would have been used as the belt loops for attachment to the belt, and from the design of this example, it is meant more as a “belly box”. This would have been used in the Seminole Wars and Mexican-American War by men of the 1st & 2nd Regiment of Dragoons.

The box measures roughly 9 x 3 x 3 ½”. An outstanding but heavily worn and fragile example, ready for further research and display.

The M1833 Hall was initially adopted for issue to the newly formed 1st Dragoons. The Dragoons were the first official mounted regiment to be added to the standing US Army since the War of 1812. Rather than serving as traditional cavalry, the Dragoons were considered to be “mounted infantry”, utilizing the speed and mobility of the horse, but equipped to fight dismounted as infantry. They were additionally equipped with pistols and sabers to fight as traditional mounted cavalry as well. The Dragoons were primarily a response to the increasing pressure for westward expansion in America, and the expected resistance from the native population that was not in favor of giving up their lands to American settlers. The regiment of mounted Dragoons was considered an economical alternative to the building and manning of more frontier forts and outposts to protect settlers heading west. The Dragoons were to be armed with the most advanced long arm of the day, a breech loading, percussion ignition carbine, which would be easy to handle, load and fire from horseback.

Initial orders were placed in 1834 for 1,028 24-bore (.58) smoothbore carbines with 26 3/16” long barrels and 25 ¼” long ramrod bayonets. The guns were ordered from Simeon North, the only contractor to produce the Hall Patent breechloading rifle. The reason the carbines were smoothbore was to accommodate buck and ball cartridges, which were considered the most efficient combat load for a long arm. These were the M1833 Type I Carbines. These guns were issued to the First Regiment of Dragoons, who put them to good use at various posts throughout the west. The guns also included a covered implement compartment along the toe line of the stock, with a hinged iron door. Subsequent orders were for the “Type II” M1833 carbine, which had a reduced caliber of .52. These were manufactured between 1836 and 1839 and were initially ordered to arm the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons, which had been organized to help fight the Second Seminole War (1835-1843). 

Almost immediately there was a hue and cry from within the Ordnance Department regarding these additional arms. North was not considered to be in a position to deliver the carbines with any speed, due to his outstanding orders for Hall Rifles and other small arms. Additionally, a slowdown in manufacturing at the Harpers Ferry rifle works (due to lack of rifle orders by the government) was threatening to result in layoffs and terminations from that pool of skilled laborers. Finally, there was the long-standing US government policy to arm “regular” Army units with small arms produced at the National Armories and to arm volunteers and state militias with arms produced by contractors. All of these problems and objections were solved by the adoption and ordering of the new Model 1836 Hall Breech Loading Carbine, which was to be manufactured at the Harpers Ferry rifle works. This would keep the workmen diligently employed, would relieve the pressure on North to deliver the carbines quickly and would provide a source for government manufactured arms for the newly formed 2nd Regiment of Dragoons.