Original Item. Only One Available. Original Item: Only One Available. Pre-WWI U.S. Army Model 1910 Garrison Belt with Eagle Snap Cartridge Pouches and a bayonet hanger. One of the most attractive, and sought after, pieces of early U.S. web gear! This belt is in the pre-WWI “pea green” shade of canvas, with matching pouches, each with “Eagle Snap” fasteners. The left pouch is marked with the Bullet Mills Logo, and dated “1918”. The belt itself is marked on each adjustment tab MADE BY / MILLS WOVEN CARTRIDGE BELT CO. / WORCHESTER, MASS. USA.. The opposite of these tabs have patent dates, 1901 and 1905. The buckle still connects and functions very well!

The back of the bayonet hanger bears a stencil for the 24th Regiment Company C. Though there are no crossed rifles, this is almost certainly for the 24th Infantry Regiment. The 24th Infantry Regiment (one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments) was organized on 1 November 1869 from the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment (formed 24 July 1866) and the 41st U.S. Infantry Regiment (formed 27 July 1866).  All the enlisted soldiers were black, either veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops or freedmen. From its activation until 1898, the 24th Infantry served throughout the Western United States. Its missions included garrisoning frontier posts, fighting Native Americans, protecting roadways against bandits, guarding the border between the United States and Mexico.

The number 6499 is stenciled next to the unit stencil, likely a soldier or rack number. The pouches and bayonet hanger are all in phenomenal condition and have certainly been with the belt since it was originally worn. Canvas is in excellent condition, considering the age of the belt. There are no signs of dry rot and the pea green color is nice and rich, showing little signs of fading. All brass pieces have developed a pleasing bronze-like patina over the years. Both eagle snaps are fully functional. This is a fantastic example of a WWI-Era Garrison belt to a scarce regiment.

In 1916 the 24th Infantry guarded the Mexico–United States border to keep the Mexican Revolution from spilling onto U.S. soil. When it did, the 24th joined the "Punitive Expedition" under General Pershing and entered Mexico to fight Pancho Villa's forces. In 1919, rebels and troops of the Mexican government fought in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The 24th Infantry crossed over again to engage the rebels, ensuring that no violence erupted across the U.S. border.

During the nadir of American race relations and just months after America's entry into World War I, the soldiers of this historic all-black unit had been dispatched to guard the construction of Camp Logan, a military facility in Harris County, where they met animosity from local white civilians. When white police beat and arrested a black private who tried to intervene during a violent, daytime arrest of a black washer woman, the woman, Sarah Travers, and the soldier, Pvt Alonso Edwards, were jailed. A black corporal sent to inquire after the private, was pistol-whipped, chased and shot at, before being dragged out from under a bed and arrested. After untrue rumors of the corporal's murder spread to other soldiers, hostility boiled over.

The Houston Riot was a mutiny by 156 black soldiers of the 24th Infantry; it has been called the Camp Logan Riots. Sergeant Vida Henry of I Company, 3rd Battalion led about 150 black soldiers in a two-hour march on Houston because they had suffered racial discrimination in the city. The soldiers were met by local policemen and a great crowd of Houston residents, who had armed themselves. When the soldiers killed Captain J. W. Mattes of the Illinois National Guard (after mistaking him for a local policeman), the battalion fell into disarray. In their two-hour march on the city, the battalion killed 15 whites, some armed, including four policemen, a white child and seriously wounded 12 others, one of whom, a policeman, subsequently died. Five black soldiers were killed. Two were accidentally shot by their own men, one in camp and the other on San Felipe Street. The rioters were tried at three courts-martial. Nineteen men were executed by hanging, and 63 were given life sentences.