An iron breastplate taken from a dead Confederate officer after the Battle of Gettysburg

chubachus

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"An iron breastplate, eighteen inches in its extreme length and nine inches in its extreme breadth, designed to protect the right thorax and abdomen, being a symmetrical half of a defensive cuirass. Its thickness is about one-sixteenth of an inch, and its weight is forty-five ounces. It is perforated below the center and at its inferior border as if by rifle balls. Taken from the body of a Rebel officer, killed at Gettysburg, 3d July 1863."

From the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Source 1.
Source 2.
 
Thanks for posting this. I would like to see the advertisements of these companies when they were trying to sell them. I wonder what guarantees or promises they made regarding its effectiveness or type weapons they were intended protect against!
 
there is a similar breast plate at the NY Military museum in Saratoga Springs NY , that example has a large "dent " in it as opposed to a hole , it was removed from a dead soldier also ...
 
I've always wanted one of those! Within the boundaries of reason, they actually worked, and would turn a pistol ball or piece of shrapnel. They were never designed to stop an aimed musket round
The biggest problems were that they were both heavy and awkward to wear. It was difficult to bend over in a bulletproof vest.
 
Thanks for posting this. I would like to see the advertisements of these companies when they were trying to sell them. I wonder what guarantees or promises they made regarding its effectiveness or type weapons they were intended protect against!
Ah, man...I came across a couple in newspapers but didn't save them as I was looking for other stuff. I'll have to see if I can find them again.
 
JohnW. this article says that Confederate soldiers did not often wear these, but the image of the iron breast plate taken from a dead Confederate at Gettysburg makes me question that statement.
 
Extraordinary Set of Body Armor in Original Vest with Confederate Capture History. ... (Total: 2 Items)

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Sold for: $13,145.00 includes Buyer's Premium (BP) Bid Source: Live: Floor bidder

Description
Extraordinary Set of Body Armor in Original Vest with Confederate Capture History. Probably the very best known example of the notorious "body armor" sold privately at the outbreak of the war, this set is complete with its original blue wool vest and is highlighted by a wonderful inscription by the Confederate officer who captured it. At first glance, the vest appears to be the standard one worn by all Union officers, with stand up collar, nine small eagle "I" buttons (most backmarked "Scoville") down the front, two pockets at the waist and one at the breast. The back panel is polished cotton and has two tightening belts with small 1855 patent-dated buckles. Overall condition of the vest is excellent with just a couple repaired moth nips on the front and some stitched repairs to the back around the shoulder blades. Inside, the vest is lined in white cotton with each chest panel having a large "pocket" lined in buckram which opens at the waist and closes by means of three common tin suspender buttons. Boldly inscribed in ink on the left panel is "G. W. Lawrence/Surgn & Medl Director/3d A. C. A. M./Captured from the enemy at Pittsburgh/Landing Apl 7th 1862." On the right panel is inscribed in fancy, tall, hand lettering "'Shiloh'/Apl 7th/1862." The actual body armor consists of two sculpted plates of thin steel which fit into each interior panel. A metal strap, covered in thin glazed cotton, is affixed to each plate by a copper rivet at the top and is designed to pass over the shoulder of the wearer. The plates show signs of some small patches of rust and appear to have been refinished at one time, but are complete and otherwise undamaged with all the glazed covering remaining on the straps. Records indicate that George W. Lawrence served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army but no additional information was available when this catalogue was being written. At the outbreak of the war, "bullet proof vests" designed for the new volunteers were advertised in a number of Northern publications but soon lost favor when their effectiveness on the battlefield was found to be less-than-promised. A true Civil War rarity in incredible condition with a wonderful history.

This one is kind of interesting. (with a price tag to match)
 
Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2nd Texas Infantry was wearing one of these when he was killed in the attack on Battery Robinett at Corinth. The shot penetrated through, perhaps because it was fired at such close range. It was taken as a souvenir after the battle and is currently held by the Wisconsin Historical Society; I've seen a picture of it before but can't find it online again.
 
View attachment 69640
"An iron breastplate, eighteen inches in its extreme length and nine inches in its extreme breadth, designed to protect the right thorax and abdomen, being a symmetrical half of a defensive cuirass. Its thickness is about one-sixteenth of an inch, and its weight is forty-five ounces. It is perforated below the center and at its inferior border as if by rifle balls. Taken from the body of a Rebel officer, killed at Gettysburg, 3d July 1863."

From the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Source 1.
Source 2.
I have my doubts as to the validity of the piece, the holes are virtually perfect and with no denting of the metal. Most of us know what happens to a soft lead bullet as it comes in contact with resistance. Unless this were a very young and unwitting officer, these were abandoned at Manassas as useless. I can't imagine an officer carrying a set of these from Virginia. Keep in mind that there were hucksters in the 1860s just like there are today.
 
Can one assume that early in the war one could find these along any line of march? They would have become heavy and hot to wear and a pain to carry in one's knapsack.
 
Hallo everybody, sorry to jump in without intro but the topic is very interesting to a former armorer and knife maker like me. Armour was quickly discarded at the beginning of the sixteenth century since firearms (who had been around on the battlefield since the fourteenth century, with a moderate effect on the health of the enemies until then) became much more effective.

So cavalrymen clad in iron quickly discarded most of their armour pieces since mobility was a more effective way of protecting oneself than exposing an armored body to now effective fire.

In the nineteenth century muskets were tremendously effective and a minie ball was likely to pierce any bearable form of protection.

This is why such implements failed. The pierced piece might have been too hardened to withstand some canister shots as well: if the steel is too hard it is also brittle, this is why heat treatment was and is important for protective armour.

The first piece might have been heat treated to a very high hardness by somebody trying to do his best, being unaware of lost armouring knowledge, best armour was made with a soft inside layer and an hardened exterior but this wouldn't stop a war hammer, for example, if hit at close distance. it might stop lances, swords hit or arrows, but firearms from a certain point onward became unstoppable without losing mobility.

In ww1 helmets were resurrected but their scope was limited to stop shrapnel, and the only effective design was the german helmet, french and italian adrians wouldn't stop much of that as well, it seems.

So seller of breastplates in the Civil war were trying to reinvent something that couldn't be resurrected. For real protection soldiers should have been encapsulated in thick steel ..
 
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