vmicraig
Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2018
- Location
- Midlothian, VA
(Pic below) Although I primarily focusing on collecting firearms, I occasionally obtain some oddball items to make my overall ACW collection more interesting. This is a grouping of pommel ornaments, also known as pommel shields, from the M1859 and M1864 models of the McClellan Saddle. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as saddle shields, they were often stamped with sizes and measure nearly 2" high. The standard 11, 11.5 and 12 size saddle markings were the norm, but by 1865, the Ordnance Bureau listed a fourth size by adding a 12.5" saddle. Some manufacturers used the alternate markings of 1, 2 or 3 on their ornaments. The pommel ornaments were often cut to allow a rider to thread a coat strap through the ornament to attach a coat or other items he was carrying.
Many were produced by Allegheny Arsenal from 1861 to 1863 and were sometimes date stamped. Oval brass ID plates can also be found on AA M1859 saddles.
Allegheny Arsenal, established in 1814 manufactured not only shields, but cartridges, and employed over 1100 workers. In Sept., 1862, the arsenal exploded. 78 people, mostly young women, were killed with 54 bodies unidentifiable. They were buried in a mass grave in Allegheny Cemetery. It is believed a metal shoe of a horse struck a spark which touched off loose powder in the roadway near the lab, which in turn traveled up to the porch and set off several barrels of gunpowder. On the same day, the battle of Antietem commenced, overshadowing the tragedy.
A new lab was built the following year and after the war, continued in business as a storage facility for the Quartermaster Corps. Today, the site of the explosion is a ballfield.
Cant. Joseph Ash, 5th US Cavalry, wrote of the horse saddles in March, 1864:
The contract saddles, as now issued, marked on pommel-ornament 11, 11.5, and 12 inch seat, instead of No.s 1, 2, and 3, are rendering a large number of horses unserviceable from sore backs. They are too full and bunchy where they touch the horse at arc of pommel and cantle, the pressure not being evenly distributed along the whole slope of the side bars; and the edges of the side bars are too abrupt and sharp, so that they are apt to share the rider. The girths are placed nearly an inch too far back, which causes the saddle to slip back. The quality of the leather, however, is better than that used upon the old saddles of the Allegheny Arsenal, which was soft, thick and spongey.
Many were produced by Allegheny Arsenal from 1861 to 1863 and were sometimes date stamped. Oval brass ID plates can also be found on AA M1859 saddles.
Allegheny Arsenal, established in 1814 manufactured not only shields, but cartridges, and employed over 1100 workers. In Sept., 1862, the arsenal exploded. 78 people, mostly young women, were killed with 54 bodies unidentifiable. They were buried in a mass grave in Allegheny Cemetery. It is believed a metal shoe of a horse struck a spark which touched off loose powder in the roadway near the lab, which in turn traveled up to the porch and set off several barrels of gunpowder. On the same day, the battle of Antietem commenced, overshadowing the tragedy.
A new lab was built the following year and after the war, continued in business as a storage facility for the Quartermaster Corps. Today, the site of the explosion is a ballfield.
Cant. Joseph Ash, 5th US Cavalry, wrote of the horse saddles in March, 1864:
The contract saddles, as now issued, marked on pommel-ornament 11, 11.5, and 12 inch seat, instead of No.s 1, 2, and 3, are rendering a large number of horses unserviceable from sore backs. They are too full and bunchy where they touch the horse at arc of pommel and cantle, the pressure not being evenly distributed along the whole slope of the side bars; and the edges of the side bars are too abrupt and sharp, so that they are apt to share the rider. The girths are placed nearly an inch too far back, which causes the saddle to slip back. The quality of the leather, however, is better than that used upon the old saddles of the Allegheny Arsenal, which was soft, thick and spongey.
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