One of the real treats that occasionally happens for the student of old historical artifacts is the discovery of a true rarity. Not just a hard-to-find item but an item that could be termed a ‘unicorn’ – so rare is it that there is no readily apparent logical reason that it should still exist. Such…
Like so many details of American military horse equipment, these details can be traced to European influences – even to the small small brass decorative fittings. Pommel ornaments or ‘shields’ are a fixture of US military saddles going all the way back to the first Ringgold dragoons saddles (circa 1841-42). A natural solution for reinforcing…
One of the distinctive characteristics of a civil war McClellan saddle are the four saddle rings, ‘holdin down the corners’. On reading the Ordnance Manual of 1861 and it’s description for how these were to be installed, it was a little bit confusing. The rings were to be installed with iron staples driven through the…
In 1859, the McClellan model cavalry saddle specifications were extensively revised from the previously tested Pattern of 1857 McClellan (commonly referred to as the Trial Saddle). One of these alterations was the substitution of the hardware used for the bridle, saddlebags, carbine loop and coat straps with that made of ‘blued malleable iron’. Many collectors…
Anyone that has worked with a number of surplus war contract M1904 McClellans will likely have run across this variation in the brass mortice plates, also known by the manufacturers name as ‘saddle ovals’. In general, nearly all McClellans used the smaller, slightly elongated form. Occasionally, you’ll find a mortice plate that is rounder shape,…
A J.M. Hays Wood Products Co. makers label, commonly found on their WW1 McClellan contract saddletrees. This is about 1″ tall and complete is about 4″ long. This was applied on the paint applied to the tree, before the rawhide cover was sewn on. As you can see with this particular example, the paper label…
