![]() ![]() While Richmond had sent a supply of black enameled leather to Clarksville for the officer belts, Captain Pride found this leather needed more for making covered seats for officer saddles, and asked Richmond for permission to use it thusly and presumably substitute another available leather for officer belt production. The enlisted belts would have been made with the leather Clarksville had in abundance-fair bridle leather, black bridle and harness leather, and russet harness leather. and a smaller number of officer belts using gilded buckles and more finely finished hardware the North Carolina firm had provided. Downer in Richmond and Captain Henry Pride in Clarksville, it is apparent that the Ordnance Harness Shops intended to produce two styles of saber belt-an enlisted version using the “common” mountings made by Shay, Williamson, and Co. The firm replied that the contract had been completed in full months prior, and sent directly to the Richmond Arsenal’s new manufacturing facility, the Ordnance Harness Shops at Clarksville, Virginia, which had opened in June.įrom the summer of 1862 though the spring of 1863, the Clarksville Ordnance Harness Shops produced saber belts alongside their usual production of artillery harness, cavalry saddles and tack, and various components utilized in the production of infantry equipment. of the North State Iron and Brass Works in Raleigh, North Carolina, inquiring as to what had happened to their contract for 10,000 sets of saber belt mountings. In the summer of 1862, the Richmond Arsenal wrote to Shay, Williamson, and Co. This particular type of belt, accentuated by its uniform characteristics, is one of the more valuable pieces in studying Confederate material culture as it relates to production, military contracting, and leather supply. While intended to be issued specifically to the Army of Northern Virginia’s cavalry, many of these belts were sold to the officer corps of Lee’s army though the Richmond Arsenal system. ![]() The Richmond Arsenal pattern saber belt is a unique article which speaks to the Confederate Ordnance Department’s credible efforts to equip its armies in the field. ![]() Richmond Arsenal Saber Belts By Thomas Mc(Neill) Rose III and Craig Schneider ![]()
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