F. M. Mills’ Confederate Cartridge Box
By Shannon Pritchard · Originally published May 2021 · pp. 34–35
The cartridge box shown here could not be identified as Confederate except by the CS “Breckenridge” style belt plate attached to it as a cartridge box plate. There is no such thing known as a genuine Confederate cartridge box plate. There are of course numerous Southern state cartridge box plates. This plate was fastened to the front flap by cutting extra holes in the leather, putting the hooks through, and bending them over. Above the plate, cut into the flap is the name “FM Mill” in single line cuts, and just below it, cut in a crosshatch style, it reads “FM Mills.” There were perhaps ten or a dozen FM Mills in the Confederate service. This box has a history of being picked up at Shiloh. I just went through all the various FM Mills’ records; only two were in service at the time of Shiloh, and only one was in the Western Theatre. That FM Mills was in the 55th Tennessee Infantry, a regiment that served at Shiloh. Mills mustered into Company
B, 55th Tennessee Infantry on February 1, 1862. On December 28, 1863, he was captured in Cheatham County, Tenn., just a few miles from where he enlisted. Consequently, I believe he was captured while visiting home for Christmas. He was sent to Camp Douglas, Ill., where his record abruptly stops. Sadly, it must be assumed that the visit home for Christmas cost him his life. The box is in poor condition; it is stiff, crazed, and torn as the photographs show. One buckle hook had pulled off and was put back on. All in all this box is a diamond in the rough, but a diamond none the less. Shannon Pritchard has authored numerous articles relating to the authentication, care and conservation of Confederate antiques, including several cover articles and is the author of the definitive work on Confederate collectibles, the widely acclaimed Collecting the Confederacy, Artifacts and Antiques from the War Between the States, and is co-author of Confederate Faces in Color.
