Model 1874 Canteen

During the summer equipment board of 1874, one of the updates for infantry equipments to be discussed was some modifications to the 1858/1872 canteen. The main canteen body was not modified in any way, in fact it is a testament to the robustness and general usefulness of the canteen that it was used from 1858, in one form or another, until the model 1910 was introduced. The 1858 canteen body was a spheroid style, holding approximately 3 pints of water, with three sheet iron guides soldered onto the sides and bottom to allow for a sling to be passed through, for the comfort of the soldier. Each canteen was covered with a woolen outer cover, color ranging from brown to dark blue. The main modifications to this 1858 style canteen were a new adjustable sling with a brass buckle, designed by Major Alexander Chambers of the 4th Infantry, was thin sheet brass with convex edges and three slots through which the webbing would pass, in an effort to keep the sling from adjusting under its own weight when worn by the soldier, and the continued use of the 1872 modifications: a brass wire ring attached to the canteen spout and a brass jack chain hung from it and attached to the stopper, which was an effort to reduce the destruction of the canteen sling by the chain when attached to the sling guides. Many of the first patten 1874 canteens went without the brass spout ring and jack chain, and kept the old 1858 iron chain to keep the stopper from being lost. These modifications were approved by the equipment board and submitted as the new pattern in November of 1874. As the 1874 pattern canteen went into the field and became more universal, additional updates were made to them. The “second pattern” canteen is notable for being the first canteen issued to have an outer cotton duck/canvas cover pulled over the existing wool cover and sling, and sewn shut. Whether this was done in some effort to give the canteens a more uniform appearance, or to make them easier to keep clean is unclear, as there are many different shades of outer cover seen, ranging from light tan to dark brown. The outer cover also had a tendency to buckle and tear, due to the retention of the bottom sling guide. Some second pattern canteens had a leather welt sewn into the outer cover, supposedly to give the cover more tensile strength. This, to a point, makes sense, as evidenced by the fact that the canteen shown without the welt has wear marks where the lower sling guide has worn through the cover. The second pattern canteen also has another change, where the spout ring is, in most cases, no longer twisted, but pinched closed to tighten around the spout, and the jack chain has been replaced with a brass safety chain. This was not always done, as the leather welted canteen retains the twisted style ring and jack chain. The final variant of the 1874 canteen came, and is the most uniform in appearance of all the variants. The bottom sling guide has been removed, giving the outer cover a more uniform look. The outer cover and sling are also almost universally a tan color, the spout ring is the pinched version, and a different version of the “Chambers” buckle is seen. The new buckle is thicker and more robust, and has straight edges. This buckle is seen on all the 1874 haversacks and the slings issued with the 1874 clothing bag.