[Mills, Anson]: [Military Technology]:

$2,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

Proceedings of a Board of Officers Convened at Fort Sedgwick C.T. per Special Orders No. 4 [manuscript title]. A brief but enlightening manuscript military report from the short-lived Fort Sedgwick in Colorado, recording the results of a series of tests undertaken to compare new designs for cartridge belts and boxes. Fort Sedgwick was built as a frontier outpost in 1864 in response to growing unrest and violent conflict with Native Americans during the Civil War, and was known as a particularly challenging post due to the poor quality of its construction and its lack of access to water and wood. Parts of the 18th Infantry Regiment were stationed at Fort Sedgwick from 1866, but it became their headquarters at the beginning of 1869, making these tests some of their first actions at their new base.The report, titled "Proceedings of a Board of Officers Convened at Fort Sedgwick C.T. per Special Orders No. 4," begins with a brief excerpt of those orders. They name the officers (James Stewart, R.P. Hughes, and R.F. Bates), and outline their duty "to make further trial of the relative merits of various patterns of Army Cartridge Box and Cartridge Belt." Comparing the Morris Pattern cartridge box, Crispin Pattern cartridge box, and a new cartridge belt through a variety of trials, the board determined the following: "The Morris Pattern containing thirty six rounds (36) was emptied in thirty (30) seconds less time than Crispin's pattern, Containing Thirty five (35) rounds, and one min

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